Cantillon Iris

Brewed by Cantillon
Style: Lambic - Unblended
Brussels, Belgium

Bottled at RBESG 2005. Hazy golden. No head. Rather sour, bt not as expected. Some diesel though.

Bottle. Orange with white head. Sour aroma of moist cellar and spiders web. Taste is sour and fresh. Delicious!

A Mes rate: 75cl bottle from Cantillon. As promised I drank this asap as I was recommended to do so by the wonderfully friendly Mr. Cantillon (so sorry I forget your name) This is very unusual stuff. Particularly for Cantillon. The fresh hops show very strongly throughout and as a result give what is for me, a unique drinking experience. The aroma is that of the hoppiest beer I have tried, almost totally devoid of all the characteristic Cantillon barnyard funk. That does not for one minute mean that it isn’t fantastic, just most unexpected. Close your eyes and you could be sniffing at an extremely hoppy English ale. Almost. Oh, some marzipan and a slight sweetness to it also. Colour is akin to that of an Orval, cloudy and orange and therefore most inviting. Such a difficult one to rate. I was expecting the full on Cantillon sourness but in the mouth it is comparatively mellow. Well I say mellow but what you get is a huuuuuge kick from the hops that I think is fantastic. Followed by just the right amount of lambic tartyness which lasts until the start of the finish (if you get me) followed by another big dump of hops leaving what is a wonderfully clean, crisp and dry ending. A most intriguing blend of two different characters, one of which is not usually my bag but here it works extremely well. Its all down to the fresh hops really. Very grassy and lots of green stuff. If you are just getting a taste for lambics but love hoppy beers I would strongly suggest this.

Bottle (750ml). Shared with blankboy, GregClow andI tupalev, tupalev’s bottle. Mukry orange, average head. Funky, yeast, sour aroma - lemon juice, faint malt - spicy, a little unbalanced. Taste is even funkier and more sour, burnt rubber, spice, yeast - funky, yet the malt intrudes in the finish and tries to pull this back to the middle - aveage body, sourd, medium-acidic, only mildly carbonated - simple, lacks complexity, definitely sour, the barrel-aging comes through, but the malt juiciness unbalances it - still a nice beer, but not one of the top Cantillons.

Poured a dull gold color, looked like applejuice. Musty flavor,acidic on the tongue, Citrus, champagne flavor to me, great beer, but I couldn’t do it often, long aftertaste.

(Draught at Akkurat, Stockholm, vintage 2003) Colour is amber, hazy, with white disappearing head. Nose is musty, harsh and acidic with notes of hay, fresh hops and juniper-wood. Taste is acidic and harsh with yeast, hay, apricots and rhubarb. Hoppy, bitter and spicy finish. The fresh hop character makes this one of the more balanced Cantillon beers (which may seem surprising) and probably the most refreshing. Very nice.

Hazy orange color with a small head. Lots of fruit and acidity. A very nice lambic.

Much needed re-rate, had this many times since, but had 2005 and 2004 Vintage bottles @ Ebenezer’s and damn this beer is sick!!! Beer 15 Summer 2006 trip in Europe. Drank on 7/1/06 from the bottle at Cantillon. I split a bottle of this beer with my brother after sampling the basics. This brew is very acidic and sweet, tart, and sour. It is very tasty and unique. I don’t think I have ever tasted anything quite like this brew. My brother thought it tasted like Champagne.