Cantillon Kriek

Brewed by Cantillon
Style: Lambic - Fruit
Brussels, Belgium

Couldn’t believe I’d not rated this before, what a great excuse to have another...
2006 Bottle from Kris Wines. Pours, pardon the pun, cherry red with a pinkish foam that settles to a thin lasting ring around the glass. Initially sweet maraschino cherry aroma but a quick swirl releases the yeast, barnyard funk and balsamic vinegar. Tart with a real cherry bite, some yeast and a slightly sweet yet sour Jolly Rancher note. Last pour with all the gunk gives it a little more balance and more of a lambic taste. Lovely long puckering cherry finish. Damn, now I’ve done the rating what’s my next excuse gonna be?

On tap courtesy of Chris at Ebenezer’s. Delightful cherry red with swirls of head letting through just the right amount of light. Aroma and flavor match up with a perfect balance of sour cherry, tart cherry, and the typical funky cantillon gueuze background. Less sourness on this last front than most Cantillons, which for me actually took off a point in the overall rating, but definitely a luscious batch of their kriek. Dances on the tongue as any good lambic should. Tremendous.

Big smark of sour cherries all over the mouth. The fruit has not been used to sweeten the beer. Other than that it is a relatively clean beer. A little earthy, but very little. Just thirst quenching and clean. If there is any carbonation left in the bottle, it’s barely there. I’m not finding any malt in there at all. I could almost be fooled into thinking this is a cherry wine. Tasty, but really lacking in any complexity.

Bottled 16/10/06. Pours an amazing opaque magenta, initially with a hissing suggestion of a head. Carbonation quite lively for the style. Aroma saliva-making sourness and oak with a splash of vinegar. Assertively, puckeringly tart with plenty of lambic dankness, puddle, funk and wood. Cant really detect anything cherry-like. Seems to become more aggressively acidic towards the bottom of the glass, to the point where I’m not enjoying it. Tasty, but best served with a Gaviscon chaser.

Bottle split with Tronraner. Pours pretty red with a fast fading head. Ah, this is how a fruit beer should smell: cheese, earth, funk, with a reasonable cherry presence. Carbonation is low to none but the assertive sourness makes things lively on the palate. I enjoy the complex sour bouquet with hints of cloth, cheese, hay, and tart cherries. Very well done.

Bottle, shared by NachlamSie. Pours hazy magenta with small light pink head. The aroma is plenty sour with an oaky earthiness and some tart cherry. The flavor is quite tart cherry with lactic sourness and sharp acidity. Nice, funky finish. Tasty stuff.

375ml bottle (Kaisla, Helsinki) Deep cherry red, tiny head. Clearly dry cherry aroma, sharp lambic sourness too. Incredibly sharp taste, dry and mildly cherry. Despite it’s incredible tartness - shockingly so - it’s still quite tasty. A bit too harsh though. Another bottle was sligtly less harsh, still with a good sour bite, and a bit fruitier,

Hazy, pale red with a small white head. Cherry and acidic notes. Taste is fruit, acids and some vinegar. Medium body with a llingering sour finish.