Cantillon Kriek

Brewed by Cantillon
Style: Lambic - Fruit
Brussels, Belgium

Burnt orange-red with a thin white head. Tart cherry and oak aroma, mixed with sweet goat cheese. Very tart and sour flavor, burnt/charred wood notes are evident in the middle-to-late flavor profile, along with some slightly cheesy Brie notes towards the end. Lingering bitter and tart finish.

Bottle. Clear red coloured with a white head. Acidic aroma with of berries and wood. Acidic flavour of berries and wood.

Reddish colour with a pinkish head. Reddish colour with a small white head. Rich cherry aroma and taste with refreshing sour notes.

First rating
Draught at Akkurat in Stockholm , Sweden, November 2005.
Red color, pink head. Sour scent and flavor. This is what a kriek from a lambic taste like.
7/5/7/3/16=3.8

Second rating
(Draught at Stockholm Beer Festival, 2007)
Vintage 1985?
Shady particle filled red color, white head. Complex sweet acidic scent. Sour complex acidic taste. Sour mouthfeel, low bitterness.
9/3/8/3/17=4.0

Rerate
(37.5 cl bottle from Systembolaget, courtesy of deft)
Bottled 11 Aug 2008
On September 3, 2008
Very fresh this one!
Shady red color, pinkish white head. Cherry, oak, almond paste, acidic scent. Acidic, citrusy, tart, sour, a bit sweet cherry taste. Puckering sour mouthfeel, no bitterness.
7/4/8/4/16=3.9

37.5cl Bottle
Hazy neon red, low pink head. Delicate horseblanket, vineous and tart berry aroma. Vinegary and citric sourness hits up front, cherries trail behind followed by wood, straw, mold and a a marzipan finish. Wonderfully dry mouthfeel. Straw and berry aftertaste. Just what I needed now.

(Draught at Akkurat, Stockholm) Colour is deep cherry red, slightly hazy. Nose is sour, acidic with very dry hints of cherries, maybe even some black or red currant. Taste is acidic with cherries, some bitter hints reminding of bitter almonds (from the stones?). The fruit is definitely there, but somewhat understated and overshadowed by the sourness. Very far from the over sweet krieks made by some of the bigger brewers, but this is the real stuff. Very dry, very complex, very enjoyable.

Another uncompromisingly sour classic from the good folk at Cantillon. This one poured a candy-apple red in colour, slightly hazy and filled with very fine carbonation that rose up a thin, white layer of froth that persisted and left a little legs. Quite subdued in aroma; tart and acidic cherry fruit nose, quite sharp, but balanced by oaky, musty barnyard-like notes that waft continuously from the glass. Expecting a flood of fierce acidity in the mouth but found this to be gentle and surprisingly fresh. Light bodied, peppery spicy and softly prickly in carbonation with a mix of musty, yeasty notes, a tinge of vinous alcohol and fresh, slightly sweet and oh-so tart and sour cherries that fill the mouth and show good length into the rather dry swallow. Quite mellowing; the fruit is not as pronounced as most other Kriek’s I’ve tasted but sits comfortably alongside its well-rounded aged lambic flavours, and shows a gentle astringency before the swallow with a light dusty, herbal note and some wood aged must. Not complex but somehow it worked up a storm on my palate remaining fresh and gently balanced through to the end. Lovely!!! (37,cL crown-corked, bottled in 2005, Int’l Beer Shop, W. Leederville)

From the bottle, pours a murky reddish brown. Looks like a bloody mary. No head to speak of. Smells very fruity and sour, with the aroma of alcohol present as well. Very strong taste, almost overwhelming. Definite alcohol, with some sour notes of black cherries and other berries. Also very sour, makes my mouth pucker. I can’t give this a great overall rating because it was just too sour for me, but I can understand why fans of lambics would rate this pretty highly.