Cantillon Kriek

Brewed by Cantillon
Style: Lambic - Fruit
Brussels, Belgium

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.

This beer can only be described as shocking - as it shocks the senses in every way. The first thing about this beer (out of the bottle) is its brilliant atomic cherry color w/ what appears to be black and purple bruise marks that haze the otherwise clear body. There is no head whatsoever and no lacing. I was having a bad allergy day and the aroma and each sip alone cleared my sinuses. no joke! it is TART. tart as can be. at first you just smell cherries. when you first sip you just taste tart. tart cherries and grapefruit. then after awhile I got this burning sensation in the back of my throat as if I’d ingested onions and peppers in addition to the tart. being fresh and grassy and raw yet citrusy, sour and fruity, this is a very strange and uncomfortable yet intriguing combination of flavors. apparently this beer is made using open-air fermentation?? I’m not enough of a beer expert yet to understand exactly how this works but it sounds cool and important. This is not a beer to necessarily enjoy b/c its SO SOUR, but it is definetely worth tasting b/c its totally unique.

Nose of alcohol and vinegar. Pours a cloudy rose quartz with no head to speak of. Highly acidic and very sour. Light, watery, and soft. Nothing I would choose to drink again. I’m sure volumes could be written about it’s complexity, but I’m at a loss for an appreciation of this style.

Tap@Bier Stein, Eugene OR. A beutiful cherry color with a light rose head. A great sour/tart flavor of complexity that is not overbearing. The finish has sour cherry taste with oak and aged flavors. A truly enjoyable treat in the wonderful world of beer.

From the bottle.

Pours a cloudy cherry pink with a soft-pink head, some floating material.

Both the aroma and the flavor are well-adjusted sour cherry lambic; lovely and deeply refreshing from the very first sip; no burn-in time for the tastebuds needed here as with of the harder-core sour lambics. Nonethless the beer does not strike me as overly seet and indeed intensifies in both sourness and in a dry woodines on the finish.

We don’t have the full complexity here that we do with Oud Beersel Oude Kriek, but this is a lovely beer with no out-front flaws and it is a pleasure to drink.