Cantillon Kriekenlambik

Brewed by Cantillon
Style: Lambic - Fruit
Brussels, Belgium

[Draft at GBBF 2005] An unclear pink beer with no head - a somewhat artificial look - eventhough I know Cantillon is as far away from artificial as anything can be. The aroma is sour with very strong notes of cherries combined with lesser notes of grapefruit. The flavor has a nice sourness that draws out the mouthwater and has nice notes of both cherries and grapefruit.

Opaque very dark pink. Headless, uncarbonated for the moment. Extremely fresh nose! Remarkably well extracted cherry flavours, no comparison with the regular bottled kriek that is all about extreme acidity. Quite phenolic this one still, almost clovey, a bit medicinal, bordering plasticy and spicy. Certainly juicy though, but a tannic one at that. Not quite soft, but certainly not rough, yet the finish hints at character to come. Still, in this shape, very good.

Draught Bright red, gorgeous ruby colour with one or two bubbles. Deep superfruit, cherries, very densely flavoured; fusel alcohols, vanilla. Peperkoek, sour cherries, not very sour, pure fruits. Still, I get some oily-like flavours from the cherrykernels. Super lip-smacking titillating fruitacids, and extremely refreshing. Super - I’m repeating myself. Fruitlambic in the best way.

From a wooden cask at the brewery. This was going to be Lou Pepe Kriek. Very red coloured. Very woody cherry aroma. Acidic and very fruity flavour. Very low carbonation. Tart and dry finish. Pure cherry juice. Extremely refreshing and tasty.

Notes amalgamated from a few samples. Deep cherry red colour with lots of haziness. The aroma is intensely fruity with loads of soft cherry aroma, light woodiness and a soft vineous tannic note as well. Kiss of almond/cherry pit on the nose as well. There is a kiss of vanilla and a faint acetone character that accentuates, rather than dominates the fruit. Soft funkiness on the back that picks up as you work your way through the glass. Earthy, sour and intensely funky, but the sourness is quite muted, especially for Cantillon. More lactic and soft than the typical citric Cantillon house character. Musty/musky flavour toward the back finishing with a shot of acid. This stuff is really complex and has a subtlety all it’s own. Definitely worth seeking out if you find yourself in Philly.

Draft pour
Consumed at the Weekend of Spontaneous Fermentation, Opstal, May 2006
Dark red, mostly clear appearance with a still thin head. Nose is slightly sour, almost muddy, bloody, lightly tinny. However, the nose is quite strong and pungent. Sourness is transparent up front, before exploding on the palate at the back of the tongue... good, strong acidity (like citrus acidity), punch-like, intensely sour and lightly musty, and the fruit shows up almost as a sweet raspberry flavor rather than cherry.

Draught at GBBF, August 2005. Ludicrously pink in colour. So pink it put me off a bit. Very fruity too. Soft and restrained for a Cantillon. Didn’t really exhibit the trademark Cantillon farmyard and mouth-puckering tartness that I’ve come to expect. Don’t get me wrong, this is a very good beer, just doesn’t shout out "Cantillon" loud enough for me. I prefer a touch more aggression.

Draught - gravity dispense - GBBF 2005. We were reliably informed by Jacob that the beer at GBBF described as Jonge Kriek was this kriekenlambiek. Kook may be able to provide more technical evidence for this when he rates it as he was given information by the bar manager. Anyway the beer was the pinkest thing I’ve ever seen for a beer. A real strawberryade colour. The aroma featured subdued cherry fruit and not much typical lambic farmyardy stuff. The taste is pretty much the same. The acidity and sourness are pretty low. A drinkable fruity beer.