Cantillon Lou Pepe Framboise

Brewed by Cantillon
Style: Lambic - Fruit
Brussels, Belgium

Sampled on draft at Zeno’s in State College PA this beer poured a dark red color with a small white head that faded quickly. The aroma was strong tart berry. The flavor was extremely tart, sour and bitter with hints of berry and an intense long tart and sour finish. Interesting.

Dark red colored with little pink head. Bubblegummy raspberry dominates aroma sour lemon. Crispy palated with lots of raspberries and sweet sourness, aftertaste has bubblegum lasting with dry wood. Again, no chance to disappoint to brewery.

750 mL bottle, vintage 2004. Poured ruby red with thin pink head. Appeared slightly undercarbonated. Nose consisted of tart raspberry and lemon. Very sour, acidic raspberry flavor. A bit thin. Slightly disappointed by this one.

Brown color with faint head but one of the best raspberry aromas I’ve ever had the pleasure of encountering. As sour as the average Cantillon (i.e. delicious) and every vintage I’ve had has been very fruity and sour.

On tap at Moeder Lambic. Bright ruby-red color with bubbly pink head. Nose is intense, fresh raspberry with lemony backdrop. Fairly tart flavor balanced by an impression of light sweetness from the fruit. Soft in the mouth with subtle acidity felt more in the belly than on the tongue. Beneath the complexity it was just flat-out tasty. A mind-blower, frankly.

This was the clear winner in a head to head with a lou pepe kriek. The kriek looked better, but this was better in every other way. It is kind of an ugly brown color, but big raspberry aroma with yeast and sourness. Sour flavor as well, but the raspberry has held up remarkably well considering the age. Intensely sour flavor, and loads of raspberry.

Poured from a 750 ml bottle, vintage 2001. Thanks Joe! Fleshy, muddy, rusty red hue. Seedy acerbic raspberry aroma; alternately soft on stems and musty grass, and violent, on peppery funk; still dominant in that raw, sharp wooden acid character; rustic and rough.

Cutting, fresh raspberry flavor is sharply imbued with funk and minerals, though the fruit still seems impressively lively and evocative; the minerals, firey woods and acetic acids provide wildness and puckering punch never shrinking back, but naturally rich tartness of the fruit is what’s really the centerpiece, and it’s a beautiful, visceral experience. The vinegar acidity and puckering wooden heat grows more punchy mid-palate.

Still, the body is sumptuous and full, more diverse and more versatile than other high-acid examples; a typical, flaming acidic finish showing lengthy raspberry flesh and seeds; not immensely dry, but satisfying. The best non-gueze I’ve had from Cantillon; a clean, refreshing example that still has all the outrageousness you could ask for from a lambic.

Bottle from my friend Eric. Pours a nice ruby color with a frothy head. Aromas of berries and funk. Flavor is just pur vinegar, sour yeast and sour berries. I am not a sourhead and wont be any time soon. No sir.