Cantillon Lou Pepe Pure Kriek

Brewed by Cantillon
Style: Lambic - Fruit
Brussels, Belgium

Bottle sampled. Pours red with a small pink head. Aroma of fermented cherries and sweetness. The flavor is sweet upfront, fermented tart cherries, and slight oak. Good body, good brew.

2004 75cl bottle. Deep raspberry pink with a short lived fizzy head. Full nose of unripened cherries and sweet juicy berries. Taste is sweet and slightly sour with a soft bitter edge. Some oaky character. Lush body. Prickly mouthfeel. Close to perfect.

Bottle of the 2002 vintage. This is the sourest slice of cherry pie that you will ever drink. I can’t describe it any better. Just superb.

Rating # 400. 06 bottle. Pours a dark ruby color with a nice cherry red head. Great aroma of barnyard funk, sourness, cherries, oak, and sweet berries. Flavors of sour leather, funk, juicy cherries, and oak. Medium mouthfeel. Excellent Kriek.

Bottle 2002 @ 16th Weekend of Spontaneous Fermentation 2007, Opstal. Unclear medium red color with a average frothy fair lacing mostly diminishing pink head. Aroma is light to moderate berries / fruit, sour / sweet, notes of wood / oak. Flavor is light sweet and moderate acidic with a average to long duration. Nice dry - dry finish. Very nice balance kriek. Body is light to medium, texture is watery, carbonation is flat. ;o))

On tap at Map Room in Chicago. I’m maybe not the best person to judge a kried/lambic, as I’m not the biggest fan. But I thought this was very well done with a nice cherry flavor-- almost a bit too tart. I still prefer an easier to drink cherry fruit beer like New Glarus Belgian Red over a kriek like this. But I tried to appreciate it for what it is.

draft at map room. bright raspberry red, reasonably opaque and a small dark pink head. smell is a bit sour and entirely of cherry tart. no sweetness. i’m not finding it as sour smelling as a lot of farmhouse beers. tyler would hate this. the flavor is simple, but appreciable for how natural it tastes. all cherries, lots of acidity on the back, no sweetness at all. pretty puckering at the bottom of the sides of the tongue. i guess if it wasn’t for the novelty of this beer, though, i’d probably not think too much of it. i think it’d be pretty good to have one on a summer day. but the syrup that sits on the tongue would be a cloying cherry after a couple glasses.

Shared bottle thanks to CMUBEERMAN. Vintage 2001. The cork was a bit funky upon opening---there was moldy liquid at the top, but all appears to be ok, judging by the taste. Pours a beautiful red red ruby, pink head. I do believe that this is the first "5" that I have ever given for appearance---the color is stunning. Aroma is super sour, tart cherry and raspberry, tangy bleu cheese, and this other scent that reminds me of this old musty tent that my family used to camp in when I was a kid. Flavor is very sour, tart cherries, funky, musty, tangy, sour dough. Good stuff.