Cantillon Lou Pepe Pure Kriek

Brewed by Cantillon
Style: Lambic - Fruit
Brussels, Belgium

2002 bottle. rated 10-6-05 scored a 3.6. Sharp aroma, acidic, sour, a little fruit. Pours reddish pink. Sharp sour taste, the fruit is there but you must look for it. Excellent lambic! 1999 bottle. re-rated 11-5-09. Tart raspberry and cherries on the nose, very acidic nose. Pours a cloudy reddish with a thin white head. Very funky tartness upfront, a bitter sourness, sharp, with cherries and raspberries even sour strawberry flavors, smooth in the middle with more acidic sourness in the end. Excellent excellent beer!!

Super sour aroma, almost stinky like sweaty gym equipment...but I tasted it anyway. Some sour cherry syrup seemed to help cover the stalness in the nose. But I don’t see the appeal to this one.

2002 Draught at Moan and Dove on 8/19/2005 with Eyedrinkale and Dan Shelton. Pours a vibrant, opaque, strawberry-pinkish red, with a bit of a ruddy-orange glow to it on the edges. Head is thin and filmy and pinkish-cream colored, but well-retained and provides ample lacing. Aroma is lemon juice, lemon rinds, oranges, very yogurty/lactobacillius notes, quite sour, with some sweet cherry pulp, a touch of very dry cask wood. Thoroughly pungent and quite lovely. Flavor begins with a woody dryness coupled with the signature lacto/pedio mix of Cantillon. Eminently drinkable right off the bat, I waste no time in downing a glass and have to go for a second to finish my thoughts. . . and then a third later. Anyways, the cherries were not as tart and were, perhaps, a bit too apparent for my liking. Adding to my displeasure, somewhat, was a note of what I would best describe as "coconut liqueur". I couldnt shake this taste from all three samples. It had a syrupy, fruity, yet dryish/sour flavor to it that I havent found in any other Cantillon beer. Could this be the syrup addition? Maybe. The flavor ends with plentiful cherry juice notes, more lemon and lacto notes and large dose of tartness lingering. Mouthfeel was spot-on, as always, from this brewery. Tiny bubbles, providing a wash of flavors over the palate and just tingly and perfect on the tongue.
I don’t really like that much fruit in my lambics, so I’m not entirely surprised that I wasn’t floored by this, but none the less, it’s damned good and fantastically drinkable. Not to mention, I’m sure I will enjoy an aged sample from the bottle significantly more. That is, if I ever let myself open one.

On tap at the Moan and Dove in Amherst, MA. My second lambic. Hazy red pour with a thin pink film. Sour cherry cough drop nose. Sour cherry flavors, and incredibly dry. Cotton mouth dry. Pleasant rock candy sweetness to finish.

Tap at Moan and Dove. 8oz glass. Sour, lactic, and tart aroma with a few cherry notes. I also get barnyard-like haystacks. Opaque dark blood-red color with a pink head. Cute. Slightly puckering to start with sour, funky, barnyard notes. Turns a bit sweeter with some cherry flavors in the aftertaste. Extremely dry finish. The finish is tasty, though, and somewhat enjoyable after the harsh start.

Cherry red. Thin white head. Cherry nose with hints of sulphur. Clear cherry flavour, extremely dry. Almost agressive sourness in finish.

Bottled @RBESG’05(vintage 2002)
Hazy deep cherry red. Sour, not very strong nose. Sour, dry cherry flavor. Long sour aftertaste. Flat, straightforward matured kriek.

2002 Bottle.Wow what a color.Looks like a watered down blood red color.Aromas of cherries and a slight citrus.Sour cherry taste.This is definately an aquired taste.I am not a big fan of these styles.For what it was it was good, not $26 a bottle good, but good.