Cantillon Lou Pepe Pure Kriek

Brewed by Cantillon
Style: Lambic - Fruit
Brussels, Belgium

(Draught@Pikkulintu) Opaque blood red with a small, fading head. very delicious and full cherry aroma. Smooth and luscious cherry flavor with tartness only hitting in the end, and even then quite smoothly. Medium to full body, low carbonation. Certainly one of the best krieks ever made. (Bottled, 2002 vintage, 0.75l, was 7-4-7-3-13=3.4) Hazy, deep red color with a small, pink head. Very fruity, quite sour cherry aroma. Sour, quite dry cherry flavor - typical Cantillon. Refreshing, crisp summer drink. Not the "worst" Cantillon, but not drinkable in large quantities, either.

2001 vintage (bottled 2003).Deep deep red colour that’s as thick as raspberry jam or eczematic’s beetroot homebrew. Pink head which sticks around pretty well for a Cantillon brew. Typical Cantillon lambic aroma which I find really hard to describe - wood, fish & cobwebs perhaps? Dense morello cherries, vanilla, coconut, whiskey and a nice cidery character. This beer features an incredible balance between fruit, sourness and bitterness. It’s not sweet but it’s definitely more sweet and approachable than their regular Kriek. It’s lemony-sour but not overly so. I would have preferred it a little more sour but I don’t think out-and-out sourness is the point of the exercise here. It’s seems more like a showcase for balance, drinkability and accessibility (of course for a Cantillon beer this is all relative) and this objective is certainly achieved. The bitterness works especially well - it’s always perceptible but never dominant or clashing with the sourness. There’s quite a bit of cherry flavour but not as much as in the aroma. Some red wine character too. Incredible fleshy mouthfeel was great. Much like the St Lamvinus I am left with the impression of an incredibly well-brewed beer, and I did enjoy it immensely, but it’s a bit too styled and not rough enough to really do it for me. Perhaps Cantillon is doomed to constantly fail to impress me as much as that first, incredible bottle of Rose de Gambrinus? Or maybe not. It’s still my favourite brewery. Thanks Chuk!

worth every penny of its steep price tag. cherry lambic heaven with a gorgeous pink hue and wonderful Cantillon signature nose of Horseblanket and lemon. just superb

On tap @ Toronado. Pours red with no head. Aroma is that of dry, sour cherries. Most of the flavor notes seem to have an antithesis to me. It seems sweet and sour, dry and refreshing all at once. The flavor is somewhat watery but fantastic none-the-less.

Vintage 1998, 6 years old
Cloudy ruby color. Typical Cantillon Lambic, with a nice cherry aroma. The mouthfeel is quite weaker than usual, but still very good.

Red (dimetapp!) colour with a pink head. Funky barnyard cherry aroma. Funk continues in taste, with acidic tartness coming through too. Suprisingly not as in your face as the standard kriek. More rounded fruit flavour. Nice, more mellow version. Tasty.

Bottle I picked up at the Cantillon brewery, drunk at the RB London & JoeT Gathering. Pours a gorgeous colour - red and higly carbonated, cloudy with a little head that dissapates fast. Aroma is wonderfully woody and sour fruit with traces of the cork. Flavour is dry and very much cherry like and fairly sharp. It being a young example has seemingly not yet fermeted out completely and retains some residual sweetness that keeps it very drinkable. Unfortunately like every other Cantillon it may be traditional but it’s not the best example.

Bottled at The London/Joet Gathering Chez Chris_O. A bright purply, red coloured lambic with medium carbonation and no head. The aroma is on the sour side with cherries and a little bit of smoke. The taste is raspingly sour. There are good cherry fruit flavours. Very throat-smacking.