Cantillon Lou Pepe Pure Kriek

Sours, real Belgian sours are a love/hate relationship. As a beer drinker, you either love them or hate them. Some start out hating them and then come to love them, but some just never develop that palate or almost fanatical love for real mouth-puckering Belgian sours. Once you go sour, you never go back, and like euphoria, it draws you ever deeper into her fold and I am happier and more blessed for it.
Cantillon Lou Pepe Pure Kriek is a bottle of delicious pinkish mouth-puckering and watering sour Belgian delight. I can’t think of any better way to describe, and as I write my review, I find myself wishing I had a glass or two to enjoy while I do so.
She pours a cloudy-white punch red with some nice powdery sediment in the finish. Her nose is aglow with sour cherry and raspberry notes. I imagine fields of under-ripe green cherries and raspberries being plucked and crushed right before my eyes as the aroma overwhelms my senses. My first quaff is a sour one-two punch reminding me of the sugar-free lollipops the dentist used to give out which I abhorred, and yet as an aspect of Cantillon’s Lou Pepe Pure Kriek I can’t imagine a more perfect flavor. Not to be outdone, hints of sweet concentrated sugar and sour-unripe berries march right alongside. Her body is light and lingers with but a wee bit of a dry finish as my tastebuds immediately water and demand another quaff. I happily oblige of course, and some sour pink grapefruit notes join the unripe cherries and dark berries to further delight all of my senses. As I finish my Cantillon Lou Pepe Pure Kriek, I can’t help but feel a tinge of sorrow, knowing that our time together is almost over, but I shall always remember her with a twinkle in my eye and an empty glass ready for another filling.
I don’t get to enjoy too many real sour Belgians, whether they are Krieks or Lambics or any of the other fruit flavored sour varieties, but of the ones I have had so far, hands down the Lou Pepe Pure Kriek from Cantillon is my personal favorite. While her thrown may get ousted one day, she shall never travel far from my favor.

Vintage 2003. Red with a big pink head, fat like whipped cream. Beautiful. Nice woody aroma of cherry. The flavour is sour, tart and acid but much more balanced than many other brews from Cantillon.

Pours out a hazy red. Smell is lightly fruity. Taste is tart and funky. With nice woody notes. Somewhat sweet. Not as sour as the regular kriek. Great complex lambic. Very tasty.

1999 corked and capped bottle from Wine Warehouse in Charlottesville (their last bottle... hurrah!) Pours a hazy red with a thin, creamy off-white head. Aroma of sour cherry, wood, horseblanket, funk, sweet hay. Somewhat earthy. Taste is sour cherry with wood and barnyard notes, and an herbal note reminiscent of celery. Very tart. Full bodied.

A beautiful red color and a great beer, but it was beat by the lp framboise in a side by side. Mild cherry aroma with lambic aroma. Sour cherry in the aroma and flavor, but not as sour as the raspberry. Still an exceptional product, and it is quite sour.