Cantillon Oude Lambik

Brewed by Cantillon
Style: Lambic - Unblended
Brussels, Belgium

2 yr old. Highly hazy golden lambic with no head. Light lactic acid and cheesey aroma, with light cherry notes. Very noce and sour, but lacking in complexity of the others tatsed. Light astringence. Sampled at Quintessence Cantillon 2005.

Cask @ GBBF 2005 (2 year old): Orange coloured. Uncelar. No head. Totally flat. Fresh grapish aroma. Has some good sour notes balanced by a vague sweetness. This is like drinking lemonade. Is very good balanced. Very crisp and refreshing. After a load of english cask ales (and I love them) this really did it for me.

Cask conditioned - gravity dispense GBBF 2005. 2 years old. A hazy shining orange coloured beer with no head. The aroma is funky with cheesy farmyard notes. It is fresh and makes your mouth water and your lips pucker. The taste is quenching with cheesy tastes and typical funky Cantillon notes. Not as easy to drink as the Girardin unblended but still very good indeed.

Draught @ Monk’s Cafe in Philladelphia: Brewed in November, 2002. I was very excited when I spotted this on the tap list for the night. Lightly hazy, near clear but not quite, light amber-yellow body with no head. The beer has no carbonation, which is to be expected. Aroma: Starts off with mild apples, pears, then opens up to wet hay, aged water-logged wood, barnyard, and a slight funky cheese. It’s possible that it was just the glass, but the aroma did not seem as assertive as other lambics. Taste: This was milder than most other lambics, particularly one from Cantillon, and packed no in-your-face sourness up front like I was expecting. Rather, it was almost sweet and had notes of light honey, wood, lightly tart citrus, and a house yeast character that lasts. Medium dry, no carbonation, with an almost complete lack of acidity. This beer is so easy to drink that I had to force myself to slow down and enjoy it.

I tasted this at the brewery and it was an interesting experience. The beer’s aroma is quite good, but nothing special. The taste however is a strange blend of a heavily sour start with medium bitterness in the end. It was like nothing I had ever tasted before, and I have had better lambiks since. Worth a try for sure, but try to comnbine it with a visit at the Brewery in Brussels. And try the Faro as well - it is even more complex.

Draught @ Moan & Dove: Perfect floral perfumey nose, light barnyard, woody, fresh citric acidity, cheese, hay, green apple nose. Hazy golden copper peach hue. Pleasant dry dusty body, cobwebs, faintly sour, citric, bretty, subtle carbonation, finishing clean with delicate sour notes. Very drinkable, and quite nice. I love Cantillon and can’t get enough.

Cask F12 at the brewery. Fruity, acidic aroma. Clear golden/orange colour, no head. Acidic and bitter. A little more sweetness and a fresh acidity in the end. 6 3 5 3 11

GBBF08. Hazy amber colour. Citric teaish flavour, hint of vomit, perhaps mold. 7 3 7 3 16

2003 F 12 cask at the brewery. Copper colour with no head. Heavy acid grape aroma and a heavy sour fruity taste. Medium to full body and a sour finish.