Cantillon Saint Lamvinus

Brewed by Cantillon
Style: Lambic - Fruit
Brussels, Belgium

light puple/reddish in color with no head at all. Very refreshing with a not so suble hint of berries and carbonation. I enjoyed the contrast of slightly bitter with very sweet.

2002 cork date. Pours a shade or 2 darker than a rose, slightly pink hued head, beer actually takes on a sort of copper color as I meditate on it. First thing I smell is sulphur like...goaty cheese, its nearly repugnant...but fascinating...and as it breathes it opens up a bit. Lots of acid, a touch medicinal, wonderfully balanced with a touch of fruitiness, earth, tannin, and....pretty wonderful.

750 mL bottle, capped & corked (Bottled in 2002; sampled June 2005): Explosive cork removal, under a rusted cap. Deep, shinning violet garnet body; fiercely & quickly diminishing, large light pink bubbles…but a constant stream of bubbles remains at the edges. Tart, acidic aroma with hints of iron, blood and leather. A lively mustiness is like a brand new leather couch in a dank cement basement. Nicely carbonated, outrageously flavourful and strangely addictive…moves a bit towards the tart end as it warms with sharp blood, cobwebs, tannins and limestone taking center stage with acidic blueberries, leatherized grape skins and sour lemonade. Truly amazing, unique and complex.

Poured light red, with very minimal carbonation. No head. Reminded me of a sparkling rose wine. Typical funky cantillon aroma. Flavour is a balance between wonderful acidic lambic and sweet grapes. Really nice refreshing stuff.

Had this at Rich O’s Public House and shared with three other people. $40 for a 750mL bottle. Good thing we shared it. Pours a brilliant light red color with a very small head, which was expected. Lots of funky stuff going on in the aroma. Fruit (grape), sweetness, sour, acid, it’s all there. The flavor was very much the same as the aroma predicted. Strange tart/sour character with a great background flavor from the grapes. Very complex. There’s a lot going on here. Very enjoyable. Very odd as well. I’m glad I got to try this one.

(on bottle) Strawberryred, no head. Aromas of barn and sour grapes, amazing how the barrels has had an influenze on this thing. taste is rather sweet, black currant, but it has a very tart finish. Think´ll serve this for my wine-loving dad.

Appearance is of a dark cranberry juice mixed with a splash of grape juice. Has some lively carbonation lineage along the sides. Crunchy threaded bubbles of foam decorate the top in a dusty pinkish white. Very active and popping and light amounts of lacing in thin strings. Shrinks down fairly fast as its surface smoothes out some then to a nothing-like misty haze on top and a thin collaring. Outstandingly strong aroma, which is nothing out of the ordinary for Cantillon. Lots of brisk and lively sour-tartness fully dancing amoung a floor of acidic fibers. Whole mustard seeds, sharp white cheese, dirty barn floor hay, and vinegar all add to a vineous strength of sour stuff tickling the nose. Like a red wine on lambic steroids. Taste is no different. Tons of tickling sour-tart-acidic stuff. Vineous vinegars, layers of highly sour bread grains, old cheese, puckering sugars, and lambic yeast all make for a big effect of smooth and delicate dryness. Each sip brings another layer of dryness after the tart stuff clears a path. Not as funky as the smell eludes too. What I found unique and mcuh more to my liking about this compared to other Cantillon’s I’ve had is that this was much more easier on the palate to control. It reminded me of a Saison with a kick of extra sour dough breads, yeast, and an addition of grapes. Feathery medium/heavy dryness and tart supplied, multi-layered, acidicness keep this sucker pretty tongue tingly and cheek-scraped dry. One of the things I couldn’t quite get used to was its overall dryness. The sour stuff leads right into it and it takes every corpuscle in your mouth prisoner as it ghostly leaves all sorts of weird cottony-tart left overs. Again, like a grapey saison. Drinkability is OK, takes a good while to get used to. It has a nice saison quality to it that I tend to like over the other true lambics that Cantillon is known for. Think of it as a vinegar spiked red wine blended with a saison.

Murky dark rose color with a small lid of pink bubbles. Brett. and Cab. mix in the aroma. Fresh grape skins and mild malt mingle and please this nose. Light fruity sweetness, grapes and blackberries come to mind. Lightly oily in the front and slightly sticky in the back of the mouth. Light tartness, that in the realm of Cantillions, almost seem mild. Visions of an old barn with wild grapes covering the northern face come to mind. I could spend many a hot summer night with one of these, well maybe if they weren’t quite as pricey. Still a great brew for a special occasion.