Cantillon Soleil de Minuit

Formerly brewed at Cantillon
Style: Lambic - Fruit
Brussels, Belgium

Bottle: Pub Vildanden, Lund.

I’ve been looking forward to this one for a while. Comes in a beautifully wrapped 375ml Champagne bottle. Not much pop in the cork was a small worry, but the beer poured a slightly hazed apricot colour and a small white head rose, and stayed around for only a short while.

Aroma is simply amazing, incomparable to anything I’ve smelt before, sure... it has some of the Cantillon house notes that show in all their beers, but the sheer intensity and complexity of fresh cloudberry combined with bretty notes separates it. You could smell it from at least a meter away. Up close, I noted some composting lemons, vanilla, oak, as well as a slightly more intense brett character than most Cantillons I’ve tried before. Words do not really describe the depth and complexity the aroma has, all I can do is say ’wow’ and give it a 10. The first sip carries a sharp acidity, but rounds out into a smooth fruity tang, the cloudberry is far more subdued than in the aroma and almost tastes more like very ripe apricot. Other flavours are of oak, carsick, vanilla, lime and white grapes. A small step down from the aroma, but to be honest it was always going to struggle to live up to that. Finish is acidic, sharp, dry but fruity. A classic beer I will never forget.

37,5 cl bottle at Akkurat, Stockholm. Bottled in 1999. I do not think I have ever seen such a beautiful beer with its pinkish orange colour, cloudy, and with that irresistable eggwhite head that stays till the very end. Immensely complex aroma; cheese is very prominent, farmyard aromas puts the sharp acidity somewhat in the background. Flavours are more fruity with the lemony lambik characterin the lead, though cheese is always there. The mellow character of the cloudberries are only very faint, but what can you expect from a 7 year old bottle of fruit lambik? Still quite lively and definitely dry to the bone. It is a beer that makes you see the midnight sun even on a winter night in Stockholm.

375ml bottle at the <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Place/sweden/s target=blank>Akkurat in Stockholm, Sweden. Vintage 1999. Golden orange in colour, dissipating white head, no lacing. The cloudberries in the aroma are spectacular and they provide the sweetness, sour and tart, some wood, light orange zest, acidic. Easy one of the best aromas I have come across. I didn’t think that it could get any better then the aroma until I tasted it. Wow. The cloudberry sweetness balanced with the usual Cantillon funk make this one fun lambic. Apples, cheese, must, acidic. Lightly sour mouthfeel, medium body, medium/high carbonation. Finishes sweeter then most Cantillon lambic, it seems to last forever. Astonishing is the only word I can think of.

Bottle at Akkurat, 2006. I think the vintage was ’99. Beautiful orange, cloudberry colour. Sparkling. The nose is full of lambic sourness and cloudberries. So is the taste. Dry and sour, surprised at how well the cloudberries go with the lambic, as if they were made for each other. The combination really makes sense. Seems I’ll have to get a hold of some other Cantillon brews in the future.

Bottle at Vildanden Lund. Mmm... cloudberrys. A fantastic and really interesting lambic from Cantillon, thanks Akkurat!

Bottle. Hazy golden coloured with a small but lasting off white head. Aroma of horse blanket and wood with light acidic notes. Flavour of horse blanket, wood, berries and cloudberries with light acidic notes. Not as acidic as most other lambics from Cantillon.

Beautiful dark golden, little unclear body with a small beautiful white head that lasts; Super, super deep exceptionally complex, very intense nose. Very interesting balance between sweet and sour. The Hjotron stands out exceptionally clear, with some sweetness (I only know the smell of Hjotron from Hjotron jam, though), behind it there are lots of grapefruit, wood, vanilla etc. IT IS JUST FANTASTIC!; The body is very, very sour and dry and fits the nose perfectly; It moved into a just as sour and dry finish, again with lots of Hjotron in extreme lengths. Very, very well balanced beer, even when this sour and this dry. AMAZING!!!

First rating
Bottle at Akkurat in Stockholm, Sweden. November 2005.
Brewed for Akkurat by Cantillon, flavored by cloudberries. Put on bottle in 1999, matured well since.
Very nice smooth scent and flavor, well balanced but still sour. Part from the price I wouldn’t mind having a few more ot these.
9/4/9/4/18=4.4

Second rating
(Bottle at Pub Vildanden, Lund)
Shady copper color, white head. Sweet mixed with sour scent, some cloudberry as well. Sour cloudberry fruity sweet taste, also citrus. Cloudberry aftertaste. Spritzy mouthfeel, low bitterness.
9/3/9/3/17=4.1

Average rating: 9/4/9/3/18=4.3