CooperSmiths Belgian Style Kriek Ale

Brewed by CooperSmiths Pub & Brewing
Style: Sour Ale
Fort Collins, Colorado USA

On tap at Coopersmiths(drank not crushed) poured a clear dark reddish brown with a small lingering amber head. Aromas of sour cherry, oak, light horseblanket and a hint of vinegar. Palate was light bodied and crisp with a dry tart finish. Flavors of sour cherry, oak, earthiness, light horseblanket and a hint of vinegar with a crisp dry lingering tart cherry finish.

Pours a deep cherry red color with a white head. Aroma is cherries, brett, oak, tart fruit, and some funk. Flavor is cherry, oak, brett, tart fruit, slightly spicy, and a sweet cherry finish.

Tap @ CooperSmiths: Poured a cleer deep cherry red color with an off-white head. Tart leathery funk aroma. Strong but not crazy (cause I like the stank). Nice sour cherries. The flavor was yeasty and woody with cherry flesh and stones. Fairly acidic in the thorat. Light to medium bodied. Smooth mouthfeel. This was the best they had to offer on this visit.

Coopersmith’s Kriek poured a cloudy light brown with some reddish tinges. It was served in a brandy snifter and had a small white head that collared around the edge of the glass.

The aroma was sweet, tart cherries with some sour notes.

The taste was a smooth malt up front. It had some strong cola-like notes like the cola flavored candy sticks. Then it had some tangy cherry notes that were not overwhelming at all, and a yeasty aftertaste. It left a sour tanginess on the tongue. It was pretty full-bodied, much more so than was I was expecting from a fruit lambic.

Overall, I liked this, a little too cola-y though. This is one of my first forays into lambics, so I’m not sure how true to style it is.

Ah, another fine sour beer from Coopersmiths! Pours clear copper, moderate beige head. Light sour aroma. Taste is remarkably like the great Oud Bruin, athough a bit toned down especially in the deparment of oak flavors. Nice mild sour cherry taste all over, great acidity and tart bite. Slightly yeasty. Long fruity, sour finish. Good stuff for sure.

On tap @ the brewpub, served in a snifter. Clear copper with a one finger off-white head, fading to a thick ring and little island of foam. Lots going on in the aroma--red wine, oak, sour cherries and skins, light lemon, light leather, and faint wheat. The flavor adds more cherry skins and juice, and tones back a bit on the red wine character. The finish is all wheat after the acidity peaked @ a 6. Medium body with light prickly carbonation. A very pleasant surprise.

Draft at the brewpub. Waiter INSISTED he bring me a taster bc it was a "weird" beer and I prob wouldn’t like it. Ha! I liked it enough to get a glass. Well done! Nose is predominantly tart, sour cherries - with a backdrop of wood and a touch of cobweb funk. Flavor was spot on with the balance concept...mild brett marries sour cherries and a nice oak presence and a mellowing sweet character. a bit of a vinegar dressing amidst it all. This doesn’t drown your senses in mouth puckering fortitude, but is gracefully drinkable while maintaining a flavor profile that doesn’t come off like a cheap imitation. It might have been a bit more enjoyable with a better flowing carbonation as it ran a bit still. I dig this - very well done indeed, especially considering my expectations.

On tap at the berwery. Poured a nice deep red with a faint white head. A very strong almost over powering cherry taste.