Crombe Oud Kriekenbier

Brewed by Brouwerij Strubbe
Style: Sour Ale
Ichtegem, Belgium

Bottle, 33 cl. Re tasted after years. Clear dark amber-red color with thin off white-pinkisch head. Aroma raspberry cherry beer, little sourness. . Bit of plastic on aroma. Medium body. Taste cherries, sour, dry end. Good fruitbeer.

33cl. bottle: Pours a brilliant "kir royale" rose with orange edges. White head lasts no more than 10 seconds. Sour cherry aroma wearing a citrus soaked horse-blanket. Very pleasant. Tart fruits, green apple, and citrus with acidic backbone, but not over the top. Tart cherries and cherry pits introduce themselves after the acid calms down. Good finish with cherry, touch of peach, and some tin. Quite refreshing. This would be great with any greasy meal. Time to run to the fritkot!

Bottle. OK fat cherry aroma, slightly farty. Pale red colour, lots of small floaties. Very small head. The flavour is tart, turning citric with a faint hint of cherry. Has a lambicky tartness at the very beginning. Rough bitterness. Finishes on a strange plastic note at the back of the mouth. After a few sips, the unpleasant notes seem to disappear, leaving a nicely sour beer. 5 3 6 3 13

Bottle. The aroma is slightly citric. The flavour is very citric, a little vinegar and a lot of sweet fruity apple acid. 6 3 8 3 18

Pours a clear red color with a thin white head. Good aroma and flavor of sour cherries with wild yeast. The body is light with a dusty texture and soft carbonation.

Bottle from the early ’90s, offered me years ago by Joris Pattyn
Bright ruby color, with a thin white collar. Wonderful sour aroma, pungent, a bit fruity and with cellar hints; later it’s also woody, with a light touch of milk chocolate. Good body structure, aggressive sourness, a lot of lemon juice; the sourness turns into bitterness; harsh; when warmer the mouthfeel is smoother and there is also a touch of hazelnuts. The palate is nice and astringent to start, but quite short. Very good. Lambic?

In short: Dry, acidic and sour fruit beer. Like a fruit-lambic minus the funkiness. Excellent.
How: Montreal-crew sour-beer tasting. Too small of a sample. Bottle from Rastacouere.
The look: Clear red-orangey body topped by a little white ring of foam
In long: The beer is obviously fruity (cherries, pomegranates, apples skin, raspberries) and also has a nice barley candy flavour without the sweetness. The beer is very dry, pleasantly so. It has a nice sourness and as much acidity as most fruit lambic. Second beer I have from this little known brewery and both were kick-ass and underrated. Belgium’s best kept secret since that other great Belgium thing I’ve never heard about.

My Bottom Line:
Musty dryness and fruity tartness evolve into a gripping sour finish for a frank and personable Sour Ale.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A ring of foam circles the clear orangey red.
-The fruitiness involves raspberries, cherries and pomegranates.
-A drop of honey attemps to alleviate the prevalent sourness.
-The aroma could have been more inviting and the flavor profile more complex.

Bottle.

Bottle: Poured a red color with a white color carbonated head. The aroma is a sour old like cherry. Taste is very sour and overwhelming to my palate, very tangy and burns.