De Cam Oude Kriek

Brewed by Geuzestekerij De Cam
Style: Lambic - Fruit
Gooik, Belgium

Bottle from Quinn’s in Camden, 6.5% abv. I’d normally be embarassed to admit drinking a cherry beer, not this one! Pours an opaque cherry red with no head at all, from a rating standpoint it’s weakest feature. Sour cherry candy nose and taste (Jolly Rancher) with notes of yeast. Slightly salty but tart and tangy with a nice syrupy palate. Comes at you from all angles and will definately wake up any lazy tastebuds. Delicious, one of my favorites to date...

rbesg06, bottle at delirium. bright ruby colour with a slight pink head. aroma of sour apple, cobweb, sour cherry syrup. intense whack of sourness which reminded me that my teeth have fillings which i think is why i also tasted some aluminium foil. crazily sour and crazily good. thanks to magicdave6 and garethyoung for the sample (and a few others)

75 cl bottle, bottled in 2005. Shiny red with a dark pink hue. Fine but very thick cloudiness, volatile pink head. Lactic acid dominates the aroma, which also gives off some barnyard and fruit. A hint of the stones, too. Uncompromisingly sour taste with cherries and citrus around and behind. Very smooth, oily texture.

Bottled. Ruby red coloured with a rather large head. Nice and full flavour of berries (cherry). Very well balanced.

Opaque dark cherry body with no head to speak of. Aroma is like walking into a cellar. More sour than acid but with a cherry taste that remains under control (I don’t like krieks with predominant cherry taste). I don’t think it goes through oak barrels but it tastes like it. Some strawberry flavours in there too. I wasn’t impressed by the gueuze but the De Cam Kriek might just be the best of its kind that I ever had. Another good reason why Belgium should be the next country we invade.

(Bottled) Very hazy ruby red color with almost no head. Tart, earthy, slightly sulphury, natural cherry aroma with low acidity and some salty seaweed. Very pleasant, dry and natural cherry flavor with lots of apples, lemon and acidity. Some sweetish cherry-peel in the finish. Medium-bodied, acidic palate with low carbonation. A very pleasant and natural kriek with high but tolerable (natural) acidity.

Draught - Bruxellensis Festival - A deep bright cherry red coloured beer with no head. The aroma is sour and intensely fruity. Lots of unsweetened cherry notes. The taste is acidic. Cherries again. Smacking and mouth puckering. Lambic burn. Tasty and moreish. Lovely stuff.

Please forgive me father for I have sinned. This is the absolute, the nasty, the beyond precognition depth of my demise, for I have forsaken you, amongst things, in imbibing in what is the clear path to hell. It is the elixir, it is sour as hell. But I repent... ’Forgive me, but I must imbibe again!’. I know this one has nothing to do with religious sermon as does I, but holy, snapping dregs of beaten pillows (?) this was grandeur. I even needed the aid of a few Caol Ila’s to recover the memories of my tasting this one.
Happy at a bottle of the best Gueuze money and spirited blenders could forfeit, I upon myself found this. An aged bottle not needed, at the ’t Brugs Beertje, Brugges, I had to have this fresh. Afore warned by one English speaking barman this was heavy, I retorted ’Yeah, umm, lovely, in a bottle, corked. I shall hold this til the naked hour, a glass I please!?!’ From that I, my wife include, ventured back to our haunted ’haunt’ and asked to be sole guests in its ghostly front room. The sun had reached its due and was receding behind the buildings of this old town. That was when the magic happened.
It erupted upon the cork freeing, a yeast burp that could knock an SS squad dead. After this release become layers of character, each nickling and tickling. Upper wafts of dead and dying funk, dank casks and cellar must - it is a Kriek, I’m getting to that! - a very distinct odour of oxidised swarf in clean bins, straps of leather, fresh crimped and of course that fruit. This was tight, and by that I mean it creeped into the nostrils and tied my nose hairs together in an acidic challenge that bewildered me. The fruits attacked what was left. I loved it. Acidic, defined cherries absorbing whatever was left of the olfactories. Bugger it, there up for sale and this one bought them.
What did it look like? If I cared it would be of some smoothy pureed at a health store . Nasty to look at, you can’t lie. Ruby in colour, shades of pink roughage, no head unaided by the lack of carbonation. In the body held is so much fruit it is uncompromising and in the light opaque, this is Lambic Smoothie. The palate grips, tears and streams. It is light and yet easily sinks into overpowering. Tart beyond reconcile but so much in control. Wamm, bamm this is fruity. Upfront a heavy tickle, mid-palate holds tart and souring cherries like those you dare not touch and the apex reeks havoc. I loved it, it was all funk and junk, acid and sour cherries, goat hair and sweaty horse blanket, baby spew, soft cheese, exotic, malpicked, tart fruit. All can describe, all can lie. This was fantastic, bueno, lovely, complete. Became fruity as it ended phase young. Quite heavy, acidic as it delved into life after opening. I had my taste buds on high alert and still surrendered to this Beer upon beers. Absolutely lovely. Heaven and this!. The perfect Kriek, devilish is best!!! (37,5cL, 6.5% ABV, bottled 09/05)