De Troch Kriek

Formerly brewed at Brouwerij De Troch
Style: Lambic - Fruit
Ternat-Wambeek, Belgium

Hazy red with a reddish head. A aroma of sweet cherry, sour hints and sweet notes. A flavor with cherry notes - tastes more like candy than fruit.

After the Gueuze, myself and Sebastian (DerDoppelbock) gave De Troch’s Kriek a try. Again the bottle was from Joris’ cellar, around 20 years of age, unlabeled and sealed with a crumbling cork that had seemingly begun rotting from the inside. Though not a single bubble formed, the aspect of the liquid itself glinted of a beautiful clear copper red shade. An herbal fragrance reminiscent of cherry tea subtly filled the nose, accompanied by thyme, rosemary and a sweet pipe tobacco blend. Luscious Charentais melon dominates followed by attenuated vanilla and brown sugar scents. The herbal tea and tobacco duo proceeds onto the palate with a medicinal but not unpleasant tonality. Sweet cherry and strawberry flavors are paired with lavender, rosemary, straw and a light coffee finish. Sourness is noticeable but far from emphasized, especially as the nearly uncarbonated texture favors a candy-like wet cherry slickness. Once more, an impressive beer that has aged with grace, though I must admit I wouldn’t hang on to these gems much longer as my example seemed noticeably downhill from its peak.

Garnet body under a slight rosé head. Tart cherries and some malt in the nose. Medium body with nice fizziness. The flavor was tart cherries but not so pleasing.

1987 bottle, courtesy of Joris Pattyn. Thanks, friend! Red brownish brick colour with no head. Lightly acid with flower perfume in nose. Smooth acid, with almost herbal qualities and light resinous illicit qualities, fungal. Smooth and blended, with perfect marriage of flavours. Wow!

This was not the best of cherry beers, but try it if you like the style. If you are a little more wary, pass it up for something a little better.

33 cl. bottle from Joris’ celler dated 1986. It took a while to dig the demolished cork out of the bottle. It poured a pretty clear ruby red with no corbonation. My wife noticed the nose was similar to a brew store. A lot of everything: malt, hops, dirt with funky cherry notes. The flavor was a little more focused: Cherry, leather and earthy. Very nice beer. Thanks to the Dewberrys for sharing this rare treasure

33cL bottle from Joris’ cellar dated 1986. The cork came out in a few pieces but it was in large enough pieces to easily pull out of the glass. It was brownish-red with very little head and it was quite clear. The aroma was absolutely incredible with sour cherries coming through with some sweetness, also. It just took over your senses like some of the great lambics in the world. The taste was almost a letdown after the aroma (haha!). It had medium to strong tartness with delicious cherry, earthy, and leathery notes. It was delicious. Thank you Joris!

I had this one out of Joris’ cellar, it was from the early 80’s - which makes it around 20 years old. The aroma was sour with good fruit notes. The color was brown with a lot of sediment floating around. But the flavor was absolutely fantastic, it contained notes of wood, plums, and old cherries. A fantastic treat - thank You, Joris.