Girardin Kriek

Brewed by Brouwerij Girardin
Style: Lambic - Fruit
Sint Ulriks-Kapelle, Belgium

Aroma: Excellent aroma of cherries, well-blended into a Lambiek background. Flavor: Perfect, with -as can be expected-, cherries, but definitely dry, with good acids, well-tempered by the cherry flavor. Palate: again, the clear cherry taste tempering the otherwise (in traditional Geuze) rather down-to-earth animal-associative ’manure’ qualities of Lambiek. In my ’tending to be civilized’ attitude, an improvement on the ’hard’ Geuze characteristics. Appearance: lovely wine-like cherry hue (a bit the color of Barolo wine), with much nicer creamy head than Geuze. Overall: I love this beer. It has definite sparkling-wine-like qualities, with fine foam and bubbles, the cherry flavor tempering the excellent Lambik base. My wife likes the Girardin Kriek much more than the Geuze, for it’s refinement. It is rare to have such a good product, wherein the ’artisanal’ character is fully evident.

A lovely colour. Dainty unlike some off-putting brown fruit beers you come across. A sharp cherry/cranberry nose with underlying candied notes. Sweet anf floral as soon as it hit the tongue with then gets back to your glands and swells you with saliva. It mellows to a really amazing fresh and fleshy cherry What a finish! Delicate champagne carbonation that is light on the tongue and suits the style and flavours impeccably. I drank this with Marsala poached pears with a sweet vanilla cream. The beer works so wonderfully with this cleaning the palate from the sweetness of the cream. The two fruits mingle and play with the christmassy spices of the sauce filling my nose with really interesting mixes.

Dark amber red with light brown foam. Aroma is undescribable ... Nice sour cherry taste, right down my alley. REAL KRIEK !

Deep burgundy. Dry and balanced. Light aroma of sour cherries. Reminiscent of a Cabernet Sauvignon. The draught version appears more fruity, and is even better than the bottled one.

A blood-red sunrise fills the sky above the rolling hills behind the sprawling oak barn. A light southerly breeze sweeps across my nose filled with spicy top soil, cobwebs and smashed, oozing cherries. . . After a long deep breath I notice the blossoming cherry trees to the south and understand the sweetness in the air. Another deep breath and I find the air palpable - sour cherries, tart grapes, leather, and cold stone leave my mouth watering. Desire for more consumes me. . . I look up as the sun falls below the horizon, the breeze diminishes and I am left staring into the night longing for more. . . perhaps the ‘morrow will bring something more.

ReRerate: 5/30/03: Again, inconsistency problems plague this beer - this time highly carbonated and not syrupy, with excellent aroma characteristic and great sour components, but not all put together. Rerate: 2/01/03: Syrupy; unbelievably sweet and thick...quite different from the first sample. Wow, still great, but must drop a bit. Bummer! Original: 1/09/03: Perfect...Perfect...I though nothing could surpass the Oud Beersel Kriek...this has a tiny bit less yeasty cheesy horseblanketness and even better sweet/sour balance. Very dark and unfiltered. Unbelievable. I am in heaven now.

Bottle shared by sliffy. Aroma of vanilla and cherries is absolutely delectable. Deep red in color with a nice white head. Medium palate with perfect carbonation. The taste is a blend of vanilla and cherries, lightly sour with some oak. Great flavor!

dark ruby colour, fine head, deep cherry and wine-like aroma, well-structured, great sourness, very long aftertaste - great beer