Hanssens Oude Kriek

Brewed by Hanssens Artisanaal
Style: Lambic - Fruit
Dworp, Belgium

375mL bottle, no date. Clear orange with a small off-white head interspersed with some bigger bubbles. Nose in the glass--lots of funk, lemon, acidity, light sweet Luden’s Cherry cough drops, and leather. Nose just out of the glass--some faintly sweet cherries become more apparent. Fairly sour, but not necessarily puckeringly sour. There are some nicely sweet notes and light bitter earthiness to help combat heartburn (I usually get) after a bottle of acidic lambic. There is also some dry wood. Carbonation is next to minimal, and the body is medium. I quite liked this one.

[Odense-tasting at Scheffel. Bottle from Christian.] This has more sweet lemon-notes than the balance permits, then it seems some unbalanced. Could be very nice caused by the "oude" and the underlying sourness added with grapy notes. ...But too much sweet lemon. Not good!

Cherries, earthy, funky, acidic aroma. Pours cloudy red with a pink head. Great flavor, acidic, that classic farmy dryness, sweet and sour cherries, vinegar notes. Classic lambic! You feel it on the back sides on your tongue. Love it!

Ribena pink with a off white head. Sour cherry, vinegar, dusty, earthy like. Very fruity - a bit sour taste. Manuer, salty - bites my cheek! Great! Re-tasted bruxelles okt. 07.

Light red colour, with a small white head. Some leather, cherry, earth and grass in the aroma. Very sour cherry flavour, lots of complex funky notes, from earthy to wood and leather, leading to a fruity aftertaste.

[596-20070908] 1pt9.4floz @ Sourfest 2007 (Buffalo, NY, w/ rudolf, frylock, IPFreely, jerc, swoopjones). Heavy wood malt aroma with some fruit and light medicinal notes. Hazy, dark brown red body with quick white bubbles. Generic fruit and cherries flavour with medium alcohol and a nice fruity finish. Medium body, very sour. Super sour, great in small quantities.

Bottle @ ChristianScheffel tasting. [thank you Christian]
. Pours a wonderful deep clear red - almost looks like Ribena :o) A small white-pink head sits on top. Aroma is musky (horseblanket as cab put it) with lots of cherries. A little light feeling. Flavour is a bit limited, quite tart, very fruity. Well it is okay, but nothing special for a Lambic.

After seeing my buddy walter’s rating, I realized I had never rated this. So I wandered to the fridge, grabbed one, and popped it on open. I think I’ve had this bottle for about 2 years now. Sediment thrown cakes one side of the bottle nicely. Poured a remarkably clear rose color, quite like the photo on this page, but with very little head. Aroma distinctly cheesy, which I’ve come to expect with Hanssens, with typical horseblanket notes and sour dark fruits. Flavor matched, but there was some actual sweetness on a cherry accented finish. Quite full bodied. Enjoyable, although I tend to prefer other lambic makers.