Hanssens Oude Kriek

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

Great natural fruit taste. Finish is very refreshing and the amount of cherry is balanced to perfection. No cloying sweetness, in stead a powerfull sour, fruity finish. Great.

Botle, 375ml, aged 4 yrs. Red, flatish, slight pink head. Expecting a classic beer, this is a bit of a disapointment. Whilst appreciating the cherry sourness with the Lambic acidity, there just seems to be a flatness about this. Raw and harsh with a palid palate, the cherry is fresh and strong but over dominating. Not the best Lambis I have had.

33cl bottle. Clear red body, minimal head and nearly no acid the beer. Aroma of sugared sweet cherries, light alcohol, wood, cellar. Sour flavour, with hints of spices, wood and fruits. Easy to drink.

75 cl bottle, ’bbe’ 2018. A very light colour, almost closer to dark pink than to light red. Very turbid with a minimalist head that completely disappears within minutes. An aerial fruity scent, more resembling raspberries or strawberries than cherries, accompanied by an unusual acrid sensation of burnt wood or even milk and tanned leather. The cherries become prominent in the mouth, along with pungent acidity and gentle but unmistakeable almond bitter flavour (cherry stones). Dry to the bone with a finish that makes your entire oral cavity shrink like a sea anemone that is being disturbed.

375ml bottle at the Box Bar. Pours a cidery red type color with a very small white fizzy head. Nose is kinda cidery, lots of cork like woody notes, some cherries. Taste is lovely, a rush of light sourness, bitterness, cherrys, some nice wood features, a light bit of funk in the sour and finishes with some fizziness in the back of your throat.

375 ml bottle from Premier Gourmet in Buffalo, NY (Dec 2005). No date, but judging from the very soft "pop" as I opened it and the look of the cork, a couple years old at least....fizzy head diminishes to a stable small cap atop the pink-tinted bronze thickly-bubbled body....very, very sour brett aroma, little cherry but plenty of tart apple and horseblanket, leather....in the body howevever tart black cherries and traces of bitter almonds are very present, offering a delicate, beautiful balance with the massive sourness that eventually overtakes them towards the end....bready malts, immense mineralic bitterness....this is every bit as tart as a Cantillon, more restrained overall in the flavor and nose perhaps but probably just a hair more drinkable. Absolutely mouthpuckering to finish. I think for me this could use another year or two, it’s just a bit much now.

Aroma is sour, yeasty with hints of dried cherries and musty soil. Color is amber leaning toward orange/red with a well established, firm white head. Flavor is quite sour with dominating notes of rotting oranges and hints of fresh cherries. Mild wood notes, but some cork flavors as well. Not sure of the date on my bottle, but it is probably 2004ish. I feel like this could age amazingly well, but it’s still a good beer as it stands.

Gold/ruby body. No head. Nose is cherries, oak, lemon, acidic funk. Some slightly balsamic notes. Lemon up front followed by a surprisngly sweet cherry rush. Yeast, lemon, oak, funk. A bit of balsamic/grape soda. Very dry oakey cherry finish. Nice!