Hanssens Oude Kriek

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

As sour and intense as any kriek I’ve ever had. This bottle might have a bit of age on it (BB 8/2027) so that might make it an August 2007 bottling. If so, cellaring time has not mellowed this beer one bit. Colour is a very illuminated blood orange with a faint brown tinge. Aromas are piercing and painful with vinegar, salt and maybe just a faint fruity touch. More salt, acid, sour citrus fruits drive the flavours although they broaden mid-palate before kicking me in the pants on the finish, although not quite as much as I would have expected. Easy to wax lyrically about a beer like this.

bottle into wine glass. Great clear ruby red body with a small white head that took some effort to stir up via a very aggressive high pour. Aroma is great. Very traditional Kriek with great sour and slightly funky cherry and oak notes. The flavor is just as good and even drier. The cherry character on the flavor is very fresh and not jolly-rancher-like, as many lesser quality krieks exhibit. Super dry and tart, mouth-puckering and mouth-watering. The palate is perfect: just enough carbonation; not overcarbonated like many lambics. The carbonation is like a blend between a highly carbonated lambic and an uncarbonated unblened lambic - minimal and fine. Most full bodied lambic I have ever had. Overall: I have been very into lambics for the past half year or so, but have primarily appealed to geuzes and not fruit lambics; however, this is one of the best lambics I have had. It is by far the best kriek (or any fruit) lambic I have had to date. Great shit! P.S. my girlfriend just said it smells like barbecue!!!. (RE-RATE) Same vintage as last rating + 1 year. Less than aggressive, but not totally uninspired, pop of the cork. Same awesome body color - crystal clear ruby red with a descent white head that fades to a ring. Bumping the flavor up from an 8 to a 9. Nearly perfect cherry quality with just the right amount of sourness. Some extra funkyness would bump this up to a 10. Still a great body. Overall: jesus, I could drink this stuff all day. (10 minutes later) Getting funkier, but still not wuite enough to push the score to 10. Quite spicy on the back of the throat with the sourness. Great stuff, way underrated!

Pours a dark cherry/ ruby red with thin pink head that quickly dissipates. Funky sour aroma with sweet cherry juice, cherries and syrup. Very puckering and vinuous. Sweet cherry syrup flavor that stays sour throughout with a very dry and way too acidic finish.

Thanks to my bro for sharing this. Pours a nice reddish tone with light pink thin head. Aroma is of sour cherries, light wood, horseblanket, and must. Taste is much the same. The sourness and the fruit all play wonderful together which makes for a terrific lambic.

Thanks to TheCheeseMan! Pours an orangish-red color with a thin white head. Aroma is very tart cherries, wood, sour. Taste is the same. Great sourness!

Bottled sample. Bright pinkish red in colour with moderate carbonation. Aromas are of sweet cherry, lemon, and a bit of wood. More sweet cherry and lemon in the mouth, along with a funky cream cheese finish. Fairly light bodied with a fair bit of sourness. Not overly complex or concentrated, but fairly drinkable nonetheless.

Color between pink and red, depends on the angle. Not much head. Aroma is only kissed with cherry, most of the character is the tart citrus and wood of Hanssens classic geuze. The lemon juice notes from the geuze combined with the cherry become more of a grapefruit. Diggin’ it.

looks like a glass of prune juice that screams your gonna take good hot s**T later. Very very funky bretty sour aromas lots of sour cherries in the taste with the same wild crazy flavors that you get in the nose takes a long time to drink because there is so much going on ih the flavor and aroma a litte vinegar puckering in the end great for a change