Lakefront Rosie Kriek

Brewed by Lakefront Brewery
Style: Sour Ale
Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA

(Draught) Pours a hazy red body with a small white head. Aroma of cherries, some medicinal, grass, wet leather, and light florals. Flavor of grass, cherries and some wood with a dry, somewhat bitter finish.

FoBAB 2008, Chicago: The brewer told me that he used Rodenbach’s yeast for this. It poured a dull pink body with a frothy, pink tinted head. The aroma was a blending of sweet dark cherries and sour cherries, the former dominating. A tad thin, but tasty. The tartness increased and a fuzzy funkiness was added. Sweet-sour finish. Pretty good.

Hazy to cloudy pink/peach colored liquid. Modest off-white head. Mild scent of sour cherry and dark cherries. Hints of an old dry barn. Fairly calm in flavors. Again a subtle mix of sour and sweet dark cherries. Hints of oak in the back and not much brett. Quite easy to drink and would go well on a hot summer day in the country with some bread and semi-soft cheese.

On draught at the Sugar Maple tavern in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Pours a clear reddish copper sour brew with a creamy white fast dissolving head that dissipates to a thin white ring and spotty lacing. Aroma of tart cherries and white bread malt, some flowery hops and a hint of yeast. Taste is light to medium bodied, tart, with flavors of cherries, white bread, Brett, and some yeast. Finish has a light metallic and very light tart cherry aftertaste.

On tap at Sugar Maple. Pouted lighter-garnet with a short cap of off-white head. The aroma picked up dry cherry dust over wheaty and stemmy notes.. didn’t find much enjoyable character beneath. The flavor had tangy cherries throughout, but with a bit of a metallic feel.. some oaky and earthy notes joined and were enjoyable.. dried out at the very end, showing mild funk and vinous character. Lighter-bodied with a somewhat tacky feel at the back-end (also some residual sugars).. sourness was low-to-moderate.. OK stuff.

FoBAB 2008. The brewer said this was a Kriek lambic style aged on oak and fermented with Rodenbach yeast. Poured a slightly hazy dark orange color with a tall, lasting white head. Smelled of distinct cherry, almost maraschino-ish, with subdued vinegar and oak accents. Light bodied with plenty of cherry flavor that reminded me more of cherry flavored medicine than real cherry. Some honey touched cereal grain came out at the end. There was also a hint of adhesive tape. Eh. Smelled pretty good, but the flavor left a lot to be desired.

Tap. I’ve had this many times before but just am now getting around to rating it. Tart cherries without the funk. Perhaps the brett hasn’t taken over quite yet? Deep brownish red body with very little head. The flavor is tart cherries, sweet cherries, and vanilla. Some sort of light toffee. Medium bodied and tart but not sour.

I heard that this will be bottled. If it’s not too expensive, I’ll be buying it up. A light and drinkable sour kriek beer, this was perfect on the scorching GTMW09 day. Mildly fizzy, pink body. Tart and sour but not overwhelming.