Liefmans Cuvée Brut (was: Kriekbier)

Brewed by Liefmans (Moortgat)
Style: Sour Ale
Oudenaarde, Belgium

Appearance: Red, hint of brown. Little bit of head (fizzy). Aroma: Fruit, strong cherry. A bit sour. Taste: Sour cherry, but also very sweet. Info: 375ml bottle, 30/1-2007, 139/500

Bottle. Deep, cloudy brown-orange colour, with little carbonation or head. Aroma is a mix of sour cherry, alchohol and yeast. Very tart flavour with a little bitterness hidden underneath. A nice sour ale, but not my first style choice.

Bottled. Fresh and strong blackberry, cherries, very pleasant. Doesn’t smell Acesulfam K at all! Brown/pink small head. Very good taste. Strong, and not that artificial. Sorry, have to eat cake now... RERATE 10/2008: Not so good after all. I changed aroma from 9 to 6, taste from 8 to 6, palate from 4 to 3, total form 14 to 12.

Rich muddy mahogany. Sweet aroma of bright maraschino cherries, cinnamon, tart cherries, cookie dough. Somewhat grassy traces of funk are weak. Thoroughly sugary but not cloyingly or disappointingly; the freshness of the fruit character is quite winning. Altogether clean, which for something like this is both a good and a bad thing.

Similarly, the flavor is rather punchy with fresh, juicy cherry sweetness; underneath, there’s a really dry, powdery spice character of nutmeg and allspice, and some acerbic, seedy bitterness. More tartness from the fruit juice than sourness, but again, it’s really quite workable because of its simple freshness. Moments of darkish cola flavors of synthetic chocolate, licorice and vanilla. Hints of wet, woody oxidation and very mild horseblanket traces lend a seemingly appropriate amount of must to this consistent sweetness.

Medium body is sparkly and sticky with a strikingly enamel stripping cola texture. Cherry skin and red licorice in a lengthy, sweet, acidic finish. An amicable fruit offering, if there isn’t much sour to appreciate.

Bottle from capones. Dark cherry pour with a rust tint. Aroma of sour cherries and some funky yeast. Taste is nice and sour but well balanced. Lots of cherry through out. Very good and refreshing.

bottle. Aroma is sour with cherries and funk beer. Pours dark brown with no head. Flavor is sour and oxidized. Bad bottle, just horrible. Will have to try another but till then Liefmans, CAP YOUR BEER!! Had to pour out.

Pours dark rust with very small head. Fruity and cherry nose. Flavor is all cherry up front with a tangy sourness that grabs you for another sip. Nice and clean to the finish.

Bottle.

Pours a deep plum red with a small head. Lovely fruity cherry flavors, well balanced by liefmans’ sourness, making it an easy-drinking but not syrupy kriek. Very enjoyable. 7/4/8/4/15=3.8

On revisiting an ’06 bottle in June ’09, still easy-drinking, but now sorta syrupy. Too sweet.