Liefmans Fruitesse Kriek

Formerly brewed at Liefmans (Moortgat)
Style: Fruit Beer
Oudenaarde, Belgium

Bottle. A strong red cherry aroma - just like fresh cherry juice. Dark red color with small head. Sweet syrupy fresh red cherry flavor - a bit of a plastic/artificial finish though. This tastes pretty good but so does snowcone syrup - actually that would be a good use for this beer. Ultra sweet and does have a bit of alcohol thrown in.

Very sweet, sugary, syrupy cherry aroma. Almost opaque red wine like colour with a generous pink head that recedes slowly with excellent lacing. Sugary, sweet, fruit syrup-like concentrated flavour is lightly medicinal and has some tea-like tannins that are more apparent in the finish. Light body with very aggressive, prickly carbonation and a very sticky texture. I can’t say this is bad, but I equally cannot say I’d like another glass. Sampled at Mondial de la Bière 2005.

Draught sample from the McAusland booth at the Mondial. Dark purplish red with a lasting touch of pink foam and some lacing, nearly opaque....sweet, simple fruity nose is pleasant enough if more like sweetened juice than beer...very, very sugary body with barely a hint of tartness, much like cough syrup without the alcohol burn...reminiscent of Lindemans, but even more unbalanced. Candy in a glass; I don’t know that I could drink more than four ounces of this, and why would I want to?

On draught at Mondial, June 2005. Good pink head, well-retained with lacing, atop a cherry-juice red body, quite hazy. Aroma of cherry ludens (cough drop/candies) with light raspberries. Notes of tartness, some light powdery yeast and sugar. Cherry licorice, perhaps. Flavor is all out chewy sweet-tarts. Some very light souring on the end. So much candy it’s hard to believe. Body is all sugar, not watery, of course, but there is little, or probably no beer here. Low carbonation, slightly powdery mouthfeel. Full sugared body.

Couleur rouge éclatante, mousse rose aux fines bulles éphémères. Arômes de poudre de Jello, de cassis et même un peu d’alcool. Pleinement concentré de fruits artificiels en bouche, un peu médicinal, rappelant étrangement le protecteur d’émaille au fluore utilisé par le dentiste. Les faux fruits ne sont jamais attrayants pour moi. Échantillon, mondial de la bière, Juin 2005.

Mondial de la Bière de Montréal 2005. Jell-O pas pris, Kool-aid. Arômes mi-sucré mi-acide... Hissshhhh!

Bottled. Dark red, foamy reddish head. Cherry aroma, a bit like Lindemans Kriek. Pleasant flavour of cherry with some citric and earthy notes. It took a while to get used to the "differency" in this one, but once I took some more sips I began liking it more and more.

Bottle Red, sparkling body. Deep pink, creamy head. No lace. Overwhelming, sweet cherry aroma. Oh, I do hate those aromas. Moderately sweet flavour.