Liefmans Gluhkriek

Brewed by Liefmans (Moortgat)
Style: Fruit Beer
Oudenaarde, Belgium

Keerstbierfestival in Essen ’03: [Warm draught] The aroma is of cloves, orange and cinnamon and probably other spices i did not recognize. The flavour is like Glögg at first, then a sour, fresh, sweet and mild feeling spread in the mouth. It is really fantastic! The red colour is beautyful. It has no head, nor carbonation, but the flavour is marvellous!

Paired with German chocolate cake, mulled. Nose is mediciney, cherry, alcoholic. Warm and acidic with an instant dryness. Some alcohol in the middle, almost like cough syrup at first, but fades to a very dry and tart aftertaste. Perfectly paired, though, as the cake’s sweetness was over the top.

A unique beer experience, for sure. We sampled this at exactly 70 C. Starts with no head and a fascinating red color. Smells like mulled wine. Sweet cherry tastes and earthy tones. Chalky finish. Thinish. I Like Quelqe Chose better - the only things I can really compare this to.

Perhaps my bottle was "tainted" if you will, but this didn’t taste good. I poured a badly oxidized flat ale. I couldn’t get past the cardboard-like cheap sherry flavor. There was no carbonation to speak of. It did have a wonderful cherry aroma, though.

Pours a muted red color, almost purple. Murky. Almost no head. Smell is sweet, like warm fruit cider that you get in winter months. Tastes similar, sweet and tart with an almost artificial flavoring about it. Drinkable, but not as pure cherry as I would have hoped.

Pours a dark deep purple-ish pink, with a small but fizzy pinkish head. Very nice when warmed up, with a great fruity aroma, but the flavor has somewhat of a syrupy sweet cough drop taste. Lots of nutmeg and cinnamon spiciness accompanies the flavor as well. Not a favorite but well worth trying. Thanks Wunderbier!

Mahagonay, nealry brown colored brew with a soft carbonation. Sweet but also acidic cherry nose. Cherry taste ist accompished by cinnamon- very nice warmed up with a medium long aftertaste. Lacks of the Spices of Quelqe Chose.

Vintage 1998
Pours with a beautiful mahogany body, I haven’t poured any of the highly compacted sediment yet, so the body looks like a thick sheet of amber. Absolutely NO head, and almost no carbonation. The aroma is so inviting! Notes of cinnamon, all spice, cardamom, juicy ripe cherries, and an aged balsamic vinegar. Flavor is equally tremendous! Despite being rather vinous, the age behind this beer has brought amazing complexity. The beginning is sweet and tropical; mango is abundant, and then tart northern cherries, oak, and major suggestions of rhubarb in the finish. The palate is sticky but flat…….. I really do recommend sampling this beer…… I’m drinking it slightly chilled, probably about 65-70 degrees.