Liefmans Gluhkriek

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

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.

6 years old bottle courtesy of Matta the Florida connection (you had not told me it was 6 years old you rocker!). Liefmans Gluhkriek has a murky ugly brown body with no head at all. The aroma is intense and vinous, indeed comparable to Quelque Chose, but not quite as powerful nor complex. Nevertheless, there are some neat cherry skins flavors together with cinnamon, nuts, oak and a pleasant mild refreshing Liefmans sourness. The body is medium and rather oily. Aftertaste is old rotten tart cherries with lots of spicy character (nutmeg, cinnamon). When mulled, it becomes perhaps a little thinner with the flavors taking a more vinous and medicinal angle with notes of tart apples and blue grapes. I personally perfer it hot, but the difference seemed less striking than in Quelque Chose. Dangerously drinkable despite being very sweet, a unique style I just wish we'd have more examples of.

I opened a bottle and popped the glasses in the microwave to warm them up. it poured with a head cool but the head disappeared after being warmed. The initial aroma is of cinnimon and alspice and dark fruit, with a slight cherry hint. there was a red wine aroma there also. The beer is spiced much like vin chaud like I had in Belgium. Its basicly a red wine with spices served warm. gluhkriek had much of the same flavor. warm vinus and tannic with some cherry flavors. there is a mild almond flavor also. the color is ruby with a pinkish lace, and hazey. This beer would be better to drink walking around Brussels at winter time in the crisp cold air.

Pleasant murky brown appearance, no head whatsoever. Enticing, sour, vineragy aroma with some underlying sweetness to it. Good battle going on between the sweetness and sourness of the cherries - reminds me of one of those sweet and sour lollipops. Has somewhat of a "winey" taste to it. Thick, chewy mouthfeel. Would like to try this heated up sometime.

Aroma is mashed bananas, vinegar, fruitcake, cherries. Good brown-red cloudy appearance, ding for the green bottle. Tastes like it smells, with spice. I can tell this is a good brew, but it's not my cup of tea.

[Warm draught at Kerstbierfestival Essen 2003] Reddish brown coloured. Low carbonation. Very nice slightly sour cherry flavour with glögg/Glühwein spicyness. It is even better when it has aged five years.

Split this between a hot and cold. Murkish reddish brown appearance, no foam. Port-like aroma, cherry sweetness and marzipan, distinctly medicinal when heated, ideal for a cold. Sweet palate, a touch syrupy, cherry fruitiness, apparent added sugar, manages to bitter a little in the finish.

The cork has 1998 on it. Pours black cherry red. It's DEEP red. No head on this at all. LOTS of sediment at the bottom. Mixed it and it became clouded in spots. Nose is over the top cherry (maraschino) mixed with spice (cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg, among others). The taste is sweetened cherries and more spice. Is this a Belgian Quelque Chose? We'll soon see as I will warm up a mug of it. It is very good warmed. I like Quelque Chose better but this is good. It thins a bit when warmed. The sweetness seems to come down and the spice evens out. Sort of a tart cherry finish both warm and cold. Very good beer.