Liefmans Gluhkriek

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

Deep cherry red, very little head, not a lot of carbonation to be seen. Strong, sweet fruit and spice aroma. Taste is thick cherry cordial, cinnamon, anise/clove, oak, pepper, other spices that I can't even name. Palate was very thick without becoming syrupy. This was a lot better than I expected it to be - a pleasant surprise on a cold winter night.

a clear red pour led to a simple halo of large ugly bubbles and no real head at all..dark chocolate cake and cherries dominate the aroma..with hints of sweet spices here and there..almost no carbination..sweet and tart at the same time..with heavy spicing in the background and a real cherry flavor up front...there's some cask wood notes, and some cinnamon sticks...quite good actually..i wish it had more carbination...as of now, i like it better than Quelque Chose, but i havent had that in a long time, so a re-rate of that is in order. Can't rival New Glarus Red though..not even close.

Brownish red color, not much in the way of head. Cherry aroma with some definite spice. Flavor was cherry with nutmeg, more sweet than sour but somewhat tart. Kind of sticky. Tried chilled and heated, both nice.

11/20/03. Poured out of 12 oz. bottle, bought at Liquorama in Upland, CA 9/10/03. Very nice aroma, very acetic and very tart cherry. Slightly woody. Pours to a dark brownish-burgundy, murky. Very small, almost no head-- pinkish-cream color. No lacing. Interesting color to the beer. Body is very full, surprisingly sweet and spiced-- tastes slightly of eggnog (cloves, nutmeg), but mostly of cinnamon and sweet cherry. Slightly sour, and slightly mouth-watering. Something a bit unpleasant about the combination of spices and cherry, but it's definitely interesting. Ever-so-slight tingle of carbonation and alcohol. Finish is a little clunky, the thick syrupy body disappearing swiftly to a thinner, mildly tannic finish. Mouth-watering from the combination of tartness and the odd medley of spices. Interesting overall, but I can't say that I'm a big fan. The spices linger a little too strongly, and there's not enough other action to get excited about.

(bottle, heated): red-brown with no head. Aroma is nutmeg, some cherry, clove. Taste is nutmegged cherry, sweet rather than sour, light cinnamon. Some cider elements as well, partly from the apple-ish tartness, but moreso from texture.

Bottle, imported. I heated this one up and split it with friends last X-mas. In the heating, the Gluhkriek lost much of it's frothiness and carbonation, as well as some of the tart, pucker from the wild yeast. The head, or what remains of it is a slight pinkish color. The nose is full of cherries, must, nutmeg, clove and cinnamon. Very spicy in the first sniff. The ale is full-bodied with a deep red color and a few floaties. Wow. It's somehwere between a hot spiced cider (the hot, spice, and the acidic bite of cider) and a cherry pie. Very full flavored with good mouthfeel and a burn as it goes down the throat. I think I'll have another this year--screw the champagne.

Rating based on cold sample. Cold: Red coloured, practically no head. Cherries, a bit sour and tart. Actually pretty good considered my expectations. Hot: Dark red-brown, small head. cherries, horseblanket and some medicine-like aroma. Very strong sweet flavour, sticky. Heat sensation in throat. I really like this beer cold, but hot it was so bad i couldn't finish it.

I drank this one cold. Even then, quite ok. Good aroma of cherries, bit tart. Sweet cherrie taste. Sweet sticky palate. Additional tasting, warm/hot, from tap in Cafe Samson, Nijmegen: Hazy red color, short head. Aroma of medicine, horseblanket (but the real thing), some cherry, disgusting aroma. Sour taste, medicine, bit sweet cherry. Next time i want my Gluhkriek cold, because hot it's just disgusting. I expected it to be excellent after i'd read all those comments, but it's just not my thing. Rating when hot: 1.2.