Liefmans Gluhkriek

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

Bottle, warmed. Dark red, not much foam. Aroma of typical "glögg", glühwein, taste of bitter almond and cherry in addition to this. Foamy. Great!

Bottle, vintage 2002 - served warm. Hazy reddish brown with light head. Sweet aroma of fruit and spices. Flavour is sweet with candy and cherrie and a nice sour finish.

Bottled - Swan and Rushes Leicester. Served hot. A dark red coloured beer with aslight, off-white coloured head and with steam coming off it!. The aroma is very mulled with cloves and cinnamon dominating and the fruit barely noticeable. The taste is also full of spices like clove and star anice. The fruit does now come through. Tastes nicer as it cools. Very Christmassy but not really for me with the heat.

1998 12 oz cork & wire. Served cold from the fridge. See when you direct the consumer to mull the beveage, it may be a better idea to not cover the label with wrapping paper. But I do enjoythe wrapping paper as I am going through the aged Liefman’s bottles. Before I start still none live up to a Goudenband. Well, the cork popped with little enthusiasm, which expained the very flat pour of the beer. As flat as a beer can get. Color is dark cherry red burgundy ("stay classy San Diego"). No clarity and slight translucence. Poured out the sediment sitting on the bottomm of this bottle is just crazy. Complete black bottom, I didnt believe it was sediment. I had to stick a skewer down the bottle to scrap it. Aroma is strong and mainly clove. This is a borederline s/h/veg beer . Plenty of cherry in the aroma but the clove just takes over everything. Taste is less spice orientated. Nice sweetness with a cherry flavor, some spices (nutmeg, cinnamon, etc.) come in at the end of the flavor and finsh off with an aftertaste of sweet and spiced. Mouthfeel is oily and sticky and of course the carbonation is low. No bitterness.

Rerate: Same vintage but I actually mulled this, my first mulled beer. Not a bad drink, a lot of chocolate came out with this. I enjoyed the experience but I definiitely wont be making this a regular practice.

This was a very strange beer. In fact, I’m not sure if it was supposed to be this way, or if I agot a flat bottle. Poured the color of rusty water, with very little carbonation, and absolutely no head or lacing. And there were suspended cheryy solids throughout the glass. Had an aroma of sweet cherry cider or wine, and the taste to match. Finish was a sour-sweet combination. Actually, this beer seemed to me to be a cross between a Flemish Sour wannabe and a cherry cider. Not bad, just very different. I may have to try another just to make sure I tasted it as it was meant to be.

Bottled (Warmed up to 40 degrees). Burgundy coloured. Unclear. No head. Full aroma of cherries. Is spiced. Flavour as well is all about cherries and spiced. Is quite marcipanny. Fantastic mouthfeel. Reminds me a lot of Glühwein. Has some sournotes to keep up with the fruitsweetness. Very nice indeed.

2003 Vintage    Deep bronze color, mostly headless. A spicy aroma of cinnamon carries through to the flavor. Syrupy mouth. Spices are complemented by a mildly tart and strongly flavorful cherry base. This would make an excellent holiday offering.

<font size=-4>Sampled at Delilah’s <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/events-detail.asp?eve Annual Lambic Beer Festival.</font>

Served warm at the Hamburg Int’l beer fest May 25, 2006. A Belgian specialty beer served warm with real cherries - all natural. Some cinamon and perhaps anise notes. Very tasty and smooth, flavorful and full bodied.