Liefmans Kriek Ongezoet op Vat

Brewed by Liefmans (Moortgat)
Style: Sour Ale
Oudenaarde, Belgium

On draught at The Kulminator, Antwerp during LCRBM2 This is just about my favourite drink to have at the end of a session. The sour cherry, the good malt (more so than in the bottle version), just the harmony of the fruit and sourness and alcohol and flavour. Had to finish this to get the Struise Christmas beer on.

A Mes rate: Draught from the Kulminator.
Totally amazing. Not too far from the regular Liefmans in the nose but its just superbly clean. Ok thats selling it a little short. Clearly one of the best smelling beers ever. Cherry, malt, brown sugar and huge notes of candy floss but Just so natural. Thick blood red colour with a thin head and slight lace. All gently sweet cherry in the mouth then as soon as you swallow you get such an intense hit of incredible tart and sour puckery lambicness. It really is like a high end lambic kriek. Definite hints of Schaerbeek cherries. Feels utterly sublime in the mouth. So perfectly drinkable and with each swallow it clears the palate ready for more. Nothing short of an excellent start to the holiday.

Rating 1100. I just deleted Kronenborg Wit and entered this so it would be a little more exciting. Tap at Kulminator, as a starter for when we dug through the menu. Thank god we chose this though... what a beer! As good as the best krieks, really. Joris tells me he introduced this to the bar... good on him. Cheesy, hay, horseblanket aroma, sour cherry, lots of brett notes and great sourness. Rich, big sour, delicious vine cherry taste. Pits and pith all the way. Huge and tart as hell, an incredible beer. Shame of Liefmans for not trying to bottle and sell this to the bigger market!

Wow. Wow. Wow. Nice one. Worth visiting Erasmus every time you’re in Brugge, just in case this is available. Delicious.

The literature first. This beer is NOT the same as the ubiquitous bottled Liefmans kriek - nor the more common draught version of the same. It is a much paler kriek, not blended with the darker young beer. Once the highlight of an Antwerp beerpub, the only place I find it today is in a pub/hotel in Brugge. the sweeter version is NO match at all. Beautiful deep-red colour with cyclamen shine. Slight, pink head. Nose of real sour cherries (the darker kriek is woodier). Taste are real sour cherries again, but with something in the finish of a maraschino-cherry, but with no sweetness at all. The mouthfeel is expressly tart, with an outspoken drying-out effect. Long lasting, dry fruity aftertaste. Yes, they still can do it if pressed hard enough. The oud bruin -notes are missing, but so is thankfully all that superfluous syrupy sweetness.

Pink to ruby hazy coloured, almost glowing with mystery. The white head that covers it quickly falls back to the high acidity level contained in here. This is an incredible beer, you know it as soon as your nose approaches it. Hugely sharp all along, but what impresses me the most is its aromatic power. Pungent, yet fresh raspberries and cherries mixture wearing the tartest clothes. This is as acidic as most lambics if not quite as yeasty, but the yeast nevertheless carries profound hay-like, barnyardy nuances all along. It is actually not even that dry to begin with, certainly sweetish, but dries out quickly and evolves into a very dry, lasting, perfumey aftertaste. Excellently carbonated, cleansing and begging for the next sip. Vibrant and complex palate with a berry pits more than flesh bite. Multi-dimensional and very puckering.

(Draught at Erasmus, 3 samples) The waitress asks what beer I would like to try and with an anxious smile I ask for the Ongezoet op Vat. The waitress gives me a look back and pauses…. “Do you know that this beer is unsweetened?” she asks. I responded, “yes, thank god!” All I had drunk for the past two days in Bruges were sweetened lambics… The beer comes to the table with a lightly hazy glistening red body with a spare ring of tiny white bubbles atop. The aroma is very clean and refreshing like stepping outside in the spring to the essence of the dew in the garden, fresh cherries, perfume on a sexy young lady, and some light barnyard scents in the distance. Flavor of assertive acidic cherries and lots of funkiness. Perfectly refreshing, mouthwatering, endorphin rocking symphony in my mouth. I would make this a staple in my cellar, if they only bottled this heavenly delight.

Tap at Erasmus. Pours a deep cherry red with small bubbles. Aroma of fairly sour cherries - Schaerbeekse. Medium body with mild carbonation. Flavor is sour. Also cherry. Smooth. Acidic mellowing to tart. It’s woody. It’s the best cooking cherry.