North By Northwest Kriek

Brewed by North By Northwest Restaurant and Brewery
Style: Sour Ale
Austin, Texas USA

Sampled GABF 2008
Pours with a murky, cherry red color and only a touch of head. The aroma is lightly tart with an expressively fruity, tart-cherry note to it. The cherry actually dominates the aroma pretty well and, while a very nice cherry expression, does not allow a whole lot of other aromatic notes to be noticeable. I do like that this is more of a tart cherry focus, rather than a syrup-laden cherry character that can be found in many a beer with the name Kriek on the label.

This is only lightly tart and it still has a fair amount of sweetness to it (though it is not sticky sweet), which really accentuates and amplifies the cherry flavors. The sourness is has some light lactic notes to it, but also seems significantly contributed by the cherries themselves. It is light enough to be drinkable, but definitely has some texture and body to it. It is perhaps a bit sweeter than I prefer in a Kriek, though it doesn’t have the cloying-sticky-sweetness of something like the New Glarus beer, and it could definitely use some a more aggressive sourness, but it is still quite drinkable and I was quite happy to sample this multiple times (though I always went for the NxNW sour first).

Draught at GABF 2008. Hazy red brown coloured with a medium sized beige head. Light acidic aroma of cherries, wood and caramel with notes of glue. Light acidic flavour of cherries, wood, oak, vanilla and glue. Tart finish. Very well balanced.

GABF 2008. Pours ruby with a small, fizzy, white head, somewhat diminishing with fair lacing. Aroma is average malt (bread, cookie), light hops (grass), average yeast (dough) with notes of cherries and raspberries. Light bodied, oily texture, soft carbonation, and an astringent finish. Average duration, heavy sweetness, light acidity and bitterness. Their Belgian Sour is much better, IMHO.

Muddy and dark purple/brown colored body. Nose is fantastic - prickly, seedy, pitty cherries and fresh, tart raspberries with a light cream and a light lactic funk. Creamy, oily, full and frothy texture. Slick and sweet at one time and then tart, dry and funky at others. An excellent dessert beer, comparable to New Glarus Belgian Red but less sweet and more dry, which I prefer.

GABF 2008 as Barton Kriek. A murky brown color with faint head. A light aroma of cherries, faint (almost brown) sugar, and brett sourness. An wonderfully tart sour body with plenty of cherry cutting through.

Shared by Walt at BCTC ’08. Thanks! Pours a hazy red with hardly any head and a bit of lace. Nose is tart with cherries, a bit of brett and vinegar. Flavor was equally tart and sour, more so than the pommelambic Walt provided us with earlier in the weekend. Very nice kriek-like beer.

Poured a hazy red color with a small, white head that left light lacing on the glass. Aroma of some brett, cherries, vanilla, oak, and leather. Taste of some toffee, vanilla, oak, very light acid, and a sour cherry finish. Thanks to Walt for sharing!

An old rating i finally got to entering. Tart aroma of funk and cherries with some yeastiness to it. Flavor was tart and really bubbly on the tongue. Nice beer.