Verhaeghe Echte Kriekenbier

The aroma is of tart cherries and a viniger background. The beer pours a mahogony with a pink fizzy head. There is a tartness to the body with a sour cherry a malty sweetness balance.

Pours a muddy reddish-brown. Bubbly head diminishes rapidly. Aroma reminiscent of the layer of decomposing leaves and cherries in an orchard after harvest. Vinous with cherry sweetness and a neat bit of malt. A tad too much carbonation brought the mouthfeel down a bit. Develops a puckering feel almost like a cherryade.

Uh oh... could this be spoiled? That would really make my day... not like this little 33cl bottle didn’t cost almost $4. Let’s see... brown rust where the cap was held, tinny sour spoiled nose of foot sweat and tobasco sauce... oh man something here is wrong, but I can’t place it. There does seem to be a bit of a cherry presence in there, and being a sour ale an all I guess some weirdness is expected, but this thing could just as easily be interpreted as being massively spoiled or infected. When sour ales aren’t made well this is what happens... you just can’t tell. Has a massively burnt flavor of peanuts, chemicals and cherries, with a tinny rust flavored minerally body. Bleeeuuughhhh. Bad on so many levels. Someone said balsamic cherries, I think they’re right.

Doesn’t smell as god as thier Duchesse or Vichtenaar. Not the slightest bit similar either. The cherry flavoring is much more overt, but is really too much. The malt is too powerful in this as well.

0.33L bottle, bb 18-10-06. Served in my NB worthy glass right from the cellar at 52°. Dark red color, reddish tinted, white head, smallish but fluffy. The beer and foam coats the glass when swilred. The aroma is red wine, red wine vinegar, oak, vanilla, and a touch of sweetness. The cherries don’t assert themselves, in fact I cannot discern them from the rest of the aroma. Yup, this is a flemish sour, wasn’t sure when I bought it. The initial taste is sweet and sour cherries with a bit of oak and yeast? The mid-taste is vanilla, oak, and a bright cherry flavor and cider with a bit of mouthpuckering sourness, but not as much as a non-fruit Flemish sour. The finish is moderately sour with some oak and a touch of brett? or some other lambic-ish funkiness. The funkiness is far from overwelhming, but adds a bit of flair at the end. This is pretty tasty, I kinda dig the cherry with the flemish sour.

Original rating 1/15/06 From the bottle.

Pours a deep elegant red with a reasonablely long-lived pinkish head. The aroma is apple vinegar and black cherries; the flavor is the joy of sucking sour cherry juice out of old tannic oak -- a pleasant (if slightly too sweet) Flemish sour in the Vichtenaar vein, with decided cherry (which is integral, not a flavoring add-on) and hints of oak and vanilla, nice sour twist with a pleasant finish, well carbonated, and refreshing on the tongue in even small sips.

I’m really enjoying this one, though it didn’t last nearly long enough in my glass. I wish I had another waiting in the fridge. 7/4/8/4/16 = 3.9

Rerate 9/11/06. Again bottled.

The above rating was one of my first experiences (maybe the first? I don’t remember) with sour ales. It was a great gateway sour, because it got me thinking about and appreciating both the sour flavors and the fruit flavors that a good beer can offer. (Previous to this, my experience with fruit beer was limited to nasty American wine-cooler alternatives). But I feel that after getting accustomed to a number of the wonderful blended and fruit lambics out there, this one falls a bit short. It’s got some nice funky aroma and flavor in there, but on top is a syrupy cherry sweetness that verges too close to Lindemanns territory. 7/4/6/4/13=3.4 Rating is averaged.

Rerate 8/5/09 Naked City sour tasting. Lindemanns gets ahold of Duchess. 7/4/6/4/12=3.3. Pushing the rating hard in that direction.

Clear reddish colour with a small pink head. Tart fruity aroma with notes of some cherry and marzipan sweetness. Yeasty flavor with hints of almonds and some cherry sweetness.

Ruby color; big head. Lovely aroma, with sweetness, sourness, cherry fruitness. Good sweet taste, but missing some more biting sourness; lightly vinous.