Verhaeghe Echte Kriekenbier

Dark red with white laced head. Taste is cherry and vinegar. Malty..an odd out of place flavor i couldnt put finger on. Not really good..and i love this style.

clear dark reddish colour, almost no foam, red fruits and vinegar aroma, notes of straw, acidic and sweet, medium-bodied, the finish is dry and sour - good but not in the same category that the Duchesse

I would have sworn I had rated this. Then I found a bottle floating around in the back of the beer fridge. Still thought I had rated it, but was in the mood for a desert type of beer, so opened it anyway. Decided part of the way through to check my previous rating to see if my impressions were the same. Then discovered that I had never rated this. I’m getting daft. In any case, clear red with a brown tinge, ring of head. Aroma largely of cherries with a hint of wood. Bite of carbonation on the palate. Woody flavor gives way to some sour cherries and the faintest hint of funk. Light bodied and fizzy. Interesting, but just not my thing.

Very clear deep ruby body topped off with a pink head. The aroma is sour, wood and cherries. The flavor has a large oak aspect. The cherry is there, but something in this one is very medicinal. It’s not bad and actually fairly refreshing, but that medicinal quality to the aroma and flavor is annoying. A sweet beer, but sweet like juice (especially with the fairly light body) instead of rich or cloying sweet.

25 cl bottle, bbe 15/05/08. Ruby red colour, very clear and transparent. Head disappears within seconds. Cherry aroma, sweetish, cherry liqueur. The taste is more ’oud bruin’, with a lot of lactic acidity and some wood. Yet there is some round, fruity sweetness, too. A hint of cherry candy in the aftertaste. Dry, metallic finish with carbonation teasing the tongue and alcohol gently heating the palate.

OK, I’m a sucker for red-colored beer. The color is cough-syrup red, with the gravity of water. Pours thin, smells of slight cherries and old oak and tastes soft and artificial. The dryness on the tongue borders on unpleasant, then comes this strange (but nice) lively carbonation - strange. This is the lowest rated of the three primary beers from this brewery for a reason - it lacks the boldness and character of the others.

Bottle (Echt Kriekenbier): Ruby hue with fading fizzy pink head and little lace. The aroma has notes of oak wood and cherries (duh) with a hint of lemon zest, sweetbread, and dusty yeast esters. The taste is quite mild all things considered. The cherry taste is only mild in tartness and the woody nature is more subdued than expected from the aroma. The brown ale background seems to flatten out the punch of the Kriek. A note of clove on the finish. The feel is fizzy and crisp with a lingering dryness. While quaffable, I stick with my favorites from the style.

11.2 oz bottle (best before 06.07.05): dark, maroon body with a pale pink, dense and creamy film that persists throughout. Strong, tart cherry skin aroma, woody & earthy. Nice tart flavours right on the tip of the tongue, turning acidic in the end, but stays fruity. A cherry champagne-like quality on the palate: crisp carbonation and a sweet tingling effervescence. Nice, but not quite as complex as the greatest of the Flemish Sours…