Verhaeghe Echte Kriekenbier

Brewed by Verhaeghe
Style: Sour Ale
Vichte, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium

Fresh: Rich ruby colour. Acetic, lactic aroma with cherry candies. Oaky, fat, tangy, voluptuous. Port-like accents. Slightly candyish finish, with a hint of acetic acid.

Aged, Vichte Vera, rated November 22/08
Light brown. Hazy. Rich, almost malt vinegar nose. Wood and sweet fruits on the palate, only a little bit of sourness. Strange stuff, but this is also really old stuff so the fruit is muted and the weirdness accentuated. I rated this aged version 7-3-7-3-14 = 3.4

red tinted transparent amber with a thin sheet of big bubbles...subtle malt drenched cherries, lightly metallic, not overly sour or even really sour at all..non-sour cherry aroma. "Kriek" is misleading.

Deep black cherry soda hue. Small purplish head. Definate vinegar, sour cherry, medicinal nose. Nice funk, acidic, vinegar, light in body, dark cherry, wood, cherry pit, funky sour finish. Crisp and refreshing, but simple, and kind of boring. Finishes with a dark, lingering, over-ripened cherry flavor.

Sour aroma with a hint of cherries, duh. See through red with a fine pink head that was gone by the time I finished drinking. A brief hint of sweetness that was followed up by the cherry sourness, and finshed with a bitter flare. A rather dry finish and some carbonation as well. Not too bad, but New Glarus is better.

Bottle. Best before 6-7-05. Poured a large pinkish fizzy head with fine-small sized bubbles that quickly dissipated. Soft carbonation, transparent and a red hue. Cherry, sweet and alcohol aroma. Sweet, acidic, cherry and alcohol flavor from start to finish. Tingly mouthfeel.

33 cL bottle, snifter, bottle labled as "Echt Kriekenbier". My first impression of the aroma is "gingerbread cookies". Tons of cherries, cask wood, raisin, slight port, a bit of anise and maybe some soy sauce in the aroma. Smells every bit as good as its little brother but yet entirely different. Light plum-red body with a tall, pink, frothy head that diminishes quickly. Heavily sweet, moderately acidic (sour) flavor becomes a moderately sweet, moderately acidic (sour, tart) finish. Strong tannin presence in the aftertaste. Medium body, oily/slick texture, average carbonation. The bottom line is: a very drying, tannin laced finish is a little strong for my preference, but this is still a very fine brew.

As I was pouring a giant pink fizzy head erupted from the glass with audible fizziness atop a dark cherry colored clear body. After the head fizzled down quickly to a coating of bubbles there was no lace left about the glass. The aroma was of slightly sweet cherries and also quite a bit of tartness. Very sweet cherry flavor here similar to cherry syrup. The finish is tart and tangy with more cherry flavor. Mouthfeel here is a bit thin and the over carbonation doesn’t help either. I can see being in the mood for one of these but not drinking one after another.

Draught at the GBBF, Earl’s Court 02/08/2006 Sour fruit aroma. Red strong in alcohol and fruity with a hint of whisky. Some dryness in the finish.