Verhaeghe Echte Kriekenbier

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

Wonderful cherry aroma. The cherries carries through quite well and are not overpowering like a lot of fruit beers. A great summertime brew.

Pours a beautiful ruby hue with a small rapbery colored head. Aromas of yeast and cherries. MOuthfeel is medium bodied with flavors of ummm.... cherries not as tart as many sour ale tend to be. A little dry, with little aftertaste.

Not a big fruit beer fan, I approached this with some trepidation. I just had a New Belgium Frambozen, which was just OK. I like this one a little bit better, as I enjoy the tart finish. The fruit is there but it is not overwhelming. It certainly makes the beer red, though. Sort of reminds me of the Duchesse, minus the balsamic vinegar (most of it anyway).

Name: Echt Kriek
Date: 04/07/2005
Mode: Bottle
Source: Ale Atlanta

dark clear red, light tart cherry aroma, rich thick cherry flavor, essence of pits, great lasting full flavor, needs study

Aroma: 5/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 8/10; Palate: 5/10; Overall: 17/20
Rating: 3.6/5.0
Score: ***+/4
-------- /> I would like to rerate this beer.
The score was calculated based upon the notes and an old scoring system.

Distinctly red in colour. Not up to the standard of a lambic kriek in my view but, otherwise, just what you’d expect - woody, strong cherry character and some sour notes. Not too sweet. I just thought it fell away a little on the finish, which was quite dry and clean. A nice drink. Pump dispense at GBBF 2004.

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.

Bottle pours deep ruby with a minor light pinkish hued head.   Little carbonation with a good head.   Aroma is vinous, along with a cherry tinge.   Up front its very cherry, vinous, but towards the end it finishes rather quickly.   Light oak tinge, but definitely not as complex as the Duchesse De Bourgogne.   Sour/tartness on the aftertaste.   Very drinkable, but could stand to have a bit more in the palate & flavor.

Deep blood red with foamy pink head that dissolved more like a soda than a beer. Cherry smell, sourness, wine-like scent. Quite sour, carbonated, I can see the vinegarness here too. A little metallic in the finish. Nice Kriek, one of the better sours that I have tried.