Verhaeghe Echte Kriekenbier

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

Cask at the White Horse Old Ale Festival, 27th Nov 09. Clear red beer with no head. Sweet cherry aroma and similar flavour. "Kriek for beginners". The taste is in the middle - not sour but not horribly sweet like some cherry beers. Bottom of the sour scale but not on the sweet scale. Very light palate helps too.

Pours mahogany with a white head. Nice sour ale aroma with some cherries and malt. Flavor is more of the same, with a touch of vinegar and wood and a little tart in the finish. Pretty easy for a sour.

Bottle from Utobeer. Reddish-brown in colour with a white, pink tinged head. Oaky aroma, with some berry fruit and a slight whiff of vinegar. Cherry flavour, with some yeastiness, almonds and a slightly sour finish. Very good.

Pours ruby/amber with a nice pink tinted white head. Aroma is tart and sour cherry. Flavor is sweet and sour cherry with a little bit of wood and earthy wooden and metallic flavors. Very good.

In short: A “session” Flemish Sour with a nice cherry character. Nice brew.
How: Botte 330ml. Consumed with a with a little age on it.
The look: Cloudy dark red topped by a beige ring of foam
In long: The pleasant nose is oaky and has quite a bit of cherry. Taste is dominated by cherries and oak with none coming out on top. There is also an unusual basil-like herbal sensation. A light flavour of toasted bread and caramel in the back. A moderate mouth drying tannic character. Body is lean, carbonation it prickly. Sourness level is low-medium for the style. Flemish Sours are usually not the type of beer I could drink all night long but this one is an exception. For the style it is not very intense but it makes up for it in drinkability. I think it is underrated but this is not surprising because sour ales tend to be rated according how intense they are and this one is really not very intense. May not be the most intense Flemish Sour but how easy a beer is to drink affects how I appreciate a beer. On the other hand, how easy it is to sniff has little to no effect on my overall appreciation.

Bottle. Pours a deep garnet with a large pink head that deflates somewhat quickly. Big cherry, nice funk with a touch of sweet vinegar. Medium body, light cherry flavor, but not as much as I would have expected given the nose on this one. Nice funky notes, loads of carbonation. Finishes with a little bit of funk and a touch of sweetness.

Bottle best by 14/08/09. Pours cranberry red with airy white head. Gentle white lacing sticks to the surface. Funky aroma of sour cherry, strawberry, lemon, and white grapes. Great flavor of sour cherry, strawberry, champagne, and brett. Not in-your-face tart, but the tartness softly lingers. Apparently, I really dig sours.

Bottle. Poured a deep red with a very light pink head. Aroma was full of tart cherries with an undertone of sweet cherries. Flavor was full of tartness that calmed down to a nice sweet cherry finish. The beer was a bit syrupy on the tongue.