De Ryck Kriek Fantastiek

Brewed by Brouwerij De Ryck
Style: Fruit Beer
Herzele, Belgium

Bottle at home. Hazy red brown coloured with a huge off white head. Fruity aroma of caramel, cherries and cherry stones. Fruity flavour of caramel, cherries and cherry stones with notes of citrus. Citric finish.

Unclear red, fluffy light-red head. dry dusty aroma of beer and cherries. flavor is slightly sour cherries, dry, very slighlty bitter as in grapefruit peel. quite refreshing and not at all a sweetbomb as many fruit beers can be. Insted of the sour base present in many beers, the base here is more bitter, like brett, or perhaps like if it was hopped bitter.

7th June 2008. Reddish brown beer. A little tart and a little cherry. Some sweetness comes through to balance the tartness. Very slightly watery but that doesn’t detract.

33cl, BBE March /09. Murky berry red, pale solid foamy head. A bit funky, messy cherry nose, rose hips, little sweetness, rowanberry jam. Very aged, rusty, old rowanberry flavor, rose nips, earth, little funk, almost no cherry in there. Light to medium bodied, soft foaming carbonation. Feels really aged, I’d imagine this being a lot older. Odd little sour.

Bottled 750ml (BB 02/2009, vintage 2007). Courtsey of bierkoning, thanks Edo! Murky brown color, steady beige head. Aroma of strawberries, nuts, caramel and perfume. Funny kriek: more than cherries, strawberry jam is dominating the flavor. A bit fizzy, light balsamico in the finish. Aftertaste is more or less watery (with some cherry stones), few years in the bottle is probably thinned body a bit. Would like to sample fresh bottle (or tap) sometime.

courtesy of Per - fully cloudy dark reddish in colour; got a solid slightly beige and persistent foam; fair aroma of herbs, cherries and strawberries; good malt body with a solid but subtle carbonation; sweet and partially tart, quite balanced; a light acidic touch before a long aftertaste of cherries and some earthy notes - well-made

330ml bottle (Cracked Kettle, Amsterdam)
Bold red, brief fizzy head. Slight cherry nose. Quite a sweet, but also tangy and bitter palate. There’s a decent malty body to this, and a fair hoppy bite. The cherry extract makes its presence felt too, bitter and sweet, but not so fruity as such. More bier than krieken, but that’s quite pleasant. Finish is the tingle of the hops and the rich maltiness more than the cherry.

Bottle. High fluffy but lasting off-white head. Clear very dark brown body. Powerful roasted malt aroma with caramel, cocoa, nuts and of course cherries. Weak cherries flavor with caramel. Too sweet and sugary for my taste. Low carbonation. Short sweet aftertaste.