Hanssens Oude Kriek

Brewed by Hanssens Artisanaal
Style: Lambic - Fruit
Dworp, Belgium

Bottled Brugs de’ Beertje 04-11-05. The fourth of my trip into the mysterious world of Acid beers. The fantastic bar lady in this bar seem’s so chuffed that I am continuing with these beers and tells me that this one is made with real cherries unlike many other’s that have flavouring and syrups added. This is a belter and the best thus far. Hazy amber colour small white head. Again their is a initial sharpness but for the first time I find this tempered but a little more sweetness and I like that balance. Wonderful cherry taste and this one like the others get’s better with each sip once your tongue has become accustomed to the tartness, very, very good.

Poured a slightly amber color with a red hue and thin off-white head. Nice fruity aroma mostly of tart cherrys and yeasty funk. The flavor starts very tart ut sweetens near the end. Nice cherry flavors with notes of wood. the finish is dry.

Richlikebeer gave me a sample of this and it literally blew my mind with its cherry flavors with a nice tart spike. It seems to strike a perfect balance between its extreme sweet and acidic sour tones. The cherries do seem a bit confectionated but its an enjoyable beer nonetheless. Perhaps a tad bit too sweet. The Steel Garden in Bethlehem has this one and the Oudbeitje.

Bottle (375ml). My 1100th rating - still two months to my one-year RateBeer anniversary! Poured a beautiful apricot-ruby with virtually no head. Aroma - oh my God that’s wonderful - sour citrus, yeast, wet wool, a hint of burnt rubber, wet aged cedar firewood, *maybe* a hint of cherry - it’s certainly sour. Taste - sour lemon, sour cherry, yeast, white wine vinegar - this is flat yet still somewhat lively, sticky, heavily acidic - almost pleasant and juicy compared to some of the extreme lambics I’ve tried (hello Girardin Black Label) but very drinkable, fruity without being sweet - it seems sort of sweet in the aftertaste, but it’s all about the juicy funk and sourness when you’re drinking it. Pleasant.

Bottle. Purple-amber beer with very little head. Tart aroma with an earthy woodsy sense. Just a bit of sweet cherry. Tart flavor with a bit of earthy yeastiness and some wood. Cherries and a bit of sweetness on the finish, but otherwise it’s a great tartness. Great palate cleanser.

Mahogany with pretty much no head. Smells sour; somewhat like vinegar, but more like something I can’t name... also a bit like damp wood. Tastes wonderfully sour and dry with cherry and woody notes. I was slightly disappointed by a somewhat saccharin aftertaste I’ve been sensing from this bottle, though I don’t remember that from the first (and other) time I’ve had it.

Pours cloudy copper with a thin to non existent white head. This is a strange aroma, very pungent, some fruit, some funk, some sourness. Wow is this thing sour, I can pick out some cherries, but I just can’t get past the sourness Mouthfeel is thin and of course, it finishes sour. Not a big fan of this.

(Bottled. 03/2006). Is it possible to be better than the Hanssens Oude Gueuze? Perhaps, but that’s a high standard, indeed. As stated in that review: Wonderful. No words can really describe the tastes in these bottles. Everything wonderfully putrid you’ve ever heard about gueuze is true here. Like licking a cherry soaked horseblanket through a smelly gym towel. Who could resist?