Cantillon 50°N-4°E

Brewed by Cantillon
Style: Lambic - Gueuze
Brussels, Belgium

Serve in Flute, Tumbler

RBSG Tasting. Surprising amount of malt comes through. Nice iodine. Very sour. NIcely salty, brine.

My bottle from Binny’s on Marcey (at the time Sam’s) opened at RBSG. This was definitely one of my highlights at RBSG. Pours an orangey gold with some nice hazing. Firm white head. Nose is sweet and sour, some grapey cognac notes and some horseblanket, farm, straw and a bit of tropical funk. On taste, the cognac throws some booze into the mix for sure, but the acidity of the base beer balances it perfectly. Nice dry white wine with some sweetness from the oak and vanilla. Round and full, this is a fantastic one.

hazy amber brown color. Cognac, oranges, hay, cat piss, strawberries, oak, sour, pungent. Absolutely stellar. The mouth shows a lot of cognac, hay, straw . Moderately sour. Very well balanced. Dry earthy, hay finish.

Bottle from Beachwood BBQ, shared with my fellow Bruery Reserve Society Members nickd717, Nick3, and HopHead84 on the eve of the Initiation. Your health, gentlemen.

Cognac barrels, huh. Having never had cognac, 50N by 4E is my only point of reference. Cognac is apparently a puckering, lambic-like beverage with wild yeast byproducts. No wonder Cantillon decided to age one of their beers in these barrels.

Ah. Wikipedia tells me that cognac is made from distilled wine. But there isn’t much grape or spirit flavor here.

There are white peaches and pear skins, though. Plus the yellow woodsorrel present in most of Cantillon’s catalog. And like their other lambics, 50N by 4E is moderately carbonated, generous with its wood, and pleasantly rank. But what’s this in the finish, heat? In a lambic? Maybe some of that cognac rubbed off after all.

It was at this point at Castleton release party that I decided I’d had enough beer since I had plans for rest of day but then someone had this bottle whats a boy to do? Well, it tastes of tart fruits like cherries and tangerines. Its has a great cognac flavor to it. I also get wood kinda like licking particle board but just a little. really good finish to a nice day of tasting

Sampled at the RBSG Summer Grand Tasting (Grand Rapids, MI). Pours a lightly hazed crisp darker gold, a small whitish ring on the edges, laces small. Aromas are rich sour lemons, lactic acid, a touch of booziness, warm oak and vanilla tannins, funky brett, fairly strong. Initial is mellower, a touch of honey, light lemony acidity, decent brett, wet oak. The cognac does shine through a bit, light, a touch hot. Acidity grows, lactic, lemons, lighter brett. A very nice lambic, a little too in your face for my liking, florals dandelions. Needs a touch more something, as it thinned out a bit. A mixed bag of tricks that I admittedly, did not love. Still, a very good beer overall, just not my preference from them. I need more lactic acidty and citrus and less seemingly boozy geuze and woodiness.

In short: A smooth straightforward dry woody lambic that feels more like an unblended than a Gueuze
How: Bottle 750ml at Delirium Café, Brussels
The look: Cloudy blonde body topped by a small off-white head
In long: Nose is moderately funky (a lot less than a regular Cantillon Gueuze for instance) with dusty notes. Taste is dry, a bit funky, some sour green and red apples, dry wood, sawdust. I did get a lot of wood but no cognac flavor in the beer. Carbonation is sparse. The beer is medium dry and the acidity/sourness level is rather low for the style. The beer is very easy to drink but also very simple. I found the first half of the bottle rather boring but things got a bit more interesting when the yeast joined in the party in the second half. This beer resembles very much the unblended Cantillon Oude Lambik that I had a day or two before, only more woody. Even the carbonation was similar to the Oude Lambik. Does not resemble their Gueuze at all. Ratebeer says this is a Gueuze but I strongly suspect that this is an unblended Oude Lambik aged in barrels. IMHO the current high ratings are all because of rarity. One of my least favorite Cantillon bottle. I’m going against the hype and I’m trading my bottles. Funny that they named the beer after the coordinates of their brewery. I don’t know what my longitude is, but I think I know my latitude. I have zero latitude, my girlfriend doesn’t let me watch porn on the internet.

(750ml bottle thanks to Walt) clear golden with a ring of bubbles. Nose of tart fruit, tangerine, cherry, funky, cheesy and wood. Taste of cognac, sour fruit, puckeringly sour, wet barrel with a long duration that’s just right.