Cantillon 50ºN-4ºE

Brewed by Cantillon
Style: Lambic - Gueuze
Brussels, Belgium

Hazy light amber colour. Fresh, wheaty, bretty goodness. Very tart. Very musty. Pleasing underlying sweetness. Slight oak note, but I missed the cognac influence.

Bottle sampled on 6/3/08: Pours a slightly hazy golden bronze with a thin ring of wispy-lacing white head. Semi-tart earthy dry leathery nose has some light fruity notes and oak complexity. Body starts fairly full and semi-viscous with a nice lightly sweet biscuity malty presence and good oaky tart balance. Fairly smooth and less tart than some other Cantillons, which is a good thing.

Bottle… VBWT2008… This beer rocks!… Hazy, light yellow ale with a small, fizzy, white head that’s gone in a blink. Acidic nose with notes of damp straw, wet leather, apple cider vinegar and that lovely, patented, Cantillon barnyard funk. Medium to full-bodied with mild carbonation. Mellowed by the cognac barrel, the acidity is restrained. Very nice bitterness; not flashy, just nice. Finishes tart, tangy and lightly bitter. Kudos to ygtbsm94 for providing the bottle!

Bottle Blond, hazy body without any head. Citric aroma (Cantillon gueuze like - but not totally) of flowers, citrus, oranges (lightly). Heavily sour initial flavour. Moderately sour, lightly bitter finish. Winey flavour of citrus and oranges. Very good and quite different from the ordinary Cantillon lambic.

Bottle shared by kramer17801. Clear yellow pour with just a little bit of haze. Wine grape, hay and pear nose, prickly, tart, spritzy, lively and festive. Flavor is moderately tart, fruity, a bit pale, smooth and subdued - mellow - with some bright notes of pear, grape and wheat. Very smooth, thin and silky on the tongue, with a developing sour lactic note in the finish that is remarkably smooth.

From miketd and recently also shared by Maxxdaddy, thank to everyone. The color seems a little bit more orange-ish than usual., has no head but a ring lacing. At first I notice a difference compared to the regular, does not seem, to be as acidic in the nose (still strong though), a bit of leafy oak coming through (again different). I get a bit of "heat" on the nose, not that I can directly call it a cognac aroma though. Some marmalade sourness and sweet-less fruit. taste is so subdued for Cantillon (almost at the Loerik level right now). Not at all as mouth puckering as most Cantillon. I get a good amount of earthy sourness but finishes only medium acidic (as opposed to a total onslaught). So easy to drink for such a sour brew. The barrel has really tamed this puppy.
750mL cap and cork (which was slimy and smelled weird), Rodenbach GC smaller tulip.

2007 cork Date; Sampled May 2008
Only lightly carbonated as a partially vigorous pour only produces a finger-thick, pale, barely off-white colored head. The beer is a light honey color that shows a lightly hazed, golden-copper color when held up to the light. The aroma smells sour of course, but has surprising backdrop of fruitiness to it; it smells of lightly, but distinctly of currants and berry-like notes in addition to more typical notes of tart apple, perhaps light pear and sour grapefruit. Quite mellow barnyard aromatics, with some light mustiness and a touch of horse blanket.

Nicely sour tasting, but with more oak influence than one typically finds in Lambic. The oak contributes more towards the end and finish of each sip with a spicy-oak component, a tannic woodiness and something a bit like warming alcohol (is that the cognac influence). Tart fruit notes of sour grapefruit, green apple and not quite ripe, tart pears and not quite ripe chardonnay grapes. This is exceedingly quaffable, my 750ml bottle of this is just easily disappearing down my throat; while light, the oak definitely gives this a structure and tannic texture. The light, yet soft prickle of carbonation keeps this from being airy (like many a highly carbonated Gueuze). Not as funky as many, still has a lasting, deep sourness, but also has an interesting, damp mustiness a slightly phenolic-cotton ball notes.

As the beer warms up and loses its carbonation a bit the unripe, green fruitiness becomes a bit more noticeable. Interestingly, besides a little warmth and the more noticeable oak notes, the Cognac seems to produce a chardonnay wine like flavor that is more fruity than anything, but has touches of flint to it. The warming alcohol, Cognac influence becomes more noticeable too, with the vapors influencing the nasal passages during each sip. Some tropical fruit influences even seem to take hold towards the end of this 750ml bottle; star fruit, and something vaguely like guava / papaya. The nose has definitely picked up some warming alcohol notes as well as a touch of buttery oak and even a funky, sort of cheesy fruitiness. The fruitiness even seems to accentuate a perception of sweetness, that just kisses the palate.

I am really surprised how mellow the barrel character is here, the cognac must have stripped out a lot of those oak flavors. This is a very well balanced beer; the barrel plays a significant supporting role here, sourness of course takes the lead, but not excessively so (this is not as hard as some Cantillon’s) and the funk is definitely a supporting character. I like that this was lightly carbonated, given that this is not a blended beer I was expecting a much flatter experience, but the soft carbonation definitely adds a nice touch to the texture. Quite the tasty beer, I certainly wouldn’t mind having a lot more of this in my cellar.

(750ml Bottle) Pours a murky orange body with a moderate off-white head. Aroma of citric brett, wood, and barnyard. Flavor of citric tartness, but seems to be mellowed a bit by the oak and cognac. Finishes dry. Tasty, but could benefit from some more aging.