Cantillon Blåbær Lambik

Brewed by Cantillon
Style: Lambic - Fruit
Brussels, Belgium

2007. Hazy orange of color weak white head. An aroma of bluebeery, horse and fresh blueberry. A flavor of sour fruits, notes of wood, dry, gooseberry, notes of blueberry and blackcurrant.

Name: Blueberry
Date: 10/10/2007
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting, Logan Pre-GABF

opaque burnt orange, fine white head, tart and funky berry aroma with a lot of musty cobwebs, big tart flavor, lots of berry tartness, plenty of funky funk, lasting tartness

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 15/20
Rating: 3.6/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **4

[Odense-tasting at Scheffel. Bottle from Christian.] Where are the blueberries, but it’s okay. Very great brew with notes of red look and fast pinky head, acidity, sourness, wood, oak, dry, refreshing. Had expected it in another way, but I cannot complain!

Thanks to Nick for this sample! 750ml. Bottle. 2007 vintage. Pours a purple/red color with a pinkish head that quickly dissipates. The aroma is subtle on the blueberries with more barnyard funk, wood, and citrus. Flavors of blueberries, raspberries, funky sour cherry in there as well. Nice balance between the sweet and sour. A well made beer.

Bottle, 2007. Nice fruit aroma. Red color with a nice thick pink head. Very nice fruit taste with light notes of blueberry. Very nice acidic sourness with notes of grape and lemon. Very nice and balanced palate. Very nice

(Much thanks to Brewfiend for sharing this) Pours red with a light red head that lingers. A very funky aroma, with some musty hay and a nice blueberry undertone. Flavor was quite tart and oaky with just a faint hint of blueberry present, most noticeable on the finish. The finish was dry as well, and this was an amazing beer.

(750ml bottle, 2007 vintage) Pours a cloudy magenta body with a large pinkish purple head that quickly dissipates. Aroma of subtle blueberries, barnyard funkiness, citric, light wood, and earthy characteristics. Flavor of blueberries, raspberries, tart, earthiness, and faint black cherry as it warms. An absolutely incredible creation!

Bottle purchased at Olbultikken.

This is one both capped and corked; as I remove the cap the cork explodes off the ceiling with a violence the likes of which I’ve never seen, leaving a purple blueberry stain across the elegantly finished 16-foot ceiling of my hotel room. Yet the beer doesn’t gush out; rather it waits, restrained, for my pour and then sparkles vigorously in the glass, a not-even-so-large pink head atop a gorgeous, murky, hazy rose-purple like unfiltered cherry juice.

Even as I pour I’m getting a vast rush of berries in the air. It’s glorious, and as I dive my nose into the glass that thick Cantillon funk comes out, for all the world like horse-stable, that lovely woody vinegar, this time accented with berries, overripe blueberries with cherry and blackberry tones.

The flavor is perfect. Glorious sour cherries atop that unmistakable Cantillon musk. Woody lemon acidity cut by luscious fruit. Perfectly dry. I try MartinT’s pairing, or the closest I can muster in my hotel room: a 70% Valrhona chocolate bar and it’s divine. The chocolate is merely fine, but the sip of lambic afterward with the chocolate oils still on my palate....perfection.

The beer sparkles away on my tongue. This is one of the epicurean highlights of my life experience, I’m in love but the odds are I’ll never see it again, given its rarity. It’s a one-night-stand and that’s breaking my heart. All I can do is savor every last drop of the experience.