Cantillon Blåbær Lambik

Brewed by Cantillon
Style: Lambic - Fruit
Brussels, Belgium

Serve in Flute, Tumbler

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Big thanks go to Rastacouere for sending over a bottle of this when he was in Denmark. 2006 vintage, bottled in 2007.

Gorgeous light purple, almost rosée colored brew topped by a pinkish head that was pretty generous for Lambic, let alone a Cantillon.
That telltale barnyard funky aroma was all wet hay and dirty stables, with a very assertive fruit character that oscillated between raspberries, rhubarb and strawberries.
Carbonation was not as prickly as other fruit lambic I’ve tried, and the fruit is definately in the forefront here, and it’s all blueberry, but the kind that just a bit unripe, when they’re sort of greenish blue. I can’t tell you if they were like that when they brewed this, but it certainly worked out extremely well. The acidity seemed somehow separated from the flavor, as if every sip came with two acts, the flavorful rush of fruit flavor, then acidity, that was drying and refreshing - sounds contradictory, but it isn’t - but was at a very sustained level, not as massive and brutal as some of the other fruit lambics. It was probably one of the most balanced lambics I’ve ever sampled. Lord knows people have tried and failed to make good blueberry Beers, but this style seems like a perfect fit. It went down insanely well, and was an absolute orgasmic match with trappist-made chocolate-dipped blueberries I just happened to have (it’s the season here in Quebec). This one is a masterpiece.

bottled, rbesg07 grand tasting. pinkish red and quite flat; aroma of public toilet and sunny day garbage truck with a hint of wild berry seed; loads of tartness with the blueberry providing some refreshing and light sweetness suggesting vanilla custard. crazy stuff indeed

Bottle at Damico’s. this was a whale of mine for years, very excited to try this one. pours a beautiful pink rosy color with little head. nose is blueberry, bosenberry, loganberry, cranberry and slight acetic acid. first sip is peerfect balance of sour and berry flavor. finish is clean wwith slight bittrness like the unripe blueberries. F*cking amazing!

Bottle 37,5 cl 2011 shared with Lotta. Pours clear deep blue lilac with a great shortlived pink blue head leaving lace. Aroma is stable horse blanket cellar dry leather and lots of delicious blueberries. Flavor is sour tart vinous and dry in front, more berry and cellar with leather tones in the middle yet keeping the tart blueberry flavor alive and all the way to the "bitter" finish. Finishes sour tart blueberries and a bit dry peppery.

75cl 2010 bottle @ Mikkeller Bar during CBC week. The pour’s deep reddish purple in color with a small strawberry red head. The nose is sweet blueberry and blackberries, some sweet fruity yeasty cheddar cheese and yeast. Fresh smelling. The taste is bright blackberry and blueberry juice. Cola sweet syrupy grapes and cranberry. Some yeasty funky notes. Yet, this is a bit more mellow and fruity than I was expecting, it definitely will be fine aging for longer. The body’s very silky and highly drinkable, light and jammy. Overall, a very good beer indeed. Glad I was able to try this!

There are many beers to tempt patrons on the Mikkeller Bar’s bottle list, but this one is right up there in the rarity stakes, so I decided to go for it. The barman wasn’t sure if they had the smaller-sized bottle in stock but lo and behold he brought back an unlabelled 375ml bottle from the 2011 vintage. After halting a gush of foam the beer poured out a luscious red with a thin cap that stays for the duration. Already I could smell a mélange of blueberry, redcurrant and cherry, with a few oaky and medicinal notes too. As expected, it’s gorgeously lip-smacking and tart, but it doesn’t go overboard. It’s just perfect in this department. Oak barrel is there, smoothing out the sides. The pithy fruitiness really gets behind your teeth. No corner of your mouth is left unspared. Confession time: at first I found it hard not to be underwhelmed. I’d heard the hype and perhaps it was no surprise that Blåbær didn’t live up to it at first. But as the glass slowly emptied I found myself more and more taken in by this lambic. When there were only a few sips left I was near left near devastated! At that point I thought "I could go on drinking this forever." There’s probably no higher compliment.

A: blueberry, cherry, yeasts. A: deep purple. T: very sour and fruity. P: mb, watery. O: 18/20

Wee bottle 2011 edition, thx Svend. Shared at my wifes birthday 2012-05-13 Ar: tart dried red forest berries, fizzy, wee blueberries Ap: ruby fizzy body, wee fizzy purple head F: dry, tart linhon and ble berries, champange fizzy full flavored body, the yolk is the same as the rest of the bottle, it’s very good but I was expecting more blueberries, mmm there is some sort of marzipan there in the finish and as well Ekströms Blueberry soup... And yes it was very good with the pistaco, pear, marzipan ice cream cake ;).

750 ml bottle kindly shared by 50belair (thank you very much! - It was nice to have met you guys!) at the Mikkeller bar in Copenhagen. Tasted at slightly lower-than-room-temperature (perfect in my opinion). Pours deep red with violet hints, pink head, sticking to the glass. Aroma of cherries and blackberries - incredible aroma of almonds as well. Light body with fresh acidity but way smoother than the other Cantillon fruit lambics thanks to the full taste of red forest fruits. Nice!

Shared by Dak. Pours a cool blueberry color with a pinkish head. Aroma is blueberry, funky and sour. Taste is sour and fruity. Medium bodied with an dry finish. Really nice fruity lambic. Awesome!

0.75l bottle the 2011 edition, shared with The Tasting Crew & friends. An epic one that we have been saving for a while. It’s time to pop it! It pours a fantastic looking near clear amethyst-reddish body with a nice medium sized pinkish-red head that quickly sticks to the side of the glasses. It honestly smells like a juiced up blueberry juice blended with lemons, black currants, gooseberries, red currants and yeah, it’s just a damn fruity and really likable aroma. Let’s taste! Yeah, it tastes just as good as it smells. Even more blueberries in the taste, it has a mild and round sourness that’s just the perfect amount, it’s fruity with red currants, blackberries, lemons and actually it tastes just as good as I had thought/hoped. Ends mildly green grape-ish with a looong lasting aftertaste. Had this with blue cheese and it just lifted the whole thing to a new level. A big thanks to Mogens and ClubGonzo for supplying this magic beer for us! 13.04.2012