Cantillon Cuvée des Champions

Thanks again Jacob and Dixen for bringing so much joy into our house ;-) Pours a nice deep orange color with an unusual big frothy head that diminishes quick and completly like a weird dream. Dusty pine and grapefruit nose- that is quite intense. Acidic grapefruit, earthy, resin taste with a cardboardy finish.

Light amber body with a small white head. Typical Lambic aromas, barnyard funk, lacto-sourness, pears and apple.The flavor is immediately sour and slightly sweet before finishing very sour and bone dry, tons of lemons. The mouthfeel is light, refreshing.

Can I be unpleasantly honest here for a second? I have trouble telling most Cantillons apart. In a way, I suppose this forces me to rate each new one completely without comparision and on its own merits, but it grows frustrating to get the deja-vu (don’t they all have this same sour finish) and wonder if I oughn’t to say screw it and get ahold of their faro just to try something Cantillon that doesn’t give my stomach deja-upset. This beer seemed a degree sweeter than most others I remember, with distinct notes of pear, lemon, and the slightest of barnyard funk before dissolving into the usual heartburn-in-a-glass.

sour smell. sediment at the bottom. sour fruit carbonation taste. the aftertaste lasts quite awhile. cloudy appearance from sediment. tastes like a sourpatch kid

Updated at my Jan 07 party. 04 and 05 bottle tasted side by side- thanks to Optimator for the 04 and eclectic for the 05. 04 was much better and way more tart and sour. 05 was more funky and bretty while not as sour. RLB YEHA 05. Pours a cloudy yellow with almost no head. Lots of lacto- acidity in the aroma, some citrus, and lightly hoppy. Very sour flavor even for cantillon (not quite as sour as fou foune), but definitely mouthpuckeringly sour. Some barnyard musty flavors, more hops but overwhelmingly sour. Still pretty nice and relatively easy to drink.

Called Dernière Cuvée du 89 at Bier Cirkus. May 2005. Hazy blonde with a thin lacing white head. Light lactic acid and pears in aroma. Lightly lactic acid taste, not overdone, with a nice dry hop comming at the beginning. Lighter bodied than expected but a nice starter . Some horseblanket and chesse develop in aroma as beer warms up.

Bottle at RLB’s YEHA ’05. Hazy golden color with a small white head. Starts off with the typical(awesome) Cantillon funky aroma of wet leather, straw, etc. but with a hint of hops that makes it unique. Flavor was quite tart, but I love tart. It was also somewhat bitter which sort of helped balance it, if that makes any sense. Overall an excellent beer.

Thanks to JohnC for bringing this to our Bigfoot vertical tasting. Taste was pure tart, not sweet at all but somehow balanced. An interesting beer I would like to contemplate further.