Cantillon Cuvée des Champions

01/10/2006 vintage, almost three years in the bottle. Nice golden color, sports a white head but quickly becomes semi-still, smells like a hint of cobweb, tastes wheaty and sour lambic, citrus, especially sour lemons. Funky a bit but very drinkable, some cheese, I like it. Serving type: bottle Reviewed on: 11-05-2008 05:41:52

Pours a bright golden with a lasting, half glass full, egg shell head. After it finally subsides, the nose is huge with tart citrus, barnyard funk. The flavor is a bit more mellow, but follows the aroma. Lively mouthfeel.

750 ml bottle at Akkurat. Cork marked 2006. This is a good gueuze, with a very lemon tasteing sourness! Interesting and nice hop finish.

(Bottle, 0.33 l, as Cantillon Olutravintola Pikkulintu, at Pikkulintu, Helsinki, on 2009-01-09) Golden. Hazy. Medium sized, white and quite quickly disappearing head. Frutiness, vomit and hops in nose. Full bodied and dry palate with little carbonation. Sourness, fruitiness, vomit, grapefruit, hops, and bitterness in taste. Fruitiness, sourness and bitterness in aftertaste.

Enjoyed out of flutes. Poured opaque, golden-xanthous with a silken appearance, minimal head. Quite a pungent nose. Sweet citric sourness combined with a sparkling champagne makes a tart aroma which throws your nose through a loop. The favor contains the initial sweet and sourness aspects of the aroma but then softer coniferous hops soothed into reassuring oak. There are hints of champagne, apple, spruce, hay, vinegar, lemon, earth, and candi sugar all the way through. The palate is quite appetizing as well; smooth like fresh juice without the weighty pulp and perfect light carbonation that subtracts nothing from the character and complexity of the flavor. I want to say, having never experienced Cantillon nor a gueuze, this beer is like getting punched in the face then rocked to sleep as you fall to the ground and enjoying every second of it. I have no other way to convey transcendental quality of this beer. Beautiful.

Thanks to cquiroga for sharing this one at the Lost Abbey Barrel Night. Golden pour with a fairly mellow funky/ citrus aroma. Tart and dry mouthfeel although not overwhelming. Flavor is the typical citrus and barnyard funk that you find in a gueze but with hints of sweeter fruits. All around, it was a unique and very enjoyable beer.

Bought at Bierloods. Tasted with Marc, Leen and Paul last sunday 28.12.08. Low-hazy golden color, with a thin white head. Aroma bit hops, woods-sourness. Medium body. Taste nice sourness, fruity, good balanced bit woody. Dry finish.

Crushed with Jakebra. Yup, good old mouth-watering mofo. Citrusy, fruity, champagney, old man-y. Sounds about right.