Cantillon Faro

Brewed by Cantillon
Style: Lambic - Faro
Brussels, Belgium

Serve in Flute, Tumbler

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Faro truly is an aquired taste. A taste that I have yet to aquire. Faro is unblended lambic in which caramel and candy sugar is added during bottling time. I believe that Cantillon uses 1 1/2 year old lambic when making this one. I sampled this at Spinnekopke in Brussels, Belgium. Brown. Sugars overpowering the "lambicness" in the nose. Flat (to style). Overwhelming sweetness. I expected sweet, but not this sweet. The style, at this point, is not for me. Still though, with the rarity of this beer these days, I think I’ll try it again the next chance I get.

UPDATED: APR 1, 2012
The below sensorial experiences describe the beer as it was served in different locations (unfortunately missing Moeder Lambic St. Gilles in 2009). But it would not be enough to describe additional factors: it’s my beer to go when sitting at Moeder Lambic, it’s one of the most drinkable beers I know, it’s light and refreshing, it offers layers of complexity. As a Faro, it couldn’t get better.

2011-09-21, at Moeder Lambic, Fontainas, 8-5-8-4-16=41
The keg of Faro is supplied directly by Cantillon
The aroma seems to highlight cellar smells this time, cheesy, feety. The mouthfeel is smooth, the balance of sweetness and acidity (mild) is perfect, the cellar and Brett character is elegant and wonderful; there is a light touch of lemon; pleasant fruity astringency in the final. Excellent.

2011-09-04, at Moeder Lambic, Fontainas, 7-5-8-4-15=39
Cloudy dark amber color, with a giant creamy head. Aroma of malt, of old, maybe some dust, and brown sugar. Sweetish mouthfeel, but it doesn’t cover the character from the Gueuze. It’s not the first time I had a Faro at Moeder Lambic, and it’s always good.

2004-06-12, just prepared this morning by Jean at the brewery, with a 1½ year old lambic and sugar, 8-4-7-4-14=37
Hazy dark amber color. Nice aroma, reminiscent of vin cuit (apples and pears cooked for a looong time), and caramel. Very sweet, covering pretty much the sourness; easily (dangerously) drinkable!

Red/brown. This is a very good faro. Great complexity. Sourness and sweetness in a nice balance. Quite bitter actually.

Red, bronwish body. Sweety aroma. Ligthly sweet, lightly sour initial flavour. A very soft mouthfeel (in contrast to most of the other Cantillin beers, which are quite ’offensive’ :))

Brown color. The taste is sweet with a wellbalanced sourness. Strong notes of brown sugar. Sampled from a bottle Jacob Lövenlund brought home from the brewery.

Sampled from a bottle blended two days earlier at the brewery and brought home to Denmark by my Cantillon supplier Jacob Lövenlund - Thanks a lot :-)
Pour an unclear brown beer with a red gleam and no head. Little sourness in the aroma but sweet and sugary in the middle. Quite mild. Flavor is sweet, dry and woody with obvious notes of grapefruit and brown sugar. Nice sourness from the wild fermentation behind the sweetness. Reminds me of a Flemish Sour Ale, just sweeter. An excellent and very complex beer and a great surprise, I didn’t think Faro could be so tasty...!!

Made the night before, sampled at the Cantillon Open Brewing Day March 2004. Deep amber, no head or condition. Sweet caramel and tart lambic notes in the nose. Manages a good balance of caramel sweetnes and dry woody tartness in the mouth, without overstratching itself either way. Long refreshing sweet finish with a faintly lambic dryness. A good way to start the day.

Brown/orange coloured. This is by far the best faro I have had. It is not as cloyingly sweet and unbalanced as they most often are. Flavour of grapes and grapefruit with a little sugar. Very well balanced and pleasant.

The aroma is very sour. The color is dark orange and it has no head. The flavor is sweet and sour of grapefruit and with a dry woody end - a lovely flavor. The best Faro I have tried.

UPDATED: DEC 27, 2010 Sampled July 2010 at Cantillon
The beer arrives with a hazy, amber gold color and some large bubbled, pale looking foam that is wispy and clings to the inner ring of my glass. This smells of juice somehow; a mix of pineapple, grapefruit and perhaps even a touch of apple juices are each noticeable. The Lambic funkiness contributes notes of urea, and an earthy mustiness, while the finish smells of fresh cut wood, and a spiciness as well as something that reminds me of musty cork.

As a Faro should, the beer tastes fairly sweet and it even tastes of pineapple juice and a touch of grapefruit. This last is not as noticeable as the Faro is only lightly tart at this point. There is not quite enough lactic tartness to really cut through / balance the sweetness, but there is definitely some tartness to this beer. Musty cork flavors, ro more likely oaky notes add a touch of bit to help balance out the sweetness and there is some spicy oak character here as well. The body makes this light and quaffable, despite the sweetness that has been added.

This has quite a mellow sweetness for a Faro; it manages to be quite nicely balanced and is definitely very tasty. The light sweetness brings out a refreshing quality that is different from the same character that one sees in a dry Lambic. I would prefer more acidity to this brew, but I am really finding the ample fruitiness here to be quite interesting and enjoyable.

Sampled at Cantillon 2001
3.9 8/4/8/4/15
This strangely enough tasted similar to a lightly sweetened herbal tea. Quite flat, a bit astringent, and with a pleasing herbal and flowery character to it.