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Score
9996
OVERALLStyle
Brewed by Cantillon
Style: Lambic - Unblended
Brussels, Belgium
Serve in Flute, Tumbler

bottled
common

on tap
common

Broad Distribution

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RATINGS: 833   WEIGHTED AVG: 3.79   EST. CALORIES: 150   ABV: 5%
COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION
The Cantillon brewery is closely linked to Brussels, a city which has the iris as its symbol. As the name indicates, the "marsh iris" is a plant growing in humid areas. The historical center of Brussels is built on swamps where this flower used to grow abundantly.
In 1998, the Brussels Museum of the Gueuze celebrated its 20th anniversary. The Cantillon brewery decided to make a new spontaneous fermentation beer for this occasion, named after this symbolic flower.
It is a completely original beer which, contrary to the other products of the Brewery, is not brewed with 35% of wheat. The Iris, which is only made with malt of the pale ale type (giving a more amber colour to the beer) conserves the typical flavour of the spontaneous fermentation, the complex aromas and the vinous taste.
The hopping is different too. Lambic is made with 100% dried hops, for the Iris we use 50% of dried hops and 50% of fresh hops. The latter cause a superb acidity, the former, due to their tannins, enable to conserve the beer while preserving all its qualities.
After two years in the barrel, the Iris undergoes a second fresh hopping two weeks before the bottling. A linen bag, filled with hops, is soaked in the beer for two weeks. This technique, called "cold hopping", gives the beer a more intense savour and makes the smell and the taste more bitter.


4.1
   AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 9/10   PALATE 3/5   OVERALL 17/20
Holy (650) - GERMANY - APR 20, 2011
Bottle at home shared with mom and dad. Nice sour notes, dry wood flavors - lingers nicely. Great sour.

4
   AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 8/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 16/20
sm89walt (1344) - Norwich, Norfolk, ENGLAND - APR 12, 2011
375ml bottle, 2007 vintage bottled 21/01/10. An effervescent, slightly unclear ruddy amber coloured beer with a tall & rocky, slowly disappearing off-white to beige head that leaves a loose, soapy lacing. Tangy green apples, lemon & white wine on the aroma with an underlying orange sweetness & a bit of grapefruit is that? Green apples & pithy orange with a puckering dryness and a modest green hop, grapefruit bitterness. Light to medium body, fairly lively mouthfeel with a lingering dryness and bitter finish. Leaves a good dose of orange in the aftertaste.

3.9
   AROMA 6/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 8/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 17/20
Scopey (1179) - Croydon, Surrey, ENGLAND - APR 5, 2011
Bottle at the Rake enjoyed with big wallopper MagicDave6. It pours amber with moderate carbonation and a very thin yellow-white head. The nose is sour, hay, floral, grass and wood. The taste is lemon-sherbet, acidic Granny Smith apple, floral, grass, hay, surprising bitterness and wood with a satisfyingly long tart-bitter finish. There is a great balance between sweet, sour and bitter.

4.3
   AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 3/5   TASTE 9/10   PALATE 5/5   OVERALL 18/20
jrallen34 (3434) - Chicago, Illinois, USA - APR 3, 2011
2004 vintage thanks to my boy Greg in NYC... a dark gold almost copper body, murky, decent bright white head... the aroma is awesome, tons of malted grains, musky funk barnyard, great flavors wonderfully restrained though... interesting sweet malts on the front with very sour horse blanket lactic sour, tastes great... mouthfeel is great, makes me pucker, totally coating and full... 7 years old but damn good, would like to try one just slightly newer to see how they are fresh

4
   AROMA 7/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 8/10   PALATE 5/5   OVERALL 16/20
BigMomma (214) - Leuven, BELGIUM - APR 2, 2011
37,5cl bottle vintage 2005
Cloudy orange/golden color with a slight head that can become quite big for a geuze when you pour vigorously.
The aroma is quite musty with notes of flowery hops. The flavor starts very sour and gives you all the characteristic dusty musty flavors you expect from a geuze and ends in a dry aftertaste with a citrus, aged hop aftertaste.
An interesting and refreshing geuze.

4
   AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 8/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 16/20
drabmuh (160) - Maryland, USA - MAR 31, 2011
2007 vintage. Beer served in a snifter. Beer is dark amber and completely hazy. Forms a surprisingly big head (the cork really popped out fast) and the carbonation is really high. Head is off white and made up of small bubbles. Doesn’t leave much lacing on the glass. Looks great (although I don’t mind my unblended lambics to have almost no carbonation). Strongly tart with mild fruit aromas in the nose. Apples, some apricots (I know these fruits aren’t here, just saying what I can smell). Mild acetic acid notes, nice lactic notes. Smells good. Beer is super sour and has a nice funk to it. Lots of carbonation in the mouth. This pushes the limits of what I think a sour can be. Very lactic / citric in the front and then oak and woodsy at the back with a lingering funk. Drinkability is good but its not my favorite lambic from them. Overall I still thoroughly enjoyed it. Serving type: bottle

4.1
   AROMA 9/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 8/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 16/20
adnielsen (3106) - Denver, Colorado, USA - MAR 28, 2011
Bottle @ home. Hazy dark red-orange appearance with a big orange cream colored head. Acidic, sour, wild, light citrus fruity, lightly floral Belgian lambic nose. Wild, sweet citrusy, lightly floral, barnyard, musty, and quite sour flavor. Sour, aged lambic flavor gets especially potent at the back of the tongue. This is my first unblended lambic rating, so I’m a beginner to this style but overall it has a potent sour flavor and a little more rough than blended lambics. 2007 vintage.

4.2
   AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 8/10   PALATE 5/5   OVERALL 17/20
madvike (1295) - Middleton, Wisconsin, USA - MAR 21, 2011
Bottle, 2005 vintage - Pours clear amber with a huge foamy white head. Funky tart sulfur nose, with lemon, dry floral notes, and some sweet citrus. Taste is tart citrus peel, dry with a bit of stale hop flavor. Nice tartness and pretty acidic, but overall still very easy to drink. Softly carbonated and smooth. The only weird thing about this beer was the black moldy-looking stuff that was all over the cork when we took the cap off. It didn’t smell moldy, and it wiped off, but I couldn’t help but think that drinking this beer was going to give me some horrible disease. Thankfully it didn’t...yay Cantillon!


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Rating Notecard:
Beer: Cantillon Iris Rating Avg: 3.79 No. of Ratings: 833
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