RateBeer
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.


3.6
   AROMA 7/10   APPEARANCE 3/5   TASTE 8/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 14/20
dimenhetfield (1663) - , Florida, USA - MAR 19, 2011
Taster at Hunaphu’s release. This was a very light in color, light in body beer. The aroma was a tad fruity with hints of apples. The flavor was a little tart and dry. Not the best of the day but a pretty good one.

3.8
   AROMA 7/10   APPEARANCE 3/5   TASTE 8/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 16/20
Rasmus40 (3016) - Beder, Aarhus, DENMARK - MAR 17, 2011
Vintage 2003. Hazy orange with a white head. Aroma is light sweet and moderate sour - fruit and wood. Flavor is moderate sour, very acidic and without sweetness. Astringent, very acidic and bone dry finish. 160311

3.2
   AROMA 7/10   APPEARANCE 3/5   TASTE 7/10   PALATE 3/5   OVERALL 12/20
Blairgus (1019) - California, USA - MAR 15, 2011
yellow orange colour. white grapefruit aroma and very tart smell. doesn’t smell as tart as other cantillons. thin/med body and faintly fizzy. very dry and puckers the mouth. soft and mildly sweet, at least in contrast to the tartness. i like this. it has certain wine/champagne characteristics but also some fun lambic elements. very good.

4.1
   AROMA 7/10   APPEARANCE 3/5   TASTE 9/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 18/20
peteinSD (521) - San Diego, California, USA - MAR 10, 2011
’10 bottle. Initially thick and bubbly head fading to a thin slick of foam with steady carbonation. Beer is light red/pink in color and clear. Aroma is clean and light tart, wheat-like malt, and subtle background sour/tart and funk. Taste is tart up front with lemon gueuze through the middle followed by light malt before a sour/tart finish. Dry, precise feel in the mouth. I really like this beer - wonderful.

4
   AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 5/5   TASTE 7/10   PALATE 5/5   OVERALL 15/20
tastybeer (950) - Washington DC, USA - MAR 8, 2011
Bottle (thx for sharing tarheels!). Pours a hazy yellow/orange with a gigantic white head which takes minutes to settle. Aroma is intense barnyard funk, lemon, grassy/floral hops, citrus. Flavor is funky and hoppy, very smooth rounded palate; easy to drink. Really hard beer not to love and would make a very sessionable beer (for me) if not for the pricetag.

3.9
   AROMA 7/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 8/10   PALATE 3/5   OVERALL 17/20
teorn88 (567) - Rimini, ITALY - FEB 22, 2011
UPDATED: MAR 7, 2011 375ml bottle. Pours a cloudy orangish/brownish color with a big bubbly white head. Aroma is mostly sweet-sour with oak and horse blanket qualities. Taste is sweet/sour, almost lemon peel. Grassy earthy notes. Some bittering hops. Very nice. Medium bodied and lots of carbonation. Sidenote: 6% ABV on the back label.

4.2
   AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 8/10   PALATE 5/5   OVERALL 17/20
DalzAle (1336) - Eden Prairie, Minnesota, USA - FEB 5, 2011
2007 Bottle. Light orange pour, plenty of lasting carbonation and an aroma of sour stomach acid(but in a good way.) Flavor is very sour grapefruit, acid, some hop bitterness and a lasting funky aftertastes. Really liked this one, and very doable at $20/bottle.

4.2
   AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 3/5   TASTE 9/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 18/20
BelgBeerGeek (824) - Antwerp, BELGIUM - JAN 29, 2011
head: white, creamy
colour: deep amber
smell: malts allready !!, grassy, bitter/sour, hops, lemon and something that reminds me of "la paz" cigars ?!
taste: very sour start, malts, champagny appeal but only more sour, despite of in a regular geueze that meets a bit of wa grape/ green apple like appeal , this one clearly runs over into hops with a clearly grassy taste , overall texture is dryer than a regular geueze , there’s more to say but i think i might be overgo it so i’ll end my case here ... a great lambic !!
i really need to get me some more canillon stuff ...


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