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Cantillon Iris

Percentile
96
overall
Brewed by Cantillon
Style: Lambic - Unblended

Brussels, Belgium

bottled
common

on tap
available

Broad Distribution
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RatingsAverageScoreABVStyle PctlServe in
5973.76/5.03.75/5.05%90.6Flute, Tumbler
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.
 Most Recent Top Raters Highest Ratings Who's Rated This?  
 santos999 (318), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
4.3 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/103/510/102/519/20
Nov 18, 2008  
Pours a cloudy bright orange with a little off-white head. Incredibly musty aroma with hints of lemons, oranges, and acid. The taste is damn near abrasively acidic with a huge dry finish. Lemons in the mouth for sure, but also lots of must and oak. The wild yeast character is very big. My only complaint is the slightly watery palate. Aside from that, this is yet again another classic from Cantillon.


 davidpl (435), Santiago, Chile
3.9 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/58/103/516/20
Nov 2, 2008  
Bottle from La Cave à Bulles - Paris. Appearance: dark golden to amber. Medium to big head, white color, some rocky and lasting. Aroma: complex lactic and citric smells, a lot of aromatic reminiscences like quince, green grapes, green apples, flowers of lemon, honey with lemon, cedar and chardonnay wine. Pale malts touch. Flavor: sour start, lactic notes like natural-yogurt, a lot of citric-fruitiness similar to lemon, quince, grapefruits and green apples. Intensive wild yeasty, ’’older’’ notes and bicarbonate hints. Also, the wood and the flowers. The slight dry-hoppiness (but lasting) and the sourness give reminiscences of peel of citric fruits. Palate: medium body and low carbonation. Remark: I’ve had a great experience with this beer. A complex and intensive beer with own-character and multidimensional sourness. Lovely beer


 durhambeer (1202), Durham, USA
4.6 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
10/104/59/104/519/20
Oct 21, 2008    Updated: Oct 29, 2008
Bottle, not sure what vintage, but I’d guess at least 3-4 years in the bottle. Golden orange pour; hazy and getting to cloudy as we kept pouring from the bottle. Surprisingly large bubbly white head. This beer was amazing, and every sniff yielded new aromas. Through the course of splitting a bottle, we started with soapy and bitter lemon notes, hitting next on old wood and dirty strawberries, a bitter hop presence. Next notes of gun leather and then cherries, with pits and skins included. Also big floral (lilies) and vinous qualities. There were times when I closed my eyes and could have thought I was drinking certain floral Italian red wines (Nero D’Avola, maybe? Barbera d’Asti or Alba?). In short, an amazing beer. Shared with gueuze_is_god.


 AtlAggie (133), Atlanta, Georgia, USA
3.9 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/103/58/103/518/20
Oct 19, 2008  
2004 vintage from Bier Circus in Brussels. A murky golden color, with a strong aroma of sour hops. Surprisingly balanced flavor considering the sour aroma, with the sour balanced by sweetness of fruit, particularly grapefruit. Very very drinkable, just a lovely lambic.


alassio (18), USA
4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
3/105/59/104/519/20
Oct 10, 2008  
I hate how the rating categories conspire to yield a number that represents nothing about the beer. On tap at the new Malt House in Madison (outstanding craft beer pub--world class) this quenching, complex, tantalizing substance is transcendent, period.


 andersand (308), Malmö, Sweden
3.7 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/104/57/104/515/20
Oct 9, 2008  
Nice very cloudy with a small, quickly dying white head. Aroma of mint, liqourice root, funky and inviting. Slightly fizzy mouthfeel, still, glides down fairly easy. Starts sour with allot of hai and nice funkyness, some mint and liqourice. The aftertaste is pending between sourness and pleasant stable, crap and fruit notes. Tasty


 EricE (456), Fairfax, Virginia, USA
4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/58/103/517/20
Sep 27, 2008  
Very cloudy and hazy pour with white head and nice lacing on the glass. Sweet and sour aroma. Lots of earth and funk with some grape and fruit. There are some bitter herb and spice notes. Mild sourness with a bitter finish. Floral earthy, herb flavor, almost like mint. Very unique. Would have liked a bit more sourness, but overall very good.


 fiver29 (713), Cleveland, Ohio, USA
4.2 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/104/58/104/517/20
Sep 17, 2008  
On tap pours amber with a off white head. As soon as the bartender set it down I could smell it. That’s how fragrant it was . It has a nice floral bouquet along with sour notes of funk. What follows was a medium body with a fair amount of carbonation. Taste is very tart, lemon like, sweet aftertaste, and has more tartness after the sweetness mellows. Overall I was glad to try this on tap and thought it was outstanding.



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