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Cantillon Iris

Cantillon Iris - Lambic - Unblended

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 Percentile 
96
overall
Brewed by Cantillon
Style: Lambic - Unblended

Brussels, Belgium

bottled
common

on tap
available

Broad Distribution
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 Ratings  Average  Score  ABV  Style Pctl  Serve in 
5923.76/5.03.75/5.05%93.8Flute, Tumbler
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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?  
 drowland (1360), Tallahassee, Florida, USA
3.8 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/104/58/104/515/20
Oct 11, 2009  
My first unblended!

750mL vintage 2006 poured into a flute. Nice thick beery off-white head that goes away pretty fast. The color is cloudy orange and golden. The aroma is dusty champagne as well as as layers of flowers/fruit and a touch of fresh hop and malt. The flavor is intensely sour at first and morphs to cherries, some tannins, a bit of apple peel, and a hint of malt and hop. Interesting stuff.


 Jukkabro (2981), Tampere, Finland
3.5 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/103/57/104/514/20
Oct 10, 2009  
Dark yellow colored. Flowery aroma with thin cherries and wooden tones, soft sourness dominating. Thin to medium bodied. Flavor is more sour with soft palate still, only thin flowers come up. Aftertaste turns to wooden with lemon. Good and soft Cantillon.


 dogfish120love (250), west hartford, Connecticut, USA
3.8 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/103/58/103/517/20
Oct 8, 2009  
Pours an goldish orange. Some nice funk from the brett, notes of vinegar in the flavor, but not in a bad way (Not from oxidation). Some nice floral notes are present in the aroma. What a spectacular tartness.


 zvikar (413), Tel-Aviv, Israel
4.1 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/104/58/104/516/20
Oct 2, 2009  
In Milan at BQ Birra, from tap, pours hazy yellow to orange with a huge foamy head, great aroma of cheese, olives, flowers, tree fruits like peach and strong winey acidity, tart and refreshing flavor like wet leaves, grapes, farm bursting flavors and nice hoppy finish, very complex. Great!


 boamr (112), Pennsylvania, USA
3.9 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/104/58/104/516/20
Sep 30, 2009  
Bottle from 07. Pours a nice golden yellow you can see through with a nice white head to it. Has a sour funk smell to it. Taste at first is pretty sour but has a nice tarty finish to it. Great lambic


 SuzyGreenberg (1318), Seattle, Washington, USA
4.3 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/105/58/105/516/20
Sep 29, 2009  
375 ml bottle - 2004 vintage; pours lovely light yellow, slight haze and faint white head along the edges; lots of soft wild flowers, lemons, wild grass; stale lemons, grainy with mild sourness; delicate and subtle combo of a little funk, sweetness and earthy wildflowers; wow, pretty much a masterpiece


 LordCorkscrew (939), Ronco Scrivia (GE), Italy
4.1 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/58/104/517/20
Sep 25, 2009  
Mica male come voto #900, un altro eccezionale lambic di Cantillon, anzi non si potrebbe dire "lambic"..solo malto d’orzo per questa ’nuova’ gemma della gamma dei Van Roy, che nell’aroma ha l’acidità pungente del lambic migliore ma anche la complessità maltata di una leggiadra ale e un poco di aceto. In bocca è splendidamente articolata, più asciutta ancora e forse un poco meno dissetante del broucsella, però comunque eccezionale.


 Pipper (226), Ohio, USA
4.1 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/58/104/517/20
Sep 23, 2009  
750 from Grapes of Mirth into glass. Really pretty lighter medium orange with lots of carbonation. Fluffy, super fizzy off-white head that starts off aggressive and then fades pretty quickly. The head really sparkles you can hear it. Smell is true to lambic funkiness and wonderful sour white grapes with a woody background. This is seriously drinkable, the flavor is much lighter than the color or aroma suggest. Sour white grapes and lemon in the flavor with a lemony acidic aftertaste that is pleasant. The mouthfeel is bright and fizzy. Loverly simply loverly. Was really looking forward to this and it did not disappoint!



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