Cantillon Iris

Brewed by Cantillon
Style: Lambic - Unblended
Brussels, Belgium

Serve in Flute, Tumbler

Bottle@patricks.Pours amber orange with a white head.Aroma lemon ,floral hops ,sweet malt and funk.Flavour is lemon, sweet malt ,funk and hopa.Thin to medium body, hard carbonation .Very nice funky beer.

hay, floral hops, grass, citrus, barnyard, vanilla in aroma. Hazy orange, minimal head, white foam, light sweetness, very bitter, oily feel, astringent finish

375 ml bought at the brewery, bottled 2010. Pours orange, not a lot of retaining head. Of course it’s sour, but not to any extreme levels. Rather, the sourness is made up of many different sour flavors such as lemon, vinegar and green grapes. Has some floral notes too, and a present, but light, bitterness. Excellent lambic, served well as my birthday treat.

UPDATED: AUG 24, 2011 2005 vintage, bottled 2007, 375ml bottle.
amber colored from all barley. medium sized head, little to no lasting retention. nose has a heavy potpourri/perfumed hop scent on top of milder pedio and lacto notes (light solvent, slight barn must, horsey, mild mallo, etc.). oak is mild to medium, honey-like in flavor with a barely-discernible scent of vanilla. flavor is focused forcefully on the fresh hops and iris flowers, giving it both an intense hop bitterness and a wood oil resinous quality that reminds me of the bitterness and astringency of absinthe (but not the flavor). somebody else mentioned malort, which is also made from wormwood. my guess is the iris flowers and the uncharacteristic fresh hop bitterness are responsible for this incredibly long-lasting wood oil flavor and astringency. it’s honestly a bit off-putting, though not offensive, but I can easily see how it would ruin the experience of this beer for people. it’s nothing like traditional lambic, lacking both the 1/3 raw wheat character and the acid cleanliness that comes from avoiding aroma and flavoring hops. acid is medium to low for unblended lambic, but does successfully catch the back of the tongue in a refreshing bite and burst. body is crisp, frothy and full. bitterness is heavy for the style and seems out of place and brash. the hops and the iris flowers are disjointed and gives it a green/floral/vegetal flavor that doesn’t work. no surprise that this isn’t how lambic naturally evolved. by the end of the bottle the wood oil and lacquer astringency becomes much more off-putting. an interesting lambic to revisit and explore more now that I know what I like much more than I did in 2004 when I initially sampled this beer. I’ll keep a couple of bottles around in the cellar, but I honestly don’t find this lambic appealing enough to buy and cellar cases.

vintage 2005, bottled in 2007
darker than expected. amber/hazy orange. med head, nice lacing. nothing too exciting about the looks.
nose: upfront sour, yogurty, milky. coriander, apricot baby food (possibly from pedio ethyls?), cider spices--clove, nutmeg, squash blossom, baked pumpkin, potpourri

mouth: upfront sour, but much drier than nose would indicate. bitterness from fresh hops. this has a very long finish, evolving in some really disgusting ways. after the upfront sourness, there’s the hoppy bitterness, which is followed by a lingering wood oil bitterness of sandalwood, dried flowers, turpentine, lacquer, gross herbals like jaeger and other bitters/amaros. this reminds me of malort, both in flavor and the way the nastiness lingers. after 30 seconds, there’s a distinct skunkiness that overtakes the mouth and makes me want to chug anything sweet. baking spices from the oak develop as it warms, which doesn’t help anything.

the worst part is the lack of integration between the layers of flavor. the sourness, which is actually quite pleasant, lays lightly on top, while the bitterness and oiliness below seem detached from both the expected flavors and textures.

From a bottle (2007/ bottled 2010). Pours hazy orange with a large pillowy white head. Acidic lemon aroma, with some floral hops, and a nice bit of funk. The hops really come through in the aroma. Taste is bitter and very tart and acidic. Really good, and very refreshing.

2007 bottle. The cork was 3/4s of the way out by itself after I popped the cap. Orange amber with a large off-white head. High bead. Aroma of cider vinegar, the barn and cut flowers you should have thrown out yesterday. Taste is quite sharp and sour with loads of lemon as well as fruity vinegar. Maybe some citrus bitterness too, but it’s hard to pick up. There’s a little explosion of complex sour notes just before the finish. A little wood at the end too. There’s not a lot of depth to the funk (the lack of wheat or the lack of age?) and it’s not really puckeringly sour - it’s very quaffable.

Bottle from Beers of Europe. Comes in a beautiful bottle which has to be uncorked after removing top. Never had this before so I thought this would be a really exciting beer. It had the aroma of sour exotic fruits and poured very fizzy cloudy light brown. Then came the taste which was sour and rancid. I am sorry but I just couldn’t drink this.