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.


4.1
   AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 5/5   TASTE 8/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 16/20
polomagnifico (845) - Saginaw, Michigan, USA - JUL 8, 2010
Bottle 2007. Aroma has notes of lemons, barnyard, sour funk and cob webs. Medium orange hue with an average sized off-white head that mostly diminished and left some lace. Flavor is sweet, bitter, tart and sour. Palate is medium bodied with an average carbonation. Overall a very good brew that’s sweet and refreshing. I think a few more years would actually improve it.

4
   AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 7/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 17/20
wedgie9 (1370) - Nashville, Tennessee, USA - JUL 8, 2010
Vintage 2007, tasted from 375mL bottle at Lush West Town. Pours light amber orange with a quickly fading white head. Nose is brett funk with some burnt rubber, vinegar, and a dandelion florality and just a hing of lemon and green apple. Taste is very bitter on the tip of the tongue and very sour with some citrus. The body is medium minus with sparkling carbonation and a medium finish.

4
   AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 8/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 16/20
tokyogoat (1504) - San Diego, California, USA - JUL 7, 2010
A damn fine beer, I would drink it until my liver gave way. Nothing offensive at all, just beer bliss.

3.9
   AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 3/5   TASTE 8/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 16/20
riversideAK (4381) - Shoreline, Washington, USA - JUL 6, 2010
Poopy, funky, stinky cheesy, acidic lemon notes on the nose, and some earthy funky hop notes. Pretty damn funky and enjoyable. Pours hazy orange golden with not head or lace. Strongly lemony and funky. Lots of stinky cheese and barnyard, wild yeast, and poopy poop poop. More acidic tart/sour lemon in the finish. Super solid and enjoyable funk bomb.

3.8
   AROMA 7/10   APPEARANCE 3/5   TASTE 8/10   PALATE 3/5   OVERALL 17/20
pivnizub (7022) - Bochum, Porúří, GERMANY - JUL 6, 2010
Bottle (2003/bottled 2005): Deep golden to orangey coloured, a bit unclear, nearly medium sized - slowly collapsing - off-white head; solid dry grainy-cellary nose with a certain fruitiness (apples, lemons) and traces of wood; dry bitter-sourish flavour with a little (malty) sweetness, light to medium bodied; dry sourish-cellary finish with some malty base underneath and a dry hoppy aftertaste. Just great......

4.7
   AROMA 9/10   APPEARANCE 5/5   TASTE 10/10   PALATE 5/5   OVERALL 18/20
patrickfannon (1059) - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA - JUL 5, 2010
UPDATED: JUL 6, 2010 Bottle. 12.7 oz. (2007 Vintage) Split with Vin. Pours a hazy, murky turbid orange with a thin, white, creamy head. Shiny, reflective surface. Aroma of barnyard funk, sharp cheese, lemon zest, lavender, blueberry, dry hops, wild yeasts, grass, and earth. Full bodied with a smooth, creamy, roundly robust, tart palate. Notes of sharp, savory cheese in the frinish. Bit sour too. The age on this brew really balanced it nicely and gave the sour a solid, malty, floral backbone. Excellent lambic.

3.9
   AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 8/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 15/20
mcberko (2196) - Vancouver, British Columbia, CANADA - JUL 4, 2010
Sampled on tap at SIB, pours hazy orange. Aroma of sourness, citrus, lemon and floral notes. Flavour of dominated by the sourness, with some earthiness and floral notes. A treat.

4.1
   AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 8/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 17/20
Nena (957) - Seattle, Washington, USA - JUL 3, 2010
Hazy orange with a thin layer of white bubbles. Lemony sour aroma with barnyardy funk, floral and hay notes. Taste is along similar lines but gives a more intense, puckering sour sensation and the impression of apple. Finishes with more barnyard, hay, grass, earth, floral notes. Pretty complex and dry, not sweet tasting at all.


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