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.


3.9
   AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 8/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 15/20
tiong (1002) - Espoo, FINLAND - DEC 20, 2011
750ml bottle @ Gloria, Kuopio

2006 vintage - Pours dark orange with a tiny bubbly white head. Armoa is fruity with notes of berries and sour notes. Taste is quite fruity and sour with notes of berries, spices and dry malts. Finish is dry and sour with berry notes. Nice, well balanced fruity lambic.

3.4
   AROMA 5/10   APPEARANCE 3/5   TASTE 7/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 15/20
RobertDale (830) - Lansing, Kansas, USA - DEC 19, 2011
2005 bottle. Pours a hazy orange with almost no head. Aroma of sour fruits, dust and barnyard. Taste is tart citrus, yeast, apples, wood and some hops. Dry finish. Unique. Unique.

4
   AROMA 7/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 8/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 17/20
OliverG (244) - Montreal, Quebec, CANADA - DEC 17, 2011
16-12-11 Bouteille 375ml 2007: Belle apparence orangée légèrement trouble avec une petite effervescence et un petit collet de mousse blanche persistante. Arômes très funky style barnyard, avec un touche moyenne d’acidité et de fruits. Légèrement sucrée et complexe en saveurs, avec du fruits, de l’acidité, une légère amertume. Bien balancé, même si asser funky. Pourrait facilement boire cette bière assis sur une botte de foin dans une grange! Très plaisante à boire, mais avec modération, car elle pourrait finir par taper sur le coeur

2.8
   AROMA 6/10   APPEARANCE 3/5   TASTE 6/10   PALATE 3/5   OVERALL 10/20
azlondon (1004) - Fribourg, SWITZERLAND - DEC 16, 2011
My first ever unblended lambic!
Appearance: Light amber. Clear, but some sediments left in the bottle. Shortlived, fizzy off-white head. Aroma: Sour. Wet wood. Some fruits hiding behind the sourness as well. Taste: What is happening to me? This is the first gueuze/lambic that I don’t find revolting. More of the same sourness, but less than other lambics. Ever so slight fruits. Sour aftertaste, but not too bad. Info: 750ml bottle, 16/12-2011, 44/100

3.5
   AROMA 6/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 6/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 15/20
orangesol (251) - Pennsylvania, USA - DEC 9, 2011
Served on-tap at Max’s Taphouse during their "Rare and Obscure" event. A - Pours amber yellow with a small one finger tall white head leaving spotty lacing down the glass. S - Smells of strong barn yard funk, light acidic sourness, and some white grape skin. Not as strong a nose as I was expecting. T - Holy pucker batman. Lots of strong puckering sourness up front slowly giving way to a mix of green apples, grapes, and light brett funk. The alcohol is well hidden behind all that sourness. The finish is pretty dry, lingering for some time. More sourness than I was initially expecting. M - Medium body and flavor with moderate carbonation. Strong, acidic, feel with a good bit of dryness in the finish. O - I liked this one, just not as much as the other two. It was, surprisingly to me at least, the most sour of the three. I tend to like my sours with a bit more fruit in them but this was still very nice.

3.8
   AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 3/5   TASTE 8/10   PALATE 3/5   OVERALL 16/20
beerisgoodforu (645) - Nørresundby, DENMARK - DEC 8, 2011
11 Bottle. Pours a hazy golden orange color with a white head. Aroma is of white grape, oak, vinegar, green apple, funk like barnyard, musty old cellar aromas and smells really sour. The flavor is super sour with lots of citrus and vinegar, I get white grape, oak, green apple, funk in the way of horseblanket and barnyard along with musty old flavors. The body is light with a dry mouthfeel. Overall a really tasty and extremely sour Unblended Lambic.

3.4
   AROMA 6/10   APPEARANCE 3/5   TASTE 7/10   PALATE 3/5   OVERALL 15/20
Foffern (117) - Bergen, NORWAY - DEC 4, 2011
Light golden amber with a off-white head which stays. I smell berries and specially rowanberries, and sour apple. This also present in the flavours, and vinegar. Tangy bitterness, and dry in the end. Medium to heavy carbo and feels crisp in the mouth. A very fresh and delightful lambic. I hope got the opportunity to taste this again.

4.4
   AROMA 7/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 9/10   PALATE 5/5   OVERALL 19/20
erickok (802) - Leiden, NETHERLANDS - NOV 27, 2011
Hazy orange with light bubbly head. Sourness, plums, wheat. Astringent sourness but totally refined and delicious. Warming and with great aftertaste. One of the best geuzes i’ve had.


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