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
   AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 7/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 17/20
Rusty (1509) - Mesa, Arizona, USA - AUG 21, 2009
On tap at Papago. Pours a hazy orange with a large white head. Aroma is sour funk lemons sawdust. Flavor is acidic sourness, lemons, hay, wheat, sawdust, asprin, with a nice tart finish. nice sour lambic.

3.6
   AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 7/10   PALATE 3/5   OVERALL 14/20
MrChopin (2065) - Baltimore, Maryland, USA - AUG 21, 2009
’07 bottle pours hazy tangerine, moderate fizzy white head. Grassy, lemon-lime nose, also some must and dank/wet wood. Wet, bitter, woody flavor with an odd combo of sweet and sour from contributions by grape, lemon, and grass. Bitter, prickly carbonation, but the body is watery and the finish rather short. Interesting, but not as cohesive or complex as I’ve had from Cantillon, and the harsh bitterness is tough to stomach without the balance.

3.8
   AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 2/5   TASTE 8/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 16/20
asheft (2032) - Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA - AUG 14, 2009
[bottle] Sweet and sour malty almost pickle juice aroma with notes of cherry, strawberry, and orange blossoms. Murky orange-amber with barely some white patches on top. Excellent sourness that is just a touch vinegary dominates the tasting experience. A nice bitterness sort of like bitter lemon with some wood comes in towards the middle and then slowly fades to a tingly lemony finish. Slightly mouth puckering, low carbonation, light body.

4.6
   AROMA 9/10   APPEARANCE 5/5   TASTE 10/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 18/20
cyrenaica (745) - Milton, Ontario, CANADA - AUG 1, 2009
750ml bottle
6% ABV
2006 Vintage
I tried this beer on June 10, 2009 at "The Beerbistro" in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. I’m convinced that this brewery can do no wrong. The beer poured a relatively clear golden orange with a small amount of haze and a whole lot of effervescence. The aroma was sour apples, some earth and must. The mouthfeel was medium-bodied and highly carbonated. The taste was both sour and bitter, and a great experience for the tongue.

4
   AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 8/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 16/20
deyholla (3154) - Waukesha, Wisconsin, USA - JUL 27, 2009
2005 bottle. Pours a hazy peach gold color with a beige head. Aroma is full of tart and sour notes as I pick up some grapefruit, grapes, and citrus fruits. Flavor is tart throughout (acidic throughout too) with a nice fruit complexity, similar to the aroma.

3.7
   AROMA 7/10   APPEARANCE 3/5   TASTE 7/10   PALATE 3/5   OVERALL 17/20
Pinball (7771) - Copenhagen, DENMARK - JUL 25, 2009
2003 version. cloudy orange, thick smooth offwhite head. nice subdued sourish aroma, stable, hops. very delicate, complex and well blended. flavor is sour, slightly acidic, hoppy, not much stable. quite refreshing, good terrace-in-the-sun-relax sour beer.

3.4
   AROMA 7/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 6/10   PALATE 3/5   OVERALL 14/20
leems (406) - Portland, Oregon, USA - JUL 23, 2009
Tap @ PIB / Poured a hazy orange with a large white head, no lacing. Aroma was sour grape. Flavor was sour patch kid and bad pinot gris. The finish was bitter and slightly acrid.

4.2
   AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 8/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 18/20
coyotehunter (621) - , Michigan, USA - JUL 22, 2009
375 ml bottle with a huge thanks to ArrogantB. This is a good day. With the cracking of this bottle I have filled all 72 styles. The Unblended lambic has been my white whale for some time. Pours a murky swampy orange with little to no head. The aroma is fantastic of sour/tart apples with a slight barnyard funk about it. Good puckering medium sour palate with the prominent notes of sour apples and cherries. Has a semi-sweet apple flavor in the finish. Just the smallest hint of bitter as well. Damn good beer..all the way around.


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