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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 
5913.76/5.03.75/5.05%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?  
 holdenn (1431), Chicago, Illinois, USA
3.7 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/103/58/104/515/20
Apr 27, 2007  
750 ml thanks to drewbeerme for this sample. Pours a yellow hazy color with a white thin head. Funky aroma of sour grapes and lemon. Sour flavors vinegar and acidic woody .... really tart like a light gueze. And maybe that doesn’t sound appealing, but it was tasty. Finishes very dry.


 trokini (1027), San Diego, California, USA
3.8 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/104/58/103/516/20
Apr 25, 2007  
2005 vintage. This is the first unblended lambic I’ve tried. Pours hazy orange-gold with a bubbly white head that quickly disappears. Musty aroma of yeast, lemon, apple, spice, and old wood. Taste is fruity, citrus sweet up front, but instantly turns into a dank acidic sourness with an apple wine/vinegar bite. As it warmed the sourness lightened up just a bit. Dry, sweet finish akin to a Flemish.


 DocLock (4648), Lower Pottsgrove, Pennsylvania, USA
4.1 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/58/104/517/20
Apr 25, 2007  
Cantillon makes unique stuff, I can’t deny that. But they’ve become hit or miss with me. This one pours hazy jack-o-lantern orange with 1-finger white head. The aroma is heavy citrus, apple, pear, funky spice, and some earthy notes. The flavor is tart and very citric, although not as mouth puckering as some other Cantillon’s I’ve quaffed, with flavor notes of pear, apple, and funky yeasty citrus. Complex and enjoyable.


 JoeinUccle (902), Brussels, Belgium
3.8 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/103/57/105/516/20
Apr 25, 2007  
75cL, 2004 vintage. Cloudy, rusty, dark amber color. Some malty aspects to an otherwise lemony and musty aroma. Some old socks in there. Flavor is citric-tart, lemony but not extreme, with a backdrop of dust and malt. Acidic but not harsh. Not bitter but certainly dry. Surprisingly drinkable and refreshing. Musty, mellow finish.


 drewbeerme (2224), Chicago, Illinois, USA
3.6 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
6/103/58/104/515/20
Apr 24, 2007  
750ml, vintage 2004, i think this is my first unblended lambic. pours almost hazy orange with barely a head. nose is very sour and tart lemon, cobwebs, vinegar, with slight anti-septic note. mouthfeel is pretty acidic. flavor starts off pretty raw and unpolished (perhaps cause it’s unblended), tart and sour lemons, vinegar, white grapes, and noticible band-aid note in the middle. this is tasty, sorta gueze-like but unique in it’s own right.


 padrefan98 (787), (San Diego) Santee, California, USA
3.9 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/58/104/515/20
Apr 24, 2007  
750Ml that poured an amber color with a lavender head. Very sour and acidic taste with fruiity aftertaste. Plumbs and apricots. Good stuff.


 fordest (1954), Santee/San Diego, California, USA
3.6 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/103/58/103/515/20
Apr 24, 2007  
750 ml bottle. Tart fruity aromas. Lots of fluffy head disapated quickly. Flavors were very sour and tart. Dry on the finish. Quite acidic too. pretty good


 Petrucci914 (574), Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA
3.2 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/103/56/103/512/20
Apr 20, 2007  
Pours a dark golden color. Smells musty and sweet. Taste is sour, dry, and very acidic with not much left on the palate.



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