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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 
5933.76/5.03.75/5.05%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?  
 Fred82 (346), Montreal, Quebec, Canada
3.8 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/103/58/104/515/20
Sep 7, 2009  
375ml bottle from IPB. Pours light hazy amber with a big slightly creamy head that is short lived. Nose is very funky and sour. There is also some fruits in there. Green apples maybe. Taste is mildy sour, quite funky with a little hoppy bite. Some green apples too. Not so much bitter. Quite dry on finish. Nice complexity, original stuff. Great aroma. Nice fruity, apple, faint hop background in the taste profile. Acidity is mild. slight barnyard hint.


 zach8270 (2053), Henrietta, New York, USA
3.8 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/58/103/515/20
Sep 7, 2009  
(bottle - corked & capped 750 ml) Golden/amber pour with a thick off-white head. Aroma is light with strong funky and earthy notes along with some sour and tartness near the end. Flavor is incredibly sour and tart at the beginning with a very light and mild sweetness near the end. Very funky and sour.


 petematte46 (213), Dallas, Texas, USA
4.2 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/104/58/104/517/20
Sep 5, 2009  
2006 bottle. Pours an orangish amber... Aroma is subtle, not a kick in the face with the sour/tart notes that are about it hit you, with a certain slightly fruity hint... Flavor is tart/sour/apple/orange and funk.


 shawnm213 (884), South Bend, Indiana, USA
3.4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/103/56/103/515/20
Sep 4, 2009    Updated: Sep 20, 2009
bottle. pours applejuice with small fizzy head. aroma of leather, plastic, car freshener. flavor is lemon rind and grapefruit loins. The mouthfeel is a post puke acidity with a dry finish. this shit is raw, i can see why they blend it. the champagne of beers!


 weaselkenievil (738), Cheshire, England
3.4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/103/57/103/514/20
Sep 4, 2009  
Bottle from Dranken Geers. Slightly ruined by the cork breaking in the bottle and me losing my fkin temper big time. It was not the time to piss me off. Any hoo, on to the beer. Murky orange with a medium off white head. This smells like Sarah and Tanya Murphy who I went to school with. Flavour is sour, earthy notes, long bitter finish. Wasn’t overly impressed at first but that’s probably just due to my anger problem as it did grow on me.


 BOLTZ7555 (1053), Phoenix, Arizona, USA
3.5 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/103/57/103/515/20
Aug 27, 2009  
Sampled @ Papago. Peach colored pour produces a small ivory head that left only a spot or two of lacing. Aroma is funky; with sour lemons, fresh cut grass, Granny Smith apples, and orange pith. Flavor is citrus, vinegar, tart apples, and earthiness. Medium mouthfeel, but the flavor stays on the palate. Good, not great.


 rustychiles (1007), Mesa, Arizona, USA
4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/57/104/517/20
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.


 MrChopin (622), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
3.6 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/57/103/514/20
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.



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