Cantillon Kriek

Brewed by Cantillon
Style: Lambic - Fruit
Brussels, Belgium

Serve in Flute, Tumbler

12oz, $12 @ Spuyten Duyvil. Cloudy red magenta w/one finger pink, down to thick ring and tattered film. Cherry skins and mineral pits up front, pretty big lactic lemon acidity behind. Light to mod hay and old barn. Flavor is quite sour, dominating even the cherries, which are restrained until more towards the finish. Dry finish, sourness at a 7. Mod carbonation with a light body. Dunno how I don’t have a rating for this yet.

Bottle reads: 21 October 2008 and the cork says 2008. Poured into a tulip glass. A - Great red/dark brown body. Very clear and still. Just a few spotches of edging and foam. S - Sour cherries and strong oak. Very intense and pleasant. T - Biting and mouth puckering. Taste is of sour cherries, woody oak, and some light funk. Its almost overpowering how acidic and sour it is. Decent carbonation and mouth feel. O - The best kriek I have had so far. The aroma and taste is excellent, it just get to be a bit much at times. This is an extremely slow, but satisfying sipper. My stomach may have a hole in it now...

Rated to style- not a fan of the sours... Pours a ruby red with a fizzy white head. Dry crisp and tart. big nose and taste of sour cherries.

Poured into a tulip. 2010 vintage. 3.5 A: First pour yielded 4+ fingers of head. I needed a few more pours to get a full glass. Anyway, hazed cherry plum color. Three fingers of frothy pink head with average retention and very little lacing. 3.0 S: Tart cherry throughout. Intense mustiness, like an super old house occupied by a super old person. Hints of dirty diaper and a touch of oak. Surpringly simple and not particularly alluring. 2.0 T: Good god is this unbalanced. Super tart cherry with way too much acid. Tons of fruity lactic acid with more acetic acid that a vinegarette. For a while, it was difficult to taste much beyond that as an automonic puckering shrinks my mouth to a third it’s usual size. As my mouth finally adjusted to the acid (which took about 10 oz), new flavors began to creep in. Oak is in moderate amounts, as is a tannic astringency. Funk can finally be found and it is again old people funk. 3.0 M: Lighter body. Overcarbonated, but not "explode in the mouth" level. Decent creaminess from the body. 2.0 D: Suggested food pairing: Tums, Pepsid, Mylanta. This is one of the least drinkable beers I’ve ever had - no balance, fairly simplistic for the style, and skin meltingly acidic. If you have a bottle of this in your basement, don’t open it. Rather, keep it in case you accidentally ingest an entire box of baking soda. Edit: The last 8 oz. or so (of the 750) were much more palatable after getting used to the sourness. However, I don’t think a beer should require a 17 oz. introduction. Serving type: bottle Reviewed on: 07-18-2011 20:15:27

Sample at the brewery. Pour is a nice bright red. not too sweet it had a nice cherry taste come through and it was pretty smooth. good offering

Since lambic and kriek are hard to find in quebec anytime u can get my hand in one i cannot resist and always tell to my self t will taste sooo good. Well this time i was right. The redish beverage deliver the perfect sour kick as expected. Wish i could find this near my house... Damn you SAQ!!!!

Bottle (375ml) from Vinmonopolet (Vika), Oslo. Labelled "Kriek 100% Lambic Bio". Inch-thick light pink head, sluggishly settling as a thick fine-bubbled film. Hazy cherry red colour. Tart aroma of cherry fruit, cherry kernel, vinegar, barnyard. Medium body, fizzy-soft carbonation. Taste is initially nicely balanced between juicy sweetness and tartness, before a refined vinegary acidity takes over, and the finish is very dry. Still the whole ’trip’ is very enjoyable. Lingering aftertaste of sour cherry.

Sample glass at Cantillon in Brussels. Poured deep red with light pinkish head. Very tart upfront with mostly sour finish.