Cantillon Loerik

Formerly brewed at Cantillon
Style: Lambic - Gueuze
Brussels, Belgium

Serve in Flute, Tumbler

Bottle: Shared by Styles. This has the obvious sour and tart Cantillon aromas, but this one is much more woody/corky than other Cantillons that I’ve had. Pours a transparent golden orange with a small soapy white head. Very sour and tart lemon up front. Huge woody/corky finish that mellows that mellows and balances the sourness.

Bottle (1998). Hazy golden in colour with a small white head. Soft and fresh with a very well balanced sweetnees and sourness. Notes of citrus and vinegar. Very nice.

I’ve only just loosened the cork on this and the funk begins...off it comes, and out goesthe twisted sour, the raw lemon...let’s pour and investigate further... Hazed orange with limited foam, ...sharp aroma, vibrant citrus, alarmingly elusive, but wholly enchanting. Bracing bite on first sip...ooooh, puckeration, big-time. The lips curl back into the mouth and hibernate a while...when they uncurl and greet the brew anew, it happens all over again. Tangy to end it all. Lemon and orange with sly spicy undercurrent dominate the flavor. very wild and untamed,this, though nothing, for me, sets it to far apart from other gueuzes I’ve known, though I’m not by far the world’s biggest gueuze expert, nor the greatest lover of the style. It’s something else, though! Oddly refreshing, in spite of the tartness. I really like it!

Like Dickinson, I stumbled across this phenominal brew at the Maproom. Hazy deep autumn gold pour with a medium cap of bubbly white head. Phenominal nose... deep, rustic, funky sour barn, moldy, well-aged cheese, tart lemons, cedar, and vinegar... almost tart enough to burn through the nose hairs. Sour, puckering lemon at the forefront... not really letting its guard down the whole way... cobwebby yeast gave way to old horseblanket, cheese, and wet cedar. So much going on with no perceptible faults. Powerfully tart, sour, funky, and engaging... enjoyed every second of the stomach erosion! Refreshing.

Bottle, 1998: Beer is cloudy amber color with a totally dissipating head. Aroma is of wet wood and vinegar. Flavor is sour with lots of wet wood flavors, oakey. Very refined mouth feel. An elegant beverage, but does not distinguish itself significantly from other guezes.

Bottle, RBESG, August 2005. I didn’t get the story of this as it was one of the myriad bottles doing the rounds in the haze that was the RBESG pub crawl. Typical Cantillon, with a very austere lemony character. Maybe also some tart cooking apple. Presumably pretty old, which had increased the woodiness and decreased the barnyard character (if only slightly). Pretty decent for a mistake.

(sample by way of egajdzis @ max’s)semi murky body with a ring around the glass head.aroma was semi fruity and sour.flavor was a mix of white wine,fruit,and horse blanket.

Bottle @ Max’s: hazy amber body with a small white head that fades to a tiny ring holding the outside edge of the glass. The aroma is typical cantillon (strong barnyard, funk, yeast, acidic, horseblanket), light straw, strong lacto, pineapple, leather, and some sour apple. Taste is a sour, acidic bite up front (though only about 1/2 of their organic gueuze), barnyard, horseblanket, with some light fruits, apple, lemon, yeast, cobwebs. Light bodied, crisp, very mild carbonation, yet very dry and refreshing.