Cantillon Loerik

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

Serve in Flute, Tumbler

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UPDATED: SEP 8, 2006 2003: Nose is lemony, slight honey, hints of cannabis and oregano. Cloudy yellow. Slightly more watery than I’d expect. Tart just on back of tongue. Quite odd. 1998 bottle tasted 2006: Not getting as much of the funny herbal aromas and flavors this time. Instead is a well-balanced, profoundly tart classic, with nice fruity (lemon, orange) notes, and a dryness that beckons you to the next sip.

A nice light hazy straw beneath a fluffy white head. The aroma was quite dry with substantial tartness. Almost meaty at times with iron, wood, lemon, hay, cheese and some acidity. Not my favorite gueuze, but an interesting example to me, the uniformed.

UPDATED: OCT 21, 2004 RBSG2003. My notes suffer here as this came on the heels of the Bell Vue Selection. Great, great, great, lemon, grassy, hearty and winsome. Delicious. Sour. - Rerate - Woody!! Incredible even carbonation and intense oak!

(Cuvée J.F. Vonck) The problem with "loerik" is that it never stays completely "loerik". And it is neither unblended lambic, neither gueuze. "Loerik" (=lazy-bones) a blending of lambics, meant to become gueuze, but for some reason refusing to re-ferment. And thus remaining a blend of lambics. Sooner or later there is some refermentation. This one is rather aged, but still pretty flat. Completely clear-gold. Slim, yellowish head, immediately gone. Very slow pearling. Lumps of yeast pried loose at the end - ought to be poured all at once. Nose of green grapes, raisins, sulphur, decaying wood, mushrooms, lemon, lactic. A bit fleshy taste, lactic - but not in the mouthfeel - something remindful of malt, but changed into something else, cookie-ish. Very flat until the aftertaste, where it seems to liven up, acquiring an outspoken lemony character. Tumultuous mixture of organic acids, going into bitterish-tannine adstringency. It still retains its old lambic character, but gone into something more refined.

UPDATED: MAR 26, 2009 2009-03-26, courtesy of Jacob (Hildigöltur), bottled in 1998, 11+ years old, 9-4-8-4-17=42
Cloudy light amber color, with small head. Wonderful aroma, citrusy, with light grapefruit and lemon, delicate Bretts, cellar smells, lightly cheesy and woody. Smooth mouthfeel, the typical Cantillon aggressiveness has been smoothered by the age, there is still a good sourness, decisive astringency, a bit woody, with citrus fruits (orange peels). The final is long, astringent, a bit sour and fruity, with more grapefruit. Wonderful.

2002-09-18, bottled in 1998, 4+ years old, 9-4-7-4-15=39
Beautiful golden colour, bright; not excessively carbonated, but anyway it has half inch of creamy head.
Wonderful aroma, sour and dry, fruity if possible: citrus fruits, pink grapefruit, cassis.
It’s smoother and less astringent than her sisters, the taste is not complete and complex as the aroma; pretty monodirectional, the leading flavour is similar to lemon juice, but less sour, adjusted by a light woodyness.

It’s less interesting than other Cantillon’s, but perfectly enjoyable for any sour-beer addicted out there. I had it with Swiss black bread, butter and Alaskan smoked salmon: the marriage was perfect for my taste.