Cantillon Loerik

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

Serve in Flute, Tumbler

I can almost copy the rating of mesandsim actually. I met Jacob already the week before in Olbaren and we shared some nice bottles over there. But I wasn’t introduced to his private beer cellar yet. It seems that this ’bogan’ (why a bogan? although he wears metal bands- or (bad) beer t-shirts, he IS (trying to get) educated :P) has still got like 30 bottles of the retired Belle Vue Selection Lambic in his cellar. Anyways, he was happy to share some more beers in Plan B. And ofcourse I don’t want to be impolite turning such offers down ;). Hazy orange color, short head. Aroma of tart gueuze, horseblanket, oak wood. Sour tart taste, bit sweet, oak wood again. Good gueuze! Satan bless these friendly Danes!

A Mes rate: 75cl bottle at Plan B. You may as well jog on now, this is going to be a long one. It’s moments like this that sum up rate beer for me. Beer lovers are a genuine, generous and friendly bunch. Our intention was to go and buy some of this from Plan B at just over £25 a bottle no less. When we get there Sim went in to order and discovers they have none left. So I went in to choose something else and there at the end of the bar is Jacob (apparently a bogan, I don’t know, ask Duff...) who gives me a big friendly wave as I walk in and I pop over to say hello. Anyway Jacob offers me a look in the cellar so down we go. Nothing much took my fancy so he tells me there is another cellar over the road including some of his personal stash and maybe we should go have a look over there. What a cellar it was. Easily one of the best I have seen and Jacob’s personal stash was packed full of some very rare goodies indeed. Barrel of Eylenbosch randomly thrown in the corner, special raspberry eisbocks, rare vintage lambics and just erm... shit the bed! Aaaaaanyway Jacob proceeds to pull out the very beer I was about to shell out £25 quid on an says he is quite happy to open and share it with us. Being the absolute gent he is, he also picked out a Moriau Kriek from 98 to follow. So we go back over the road to join Sim who is sat outside Plan B in the glorious sunshine and tuck in. Initial pour looked very promising with the appearance of apple juice with a thin white film. Nose was beautifully mellow and understated. Much less sour than usual Cantillon and with a lovely woody, almost smokey note to it. In the mouth it is wonderfully soft and tangy. Again much milder than the Cantillon I am used to with a suprising amount of hops showing through giving plenty of grapefruit and some late citric sourness. Palate is typically great as you would expect and has lived long and healthy. A sour dry finish reminds you that you know this brewery well and leaves you wanting more. A perfect drink for the gloriously sunny day. A rare treat and it must be said for a bogan, Jacob is one hell of a guy. Thanks again sir.

Bottle. Pours a hazy orange color with a small white head. Sweet malty and tart sour aroma. Sweet malty tart sour flavor with some woody hints. Tart sour finish. Very nice.

Bottle - thanks to Jacob. Unclear golden - no head. High gooseberries, earthy, wood, citrus, grape nice smooth sourness !! Very light carbonated - well thats the game... I love it - thats it !!

One of the beers I have been longing the most to taste, thanks Engelsman. Hazy golden body, beautiful yellowish creamy head; Very fresh nose, lots of apple, lots of grapefruit, it has a very strange acidity that I have never experienced before; Very soft, very small amount of perfect sparkle, fruity apple acidity, fresh and very balanced; Long a bit dry very apple acidy fresh long finish, aromas are very much like when eating a fresh green apple, there are quite a bit of pomelo, too.

Bottle: Pale yellow, light white head and lacing. Nose of tart barny notes, dry, sour, funky! The flavor is vinous, a bit too sour, light sweetness but overbearingly dry. Drinkable compared to the Kriek, but I’m just a bit sensitive to bile tonight.

Beer 50 for me is the first retired beer at Bill and Steiny’s. A light horse blanket aroma, the taste is much more sour than the aroma. Funky, yet quite acceptable. But, alas, no more.

1998 Vintage. An extremely huge and fluffy head kept erupting from the recently opened bottle enticing me to try some. However, when it was poured, it revealed a musty barn floor and dung-like aroma. (<a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/ViewUser.asp?UserID=5 sitting next to me at the bar, chuckled and mentioned how aromas like that can come from non-violent strains of the e-coli virus. Great.) Overall this was sour and dry with a gassy finish and I simply wanted to forget about it.

<font size=-4>Sampled at Delilah’s <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/events-detail.asp?eve Annual Lambic Beer Festival.</font>