Cantillon Rosé De Gambrinus

Foam Rangers tasting. 2003 bottle. Cloudy red pour. Awesome nose of tart sour cherries with some raspberries. Flavor is just the same, but mix in a wonderful effervescence and great drying finish and you’ve made one hell of a lambic.

Why on earth is there a monkey (?) on the corny label erotique?!! Very well, perhaps the Lambic fumes inspires to such weirdo "artistry", or perhaps my eyes are mistaken... The beer however is bottled 2005 (sampled 2008) an has a hazy dark orange glow with a quickly declining head. It has an acid and sour aroma, like iron, iodine and raspberry. The flavour is extremely sour with absolutely no reminiscents of raspberries to begin with, but instead with an overpowering taste of vinegar, lemon, aronia and grape. It hits you right where it hurts, and only hardcore lambic-fans survive this one. However, when you get over the initial shock, the flavour undfolds beautifully: champagne-like, dry as hell, with a bit of oak, cherry and raspberry-stones. It’s extreme allright, but at the same time wonderfully complex and thrilling!

Non ho moltissima voglia di dilungarmi ed è un peccato; l’ho assaggiata 3 giorni fa e l’avevo comprata al Duca (costa meno che dal beershop un po’ ladro dove mi rifornisco a volte). Straordinaria, comunque, come molti dei prodotti Cantillon; sto cominciando a diventare un po’ un aficionado anche me.

Bottle split with Tronraner. Murky copper-like color. I’m a little uncertain exactly what to call this shade. The nose is powerfully tart with a striking similarity to muscadines. Raspberries are more evident in the flavor, but certainly not overwhelming. The tart, vinous qualities are up front with hints of malt vinegar, a little earth, then a nice semi-sweet fruity foundation. Pretty good stuff, especially given my disdain for raspberry.

2-24-08 bottle shared at tasting
Bright cloudy red pour. Three words seem to describe this beer in all aspects (smell, appearance, flavor, etc):
Ruby Red Grapefruit!!!
The nose is sweet, funky and slight vinegar. Flavor is sweet and tart and very grapefruit like. A solid sour flavor and mouthfeel. No funk at all in flavor. Mouthfeel is average.

Orange pink pour with a little white head. Very strong funky aroma typical of lambics - vinegar, acid, etc. Lots of raspberry on top of that. Very, very sour. I like sour beers a lot, but I thought this was a bit too much. Still good though. Just the right amount of raspberry.

15 month old bottle at home, originally from Belgium. The cork comes out with a small pop and out pours a slightly hazy onion skin coloured beer with a thin fizzy white head. Nose is tart, but with some sour apple sweet flavour and some raspberry, but the dry sourness, mmm. Mouth is very sour and dry, with just a little bit of sweetness at the back of the throat. There’s some fruit there, but it seems under-ripe and rich with tannins. Very nice, sour and fixed my lambic addiction for a little while.

Thanks to MiguelMandingo, 750ml bottle. Pours a very nice pink grapefruit juice color with a bit of fizzy foam spots. Sweet fruity (raspberry, cherry, bit of citrus) tart smells. Sweet Tart candied sourness, but not as sweet as the nose picks up pretty much the same fruit impressions though. Strong carbonation makes a refreshingly tart fruity quaffer.