Cantillon Rosé De Gambrinus

Brewed by Cantillon
Style: Lambic - Fruit
Brussels, Belgium

2006 bottle. pours a hazy reddish amber, with little to no head. it fizzed like pop as i poured it into the glass, but nothing formed. there’s a naked lady on the bottle, though, so i’ll count that in favor of appearance. huge sweet and sour raspberry nose, with bits of funk and wood mixed in, as well as a light bready malt and notes of cherry, and hints of acidic lemon and orange zest. huge sour raspberry taste, with the malt coming out more, and the wood playing a much stronger part. all this was noted in the few milliseconds it took for the orange and lemon sourness to completely overwhelm the flavor. in a good way. gosh, that’s sour! finish is puckering sourness to rival rodenbach grand cru. light bodied, virtually no carbonation: this is a quencher. not as much raspberry character as i expected, but that’s quite ok. it tastes like a beer. very tasty!

poured from 12oz. bottle into tulip glass, cork dated 2006 vintage (drank 2/11/08) A: Poured like a bubbly, almost effervescent & fizzy, with a quickly rising 1-finger white head that just as quickly diminishes down to nothing, leaving no lacing. Color is a lively blend of rose, blush & amber. S: Mmm, the raspberries really come through here, wafting upwards and enticing what is to come. Some toffee & caramel notes can be found providing some balance, with a behind-the-scenes sweaty funk and a no-doubt-about-it sour tang. T/M: My mouth instantly puckered, as if I sucked on a lemon wedge. Tart! There’s a barely noticeable sweetness from the berries, carried over the tongue by a prickly, tight carbonation before the sourness takes over again. A thin-bodied vinegar-like consistency keeps this sucker real sour. Not for the faint of heart. D: Honestly, had I not paired this with some Peking duck and a crumbly blue cheese field greens salad, it might have been tough to drink, so pair food wisely!

Pours a crystal clear, deep ruby color. That is, of course if you don’t pour the bit of yeast in at the bottom. Then it turns a cloudy, no-longer-attractive reddish-brown. Do not pour the yeast in! Head looks big and tasty, but is gone by the time you go back for the second sip. Smells very refreshing, like the berry patch I used to find raspberries and blackberries in as a child. Very effervescent. All in all, this beer starts off pretty promising. Then it has to go and get all evil on you. Ridiculously sour and astringent from the instant it touches your tongue. It makes your whole face pucker and one eye close like a troll who snatches babies. I’m trying really hard to like this silly beer, thus the half-way decent rating. I just don’t really see why this should cost me $15, when I could have just poured myself a glass of vinegar for about 15 cents.

Cherry red...small red head. Big sour raspberry aroma and flavor - puckering sour with flavors of sour cherry candy. Almost no malt or hop flavors. Tart, tasty, brett sour, funky finish...like a cherry tart roller coaster!

pours a dull and light burnt orange color with little head. aroma is of over ripe berries, wet mold, and ketchup. flavor is tart, with light citrus, dust, and slight raspberries at the end. while the flavors are tart and berry-ish, I can not stop smelling and tasting breakfast potatoes and ketchup. probably would be good for a weekend brunch.

brown appearance with just a hint of red. very little carbonation and almost no head. flavor. very tart and near acidic mouth feel with just a hint of raspberry sweetness towards the end. overall the gueze taste dominates this beer and i am too unfamaliar with the style to really distinguish between examples

2006 bottling. Pours a body that has the tint of a blush wine. Light pink meringue head. Aroma of musty oak, wet sheep, tart berry, and acidic lambicness. Light and airy in the mouth with pervasive sourness. Taste is dark musty basement, cobwebs, lemon juice, and tart raspberry. Dry and oaky notes everywhere. A topnotch lambic.

Pours an opaque, strawberry-banana red with a very light pink head of 3 fingers. The head retracts with almost cola-like quickness. Smells a bit like those huge orange vitamin C pills mixed with raspberry vinaigrette. Really sour and striking. Outrageously tart. Acidic and sour but not really harsh. A bit of citrus and a bit of raspberry underpin the tartness. Sweetens a bit with warmth. Bubbly and smooth, and drier than hell. Very well attenuated. I have to give this a bit of a knock here, it’s just so puckering and sour that it’s not high on the drinkability scale like, for example, the schaerbeekse kriek. Still a great beer and another triumph by Cantillon.