Cantillon Rosé De Gambrinus

Brewed by Cantillon
Style: Lambic - Fruit
Brussels, Belgium

Jesus, this beer is strange. But I like it. My ratings will not reflect that, but I want some freaking sushi with this beer. The aroma is strange acidic roe, tons and tons of citrus. Taste is fishy sweet and citrus with loads of sour. Finish is sour and lingers well. Appearance is like fizzy, filtered sparkling grapefruit juice with no head. Crappy appearance, strange taste, lingers well, but enjoyable. Doesn’t rate well, but drinks well.

Pours a cloudy red with slight orange hue. Aroma of fresh fruit/berries, viniger. Stringent vinous rasperry juice, strained from a bouquet of wild lemon, blueberries, strawberries. Tartness makes the mouth pucker and cuts through any mildness this beer’s aroma would project. Beneath it all, a bitterness of grapefruit that coats the back of the palate like cough syrup. Centuries of know-how corked in a small green bottle and yes, it’s as wild as the 2000-year-old brightly flower speckled countryside from which it was concieved. Wild yeasts, stand up and take your curtain call! Let me hand you a bouquet, because you certainly have handed one to me. Tasting is believing.

Pours a cloudy neon colored red with a white head. Has hints of very tart fruit, simple sugars, and earth tones. Finishes with a jaw jerking tartness.

Bottle. Aroma is quite lively and musty: dust, and overripe raspberries. Pours cloudy bright ruby/pink. Flavor has some initial fruitiness that quickly diminish into a funky, woody, horseblankety tartness. Crisp, acidic with lively carbonation.

Wild coloration. Oranges and pinks are overcome by milky white cloudiness and shiny oiliness. A thin white head rapidly dissipates into nothingness. This looks timid and tired but extremely drinkable and serene. The nose is brimming with raspberries and cherry pit organics. Horseblanket is medium in intensity. Sulphuric acidity clams after the carbonation does, churning steadily and gradually receding into a complex tingling tangibly evident deep in the nasal cavity. Lactic acidity in the flavor combines with fresh fruit acetic highlights. Sourness is moderate, probably the mildest of the regualr production cantillon beers. Oak is mild, tartness is medium, sweetness medium to medium-high and acidity always maxed out. More cherry is evident in the flavor, almost measuring up to the level of tart raspberry. Tannins build in the corners of the mouth and release more acids and wood notes as the finish rears its feirce head, drying the palate and leaving raspberry skins and yeast lingering. The mouthfeel is adequately carbonated, sometimes venturing into weird strings of bubbles that coerce the tongue into shriveling motions. Tasty, but not nearly as likeable as many other Cantillon offerings. Still, it’s Cantillon through and through and I think it’s a great beer. Vinous notes throughout are pleasant enough, but for that type of tannic/grape-must duo, I’d rather have hi-qual wine than this particular lambic. Interesting every time it’s sampled, a little different every time too.

05 bottle Pours a rosey red color body with very little carbination. The aroma is very sour citrus, rasberries, and some mild funk. Tangy flavor with tart rasberries dominating and a refreshing green apple finish. Quite tasty.

Poured with a hazy pink tinged orange. Has light head a a bit of lace. Very aromatic with a hint of raspberries, lots of yeast, spice, and malt. Flavor is really tart with a bare suggestion of sweetness and some raspberry. Extremely tangy. Not a session beer. Having this at Bodega Brew Pub downtown La Crosse, WI.

12oz. 2003 bottle: This one pours a slightly red tinged amber color. It is hazy. There was a bit of a head on it when it was poured, but it fizzed away quickly. The aroma is sour and tart. A hint of raspberries to it. The taste is pretty much sucker-tart. A touch of raspberries in there. I like the tart ones, but this is a bit much for me.