Cantillon Saint Lamvinus

Brewed by Cantillon
Style: Lambic - Fruit
Brussels, Belgium

Ketchup, Rotting fruit, grapes, jelly, roast beef(?!), burlap, and barnyard in the nose. Not quiuit as sour as expected with a load of fresh medium sour grapes. Jammy with a lemon tartness that lets a touch of olive come through. Finished zesty with more grapes.

wow, it’s been 4 months since I’ve had a Cantillon. it’s time! color is ruby amber, off white dense foamy head. aroma is horseblanket, sour concord grape, and a little balsalmic vinegar. flavor is sour and tart but still mellow. not much fruit flavor. clean finish.

Devils night at Mullmans. Pours a dirty deep pink with an initial head but fades. Aroma is wine-like, lots of fruit, hints of sulfur, some brett and lactic acid. Flavor has a light fruitiness to it with a moderate sour backbone, although not nearly as sour as some other Cantillons. Finishes a bit tart, acidic and dry. It seems like some of the harsh sulfite content has gone down since the last time I had this over a year ago.

Thanks to Mullman, at the Devil’s nite bash. Well, sour as hell, smelled like socks and cheese, tasted like socks and cheese. Color was red, small to no head. Not my cup of tea, sorry.

Bottled. Clear cherry red, no head. Sour, red wine aroma, berries and wood. Flavor of grapes, redcurrant, with hints of wood, cherry, and a bit of that cantillon skunkyness. Clean palate, moderately carbonated. Very faint, dry aftertaste. Altogether very much like carbonated cheap red wine. Definitely different. Quite interesting for the first four sips, after which it soon becomes rather monotonous.

A Mes rate: 75cl bottle purchased during our wonderful visit to the brewery. It was not quite ready for consumption when we got it, in fact we were made to promise not to drink it until it was ready before it was given to us along with very specific storage instructions and dates. I think we just about made it on the date... However, I think this may have benefitted from being left alone for a little while longer. It was just slightly lacking in carbonation and that let the palate down just a little. As a resuslt it drank more like a wine but a little thinner in the mouth. Aroma is glorious as you would expect. Very wine like in many ways but with all the lambicness you would hope for too. In fact almost everything about this beer is exactly as the Cantillon description would lead you to believe. Half lambic, half merlot. And it is rather glorious. Appearance is a little boring however. Looks for all the world like a watered down merlot, a cloudy purpley red. Flavour... well what can I say? It’s a red wine lambic. The grapes are clearly there as is the barnyardy lambic straw and butter. But they never really mix. I do not at all mean that in a bad way, they are just always separate. It switches from wine to beer, wine to beer, all the way up to the finish where it finally settles on the wine. Fine choice it is too. The finish is excellent and leaves me wanting more. Fantastic stuff all round. I wish I had the will power to have let it lie for a while longer, I would be very interested to know how it ages.

Bottled. Rubr brown colour, almost no head. Red currant and sourness in aroma wit hints of strawberries. Dry, lots of red wineish hints and sour fruits.

Expensive. Powerful sourness from tannins of the skins, with bursting aroma of oak and berries. Beautiful. The Palate cleaner. Not for the novice, but certainly a hit. Astringent yet balanced. I saved this for the boys, Radekfest 05 sample 26. An experience to be had once.