Cantillon Soleil de Minuit

Bottle at Akkurat. Clear amber - white head. Cloudberries (multebær), light sweetness, light disolved white sugar, light dusty, "amber", nice round mouthfeeling with medium dry/acid finish. OK - It is supposed to have been better !!!

Akkurat bottle A man tries not to be influenced by those things, but the staff needing half an hour to fetch the beer you were looking forward to, the INAO Cantillon glass it comes into, th classy basket that is used for service, the unlabeled bottle, the still noisy pop upon opening... they make a lasting impression and sets the mood for what one may call a beer experience. Following, the opaque golden to pale orange pour wears a lasting, finely laced 1cm cover despite its 8 years. Fantastic fresh nose then keeps you on your cloud.Delicate and refined hay flavor (a trait that this particular rater particularly adores), complemented by various fruits, the usual lactic qualities, yogurt-like and a very frank, by Cantillon’s standards, citrus attack, lemony and orangey all at once. The barnyard soft farminess that forms the landscape is not without a certain crispness despite a minimal corkiness that hints at cellar conditions. Very smooth champaign like carbonation, comfortable... Well, this one meet the equilibrium between dryness, tartness, freshness.. between lactic and citric acidity. All the while, generous grapeyness borders cranberries. Lots of words, but it’s not the most complex beer, it remains focused and on elegance at that. Vinous. An utmost classic, classy and seemingly untouched by the years. A favorite from Cantillon I would say. I’m anxious to try Per’s cloudberry jelly now:)

Bottle. Pours a hazy golden/roange color with a small thin white head. Tart fruity cloudberry aroma, with some barnyard hints. Sweet malty tart fruity flavor with some weak hints of cloudberry. Tart fruity finish with some bitterness in the aftertaste.

Bottle: Pub Vildanden, Lund.

I’ve been looking forward to this one for a while. Comes in a beautifully wrapped 375ml Champagne bottle. Not much pop in the cork was a small worry, but the beer poured a slightly hazed apricot colour and a small white head rose, and stayed around for only a short while.

Aroma is simply amazing, incomparable to anything I’ve smelt before, sure... it has some of the Cantillon house notes that show in all their beers, but the sheer intensity and complexity of fresh cloudberry combined with bretty notes separates it. You could smell it from at least a meter away. Up close, I noted some composting lemons, vanilla, oak, as well as a slightly more intense brett character than most Cantillons I’ve tried before. Words do not really describe the depth and complexity the aroma has, all I can do is say ’wow’ and give it a 10. The first sip carries a sharp acidity, but rounds out into a smooth fruity tang, the cloudberry is far more subdued than in the aroma and almost tastes more like very ripe apricot. Other flavours are of oak, carsick, vanilla, lime and white grapes. A small step down from the aroma, but to be honest it was always going to struggle to live up to that. Finish is acidic, sharp, dry but fruity. A classic beer I will never forget.

37,5 cl bottle at Akkurat, Stockholm. Bottled in 1999. I do not think I have ever seen such a beautiful beer with its pinkish orange colour, cloudy, and with that irresistable eggwhite head that stays till the very end. Immensely complex aroma; cheese is very prominent, farmyard aromas puts the sharp acidity somewhat in the background. Flavours are more fruity with the lemony lambik characterin the lead, though cheese is always there. The mellow character of the cloudberries are only very faint, but what can you expect from a 7 year old bottle of fruit lambik? Still quite lively and definitely dry to the bone. It is a beer that makes you see the midnight sun even on a winter night in Stockholm.