Cantillon Zwanze 2008

Formerly brewed at Cantillon
Style: Lambic - Fruit
Brussels, Belgium

Serve in Flute, Tumbler

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Sampled from the bottle at Chez Moeder Lambic Fontainas; July 2010
The beer pours with a lightly hazed, pale gold / hint of honey color and is topped by a pale, white colored head. The beer would have been visually perfect if the head had any staying power as it started out quite voluminous and impressive looking. The nose smells musty and musky, of damp clay, with hints of medicinal phenolics, a light urea note, of dried leather and French Farmhouse cheese that has been lightly funkified (not quite totally ripe / dank). The aroma is quite funky over-all, though not aggressively so.

The beer feels effervescent as it hits my mouth; it is light feeling and tart which combine to make this quite refreshing. The lactic sourness is accented by a citric-like quality that is perhaps contributed by the rhubarb. While this beer is light feeling, it has just enough lactic character to add some textured viscousnous such that it does not come off as thin or watery. My first sip was surprising in that I noticed rhubarb like flavors towards the middle / end through to the finish; I wasn’t expecting there to be any rhubarb character left for some reason. I am not quite sure how to describe it, but it is not really herbal (but sort of), not really “green” tasting, not bitter, but it is soft and seems to combine into the citric tartness that is found here.

This is a very integrated, balanced and shows a consumate finesse. I really like the hints of rhubarb character that still comes through in the flavor. This is a very tasty beer that I wish I had a lot more of. It is so well balanced, it is everything you could want in a complex Lambic; nothing dominates, but there are many, many, complex notes that contribute and are noticeable in the whole. This is quite fantastic, though I probably wouldn’t have guessed that this was brewed with rhubarb if I was handed this blind. Still, this is quite simply a fantastic bottle conditioned Lambic, and while I have not really done it justice in describing why, I find this an incredibly, incredibly impressive beer.

Small, but resistant head, even little rings of lace; fully hazy orange-green beer. Very malty smell for a lambic, and - no mistake possible - rhubarb nose, like freshly made rhubarbjam. Nice soft lambicflavours, even some sweetness, and tantalizing glimpses of horse blanket, rhubarb, garden herbs, preserved ginger and Szechuan pepper. Very dry finish, just great. Medium bodied, slick. Perfect balance. Jean is progressing with light-year strides. This is no "Zwanze" at all!

LCBS 2010. Cloudy golden pour, fluffy white head. Aroma is a wonderful mix of floral yeasty esthers, lactic sourness and some faint fruity notes. Flavor is much as I expected. Very earthy, somewhat dry. I would say that I could taste the rhubarb, but only after I was told what was in it. Yeasty, light spices, good tartness but not crazy sour. Good stuff. Damn good.

Mycket fruktig doft och smak. Fin balans och en mycket lång eftersmak. Syrliga toner av gräs och en ganska torr munkänsla

Bottle thanks to a group effort. Pours a golden straw color with a red haze. small bubbly head gone quickly. Smell is rich of barnyard sweet funk with a floral vegetal sweetness. intense lambic characteristics. Taste is rich with sweet clean funk and a hint of vegetal floral sweetness. musty oak dry and a touch tannic. Feel is light/ medium with low/ moderate carbonation. Highly drinkable. there is a unique characteristic that brings an interesting component to the mix.

ChuckSlap Lambic Fest 08. Thanks to Chuck for sharing. Pours a nice slightly hazy golden strawlike typical lambic with average carbonation for a 2yo lambic. Aroma is a bit grassy- some celery and vegetable, but no DMS- I dont really see the Rhubarb though- still tons of the normal cantillon funk and some good dank barnyard, mildewy cobwebs and a bit of cheesiness. Has a great powerful sourness and acidity throughout espicially in the end- along with just a bit of earth, flowers, funk, and grassiness. Delightful nice woody astringency, and good sharp lactic acid in the end. Another awesome lambic from my favorite Lambic Brewery.

75 cL bottle at Chez Moeder Lambic. Pours cloudy dark golden orange with a small white head. Sharp acidi fruity nose with a distinct dry barnyard base. Smooth rubarb fruity flavoured. Velvet on the tongue and tastebuds. Light citrusy touch into the finish. Smooth lingering fruity flavoured.

Bottle 75cl. @ 18th Weekend of Spontaneous Fermentation, Buggenhout, Belgium.
[ As My Rating #10000 on Ratebeer ].
Clear medium to dark yellow orange color with a average to large, frothy, good lacing, mostly lasting, off-white head. Aroma is rhubarb. leather, wood, hay, barnyard, yeasty. Flavor is moderate to light heavy sweet and acidic with a average to long duration, dry. Very eacy and good balancede. Body is medium, texture is watery, carbonation is soft to flat. [20090530]

Bottle thanks to someone at Bobby’s Tasting. Pours with a hazed golden body and a white head. Aroma is tart, but balanced with a slight hint of candi sugar (I know, not normal in a lambic), and candied ginger. Taste is fruity, tart and acidic. Lively bubbles with a dry mouthfeel. Well done.

Cloudy deep blond color; medium sized head, fizzy. Very peculiar aroma for a Cantillon; dandelions, cellar, cobwebs, soil, light manure. Very smooth mouthfeel, with a clear cheesy and manure flavor, sour, citrusy and dry. Very peculiar, and very interesting.