Girardin Kriek

Brewed by Brouwerij Girardin
Style: Lambic - Fruit
Sint Ulriks-Kapelle, Belgium

Serve in Flute, Stem glass, Tulip, Tumbler

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Curious. Held up into the fading sunset of a mid-summer's warm evening in Oxford, it shone a beautiful red beneath a pleasing colored head. The aroma and flavor headed in different directions. In the aroma I found plenty of lambic, musty, woody, hay, barn. In the flavor I found a distinctly perfume like note--as if I were drinking something out of a boutique on the Champs Elysee. Some fruitiness but I was unsure of the note it struck. I didn't see sweetness as a problem here--but I love sweetness. I wish I had a case to cellar.

Pours a brilliant clear ruby color with a thick, off-white head. The aroma is comprised of cherry, musty hay, a little wood, perhaps, and a hint of vinegar. Perhaps a bit too sweet, the fruit really balances (dominates?) the tart sourness present in the gueuze. Quite tasty and very drinkable for a lambic, but I'm not always looking for that in a lambic.

Body is blackberry cola, topped by a creamy pink froth. Aroma is sour cherry, barnyard yeasty, hint of vinegar. Taste is sour cherry up front, yeasty, with light sweetness toward that back that nicely complements the sourness. Somehow both creamy and highly carbonated. Nice beer.

One of the world's greatest beers by reputation, this kriek fills your palate with a frothy blast of lemony sourness. It is absolutely the fizziest beer I've tasted yet, and truly reminds of a citrusy alka-seltzer, though of course it's flavor is much more developed. I was surprised by how quickly its fine, really quite delicately subtle sourness evaporated, though. In a flash, it's gone - a bit disappointing; or perhaps just bittersweet.

(White label, commercial) Deep red, slightly hazy. Very slight pinkish-white head. Sweet nose, artificial-cherry. Sweet, sweet cherries, like cherry-gums. Bweeuk! medium-bodied. Too sweet by any standard, too artifical. Girardin ought to correct this - this is for children.

UPDATED: MAR 13, 2004 Like Caesar said, for me this is certainly one of the best krieks I ever head. Sweet, fruity, marzipan smell, taste is moderate sour, moderate sweet; in balance. oaky, cherries. palate is a bit dry, moderate bitter.

UPDATED: DEC 27, 2004 This is one of the best Krieks i’ve had. Not too sweet, definitely oak-conditioned. Complex, well balanced. Very good kriek!

Very accessible, only lightly sweet and lightly sour, whole and pure fruit flavors, not much lambic and no brett. Interesting and flawless but I was expecting more mustiness and some brett.

UPDATED: MAY 30, 2003 ReRerate: 5/30/03: Again, inconsistency problems plague this beer - this time highly carbonated and not syrupy, with excellent aroma characteristic and great sour components, but not all put together. Rerate: 2/01/03: Syrupy; unbelievably sweet and thick...quite different from the first sample. Wow, still great, but must drop a bit. Bummer! Original: 1/09/03: Perfect...Perfect...I though nothing could surpass the Oud Beersel Kriek...this has a tiny bit less yeasty cheesy horseblanketness and even better sweet/sour balance. Very dark and unfiltered. Unbelievable. I am in heaven now.

UPDATED: MAY 13, 2005 Head is initially small, frothy, pink, mostly diminishing. Body is hazy dark red, bottle conditioned. Aroma is moderately yeasty (horseblanket, barnyard), with notes of cherries and balsamic vinegar. Flavor is moderately sweet, moderately acidic. Finish is lightly sweet, moderately acidic, lightly bitter. Medium body, watery texture, lively carbonation, lightly astringent. Had two more samples during this trip and just don’t care for it. Not sour enough and not anywhere in the league of Oude Kriek examples from Boon, 3 Fonteinen, etc.