Hanssens Oude Kriek

Brewed by Hanssens Artisanaal
Style: Lambic - Fruit
Dworp, Belgium

Two bottles of the 1994 vintage courtesy of dpflanzer, wow, thanks again David. Pours still with hazy amber body. The aroma is full and complex and tough to describe. I seem to be getting smooth cherry fruitiness, earthiness, sugared lemon wedge tartness and rotting wood. The taste begins with a shiv of tartness followed up by blended and smoothed over cherry fruitiness that becomes earthy, wet cement, herbal and vegetable. Very nice experience. Again huge thanks to David for holding on to these for well over a decade and sharing with us.

2 Bottles courtesy dpflanzer 1994 vintage compared side by side. The bottles were green with no label, corked with a red foil wraper, and a chalk mark to indicate which beer was inside. On the outside of the bottles was condensed lambic syrup that had gotten through the old corks and has permanently staind my jeans. Both bottles were very similar. Poured a hazy deep brown amber with no head and no signs of carbonation. The cork smells a little like soy sauce. Aroma is very vegetal and dirty like a dark mildew infested cellar. The taste is full on tart cherries with hints of other pitted fruit, vinegar, funky yeast, and a whole bunch of other things that I just can’t pick out. Medium thin tart mouthfeel. Very odd aroma but the flavor just blew me away considering that something this old can still taste very good.

poured into a tall tulip. pours a clear slightly cloudy red pink with full fizzy head that was quick to dissipate. sweet yet very sour tart aroma. good smooth consistent palate with carbonation present yet hidden. sweet dry front of slight tart with wet finish and dry aftertaste. fruit is not in front, tartness and dryness is the prevailer, but fruit is in the background and grounds the complexity. very good full drink, great in a full glass.

(2/27/08) Bottle at Zolder in Bruges. Best before 8/7/2024. Hazy red with a quickly-diminishing small pink head. Aroma with lots of sour cherries and some nice earthy funk. Very fresh sour cherry flavor with lemony lambic character and notes of not-yet-fermented sugars. Medium-bodied. Very good and refreshing.

Thanks so much Harry! Ruby red-orange colour, tiny but snow white head. Banana aroma with grapefruit and pepper aroma, quite a mild aroma. WOW! What a mouthfeel!!!! Blew my head off, the flavour is so well hidden under the unassuming aroma, sour, pepper, lemon, corn, blackcurrent, saliva inducing! Just an incredible mix of flavours. Whew!

pours amber with a thin white head. Aroma of acidic lemons and funk. Funky citrus and tart cherry flavor. Sour and acidic. Good.

Tart cherry aroma. Not super funky, nor super sour, but enough to keep it interesting. Pleasant to drink.

750ml corked bottle (bought at Knightly in Orlando) and served in my New Glarus Flute:

Reddish hue with a small fizzy head and spotty lace. The aroma has notes of tart cherry, brett funk, grainy, oak, almond, and herbal essence. The flavor profile is a full on assault of sourness from the cherries and the yeast. Woody and nutty on the bone dry finish. Sublime floral and barnyard qualities are found when the brew opens up. Sprite and refreshing mouth feel. A very nice fruit lambic that I am digging quite a bit. Priced nice too!