Hanssens Oude Kriek

Bottle: Cloudy, bright red pour with a pinkish head that becomes a thin ring. Tons of funk in the aroma. Lots of lactic tartness, horse blanket, cork, vinegar, mild cherry skin and barnyard. The carbonation is a bit mild for the style. Very tart flavors. Some hints of cherry skin, lemon-rind and lactic funk in the background, yet it seems less complex than the aroma. A slight astringency on the back of the palate, yet it remains a solid and enjoyable Fruit Lambic.

Pours a lightly hazy, blood red body. A minimal, wispy, pure white film blankets the top, accompanied by a small rim. Virtually no lacing noted. Looks very nice. Sour cherries, citric acids, farmhouse yeast, and horseblanket meld wonderfully on the nose, instantly inducing pangs of thirst. The first sip brings sweet and sour black cherries, tart raspberries, and a bevy of citrus juices. Earthy minerals emerge, combining well with funky farmhouse yeast. The greatest thing about this one is that there’s a sufficient amount of sweet cherry to counteract the intense sourness. Its near perfectly balanced in this regard. Finishes very dry and funky. Medium bodied and easy drinking. Awesome brew. I think I might have just found my new go-to session lambic.

375. Pours deep ruddy brown with a sudsy, surging pink head that falls away and leaves decent lacing. Sharp sour cherry/vinegary nose. Medium body, active carb, almost fizzy. Cherry and vinegar all through the mid-palate, with a light sweet finish. Good stuff.

Bottle. Aroma is sour cherry and funkeness. Poured a marachino cherry color. Flavor is sour cherry a touch of salt as well. Palate is tartly sour. Overall, I like it.

750 ml bottle. Pour is a reddish brown with quite a bit of fizz that doens’t seem to form much of a head. Aromas are funky and sour with an underlying tart cherry structure. Flavor is fabulously sour and has a certain wildness to it... a touch of sweetness surfaces from time to time as does an almost salty presence.

Bottle. Not sure of the date but the bottle seemed to have some age on it. Nice ruby red body with thin head. Aroma is funk, horseblanket, dried cherries, must. Flavor is sour cherries, funk and barnyard and a nice dry finish. This one danced on my tongue long after each sip.

375mL bottle, no date. Clear orange with a small off-white head interspersed with some bigger bubbles. Nose in the glass--lots of funk, lemon, acidity, light sweet Luden’s Cherry cough drops, and leather. Nose just out of the glass--some faintly sweet cherries become more apparent. Fairly sour, but not necessarily puckeringly sour. There are some nicely sweet notes and light bitter earthiness to help combat heartburn (I usually get) after a bottle of acidic lambic. There is also some dry wood. Carbonation is next to minimal, and the body is medium. I quite liked this one.

[Odense-tasting at Scheffel. Bottle from Christian.] This has more sweet lemon-notes than the balance permits, then it seems some unbalanced. Could be very nice caused by the "oude" and the underlying sourness added with grapy notes. ...But too much sweet lemon. Not good!