Hanssens Oude Kriek

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

375ml corked bottle. Murky amber color with offwhite head. Really great rotting fruit aromas-- apples and cherries mostly, vinegar, some light brown sugar in the background, and some faint funkiness in the background. Flavor is not quite as complex as the nose-- sour, rotting cherries (but in a good way!), apple cider and red wine vinegar, and a nice drying finish, all with a sharp bite to it. Not too sour at all, and the sourness is so authentic to the fruit flavor that it’s really an interesting treat. Delightful.

37,5 cl bottle via Lubiere, served almost cold in a tulip glass. BB 07/08/2024

App.: Dirty, salmon-pink, cloudy, tiny light pink head. Aroma: Where do I begin?? I honestly don’t think I have the nose or vocabulary for this stuff yet, but I’m gonna keep trying. SO, leather, cheese, funky beyond belief, white pepper, very in-your-face, is that rubber?, some light fruit (could be cherries, I guess) and softer more inviting aromas behind the more typical (and obnoxious?) lambic perfume, certainly a little vanilla if you hunt for it, Palate: Medium-thin body, little-to-no carbonation and puckering astringency. Flav.: My eye is twitching from the acidity. My GAWD this is sour. Quite spicy (pepper?) and lightly fruity, I get some of the rubbery, funky, leather too; on swallowing, my teeth are so dry I can make noise by grinding them (they stick to each other because there is no lubrication); almost salty; there is a huge jolt of tang in the back of the tongue and hints of sweet at the front, a lingering bitterness and acid notes (taste, not feeling).

This is such a perturbing style of beer. Very much an acquired taste. I’ve conquered olives and cilantro. Lambeek, look out!!

Murky pour of rose shaded orange. Clear around the rim, but opaque otherwise. Aroma is very quiet. It’s got a dirty, bretty attitude as the cork pops, eventually to settle into a soft, lulling bed of cherry and citrus. Vanilla, wet leather, and farm stink halfway down. Tastes of cool white pepper, salted lemon, a violent vinegar bite. Warm cherry sweetness pulses only briefly in the course of a long, detailed finish. This is first the sour ness that can only be described as stinging, then the heat of black pepper, and dry chevre. The final remnant is animalistic and wet; tonguing the puddle of crushed lemon. Fat and velvety texture wraps the disparities together in a firm, warm embrace. Carbonation prickles softly the right presence. Salt and acid when the punch fades. It hollows out a bit after a while, but the care taken to weave this masterpiece is unmistakable. Brilliant.

Bottle @ Rudolf’s ’Sourfest’. Hazy red body with a small white head. Fruity aroma, but not obviously cherry per se. Light perfumy accents. (7+) Bracingly sour, but retains a good amount of fruitiness throughout the flavour. Average palate. Far to sour for me to have any right to like it, but I actually enjoyed this a lot - though I would definitely not want a larger sample in one sitting. 7+/3/8/3/15

750ml @ Rudolfs Sour Tasting with Rudolf, IPFreely, Jerc & frylock. Really sour a bit too much for me. Beautiful red color, black cherry,, lambic funk & extreme sourness.

Red colour, highly carbonated but no head. Nice sour cherry aroma, with mild yeasty barn there too. Very dry and sour flavour, brilliantly acidic. Juicy cherries. Medium bodied, with great tart finish.

heavy vinegar aroma bottle poured light red light carbonation. very sour .vinagar aroma over powered the slight cherry tartness crisp mout feel

What is it about funkhouse lambic that keeps me coming back? I think I like to pucker up! Always a fan of farmy Hanssens, I have revisited the Oude Kriek many times. The kriek’s nose rekindles memories of the other beers in the Hanssen’s family and is hard to find the cherry except in the reddish tinge to the color. Oozing lemon and rustic stinky cheese, farmhouse funk, citrus, and foot with sharp acetic tones that lend complexity, nuance and joy. Thank you Hanssens!