Hanssens Oude Kriek

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

Sampled during Skyview Sourfest II and shared by milkmandan. From a 375 ml bottle pours a hazy reddish brown brew with a thin off-white head that quickly dissipates. Aroma of barnyard funk, tart cherries, some oak, a hint of vinegar and some yeast. Taste is well carbonated, tart cherries, yeast, and some sour red wine. Finish is very sour, dry with aftertaste of cheese, tart cherries and yeast. It’s a sour, alright.

Bottle. Pours a murky looking red with touches of brown, with a small white head that vanishes rather quickly. Funky, with some decaying fruit, malt, acid, and wine notes. Slightly thin body, but it’s not long before that’s forgotten in the mouth puckering that follows. Strong tart acid. Can’t help but smiling as my cheeks tighten up. Sourness slowly and reluctantly fades away into a sweet cherry flavor.

A very good kriek, a bit too sweet but still a solid one with wood and cherry notes and a lovely sour taste. Doesn’t size up to Hanssens better stuff though.

750 ML bottle. A murky reddish brown with faint islands of head. Not a lot of kriek in the aroma, but there’s plenty of horse blanket, wood, and other funk. Faint kriek in the tart and funky body and a biting finish. The finish lingers, with the sourness gradually fading to reveal the strongest cherry of the experience.

750ml Bottle 5 years old. Pours an amber red body with a white head. Sour funky cherries, hints of horse blanket, and dry tart wood. Light acetic acid and balsamic vinegar notes. A light sweet start with a dry funky cherry finish. This is delicious.

Bottle from City Beer in SF. Oh man, this was interesting to say the least. Red in color with a small white head. Aroma of cherries, funk, and canned tuna. Yes, tuna. Not too enjoyable. Flavor was sweet cherries, then tartness, vinegar, and funk. Horse blanket, pig sweater, llama comforter, elephant jacket, and camel overcoat were all present in the flavor. Tuna on the finish. Good in a way, but a little disturbing in another. It grows on you. Nice sharp, biting palate, but a little questionable overall.

Bottle 2004, shared by and tasted at Plan B. Pours red with no head at all. Aroma is mainly cherries which faints and becomes vinegar. Flavour is very acidic with notes of dry cherries and vinegar. It has a sour touch in the after taste. 7-3-7-4-15=3,6
New rating. Bottle at Den Tatoverede Enke. Small white head but no vinegar in this one. In stead of vinegar it has lots of sour cherries and dry grape with a sour cherry after taste.

Date: 19/1/09 Beer info: Bottled in green 375ml corked bottle 6.0% abv BB 07/08/2027 Sampling Notes: Served chilled in pilsner glass. Minimal pop upon uncorking. Pours a murky dirty pinky-blood colour that has a bit of white foam that briefly flairs up and disappears. Pungent (somewhat stinky!) nose! I get a sharp sweatiness upfront, tart young Hunter semillon citrus, smelly cheese in brine, hay and horse manure (barnyard!?), cherry coming through in the shape of almond meal, oaky vinegar lingers somehow. Holy jesus this is sour! My mouth is just engulfed in this liquid, scrivilling up with puckering, mouthwatering tartness. It seems citric, and vinegary, and salty, and bitter, and cheesy astrigencies all at the same time, and lingers down my throat and up the nose at times!...seemingly way too much for such a lean bodied beer with a relatively low soft carbonation. Ridiculously complex and intense body. Lemon rind, goats cheese, salt, sour cherry, candy strawberry, balsamic vinegar, raw wheat husk, unripe grapes. I wish I could slam more down my throat so I could taste more but it just becomes overwhelming, yet theres some underlying sweetness that lifts the palate just enough for second wind I could go all night, but the idea its sour, complex and bloody beautiful pretty much says it all! Would have to rank this over Oud Beersel.