Liefmans Cuvée Brut (was: Kriekbier)

Brewed by Liefmans (Moortgat)
Style: Sour Ale/Wild Ale
Oudenaarde, Belgium

Serve in Snifter, Tulip, Tumbler

UPDATED: FEB 5, 2012 Bottle. Pours a deep amber brown with a small off white head. Aroma of lightly tart cherry and some earthy woody notes, a touch vinous. Flavor starts sweet and sour cherry with some light funk and wood and a slightly tart juicy finish. Medium body and a sharp carbonation tasty

The aroma of this beer started off just like I thought it would. The acidic and tart vinegar. A smell like this used to scare me away but these days I welcome it. You gotta learn to love it =) Mixed in their was ripe cherries. The vinegar was up front though. The taste is why this beer is just world class to me. The vinegar takes a bad seat here. Still very noticeable but the cherries come in and it gives a rich, sweet flavor. Earthiness, oak, and a little bit of funk add in with the cherries and cut through the acid like taste. The mixture of the cherries and the woody oak flavors just took over for me. Maybe it was the little bit of age I put on the beer, I don’t know but every sip was just better then the one before it. Mouthfeel is medium bodied and a little syrupy. Of course there is a slight acidic feel to it and it leaves a nice tartness sitting on your tongue when you’re done.

Bottle at 30/01/12 Appellation tasting. Pours a deep ruby colour with a fair pink head. Aroma of cherries, balsamic vinegar and pickled onions. Similar flavours with lemon, cherry and pickled onions again. A little dry and tannic. Moderate carbonation and a foamy mouth-feel. Not too sweet with a nice tart finish.

Hazy burgundy with some sediment.. Limited lacing, some small white head... Lots of cherry, kinda sweet, lightly tart, flavor follows suit drinks medium body, kinda sweet kinda tart, lightest vinegar note...

Lambic at Cardinal, Stavanger. Like a norwegian red soda. Surprisingly much better taste than its aroma hinted at.

UPDATED: JAN 29, 2012 Reviewed from notes (2007). A: Rich reddish brown with a thin quickly fading cream head S: Like other cherry beers a sweet-sour cherry aroma is robust T: Starts off sweet and finishes sour, not as complex as some other cherry beers/krieks, but thoroughly appetizing M: Lots of carbonation with a persistent cherry feel D: Drinkable but not too often.. one and done in an evening for me when compared to true lambic krieks.

For NYE. Brown, red tint, off white cover. The aroma is mostly cherry, and pretty sweet, there might be a light acetic character but not really sour. The taste is the same, cherry, but the acetic turns slightly tart and finishes with a good bite.

37.5 cl, bottled. Pours cloudy red with a white head. Aroma: Cherry, faint yeast and malt background, oak. Taste: Medium sweet with pleasant grapefruit acidity. Slight bitterness. Cherry taste. Palate: Soft and pleasant medium body, appropriate carbonation (low). Slightly malty aftertaste. Simple and enjoyable.