Cantillon Kriek 100% Lambic

Cantillon Kriek 100% Lambic

From 750 champs bottle.

Bottled Jan. 2010

Foamy head settles quickly to a thin, light foam. Good carbonation. No real lacing - as with most lambics.

Pretty red/orange/pink color. Medium deep.

Amazing nose . . . Celestial sour red & wild cherry aromas. Huge & fresh. An aromatic cherry fruit cornucopia with heavenly Brett, lactic, bacterial & barrel funk. Creamy/fruity lactic & rose petals.

On the palate: lightly Bretty, funky, creamy & sour.
Acerola, red & wild cherries. Nice lactic quality. extended flavor & finish. Intensity of flavor & fruit carries right through middle & to finish.

An absolute Goddess among beers! flirtysmile

95 Points. [cheers.gif]

A+, 4.6/5 on BeerAdvocate scale

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Cheers to Great Beer always! [cheers.gif]

I love this beer, but rarely give myself an opportunity to enjoy it due to its relatively high price point. Cantillon pretty much rocks. [berserker.gif]

Compared to a wine of similar complexity it is a STEAL!!!

true … buuuuut, compared to some other beers of similar complexity, it’s a bit expensive. this doesn’t stop me from splurging once or twice a year, but that’s about it. … bring me around a grip of the Drie Fontenein Oude Gueuze, however, (similar price, but slightly less expensive), and all bets are off. flirtysmile

K&L had a Kreik from Drie Fontenein that was about $37.oo. What is the price range on the Cantillon? I rarely see them.

I’ve only seen a few, but they were $20 for a 750ml

Patrick,

I paid $18.95+ IIRC in NY.

Have never had a Lambic or Gueuze I didn’t Like/Love from Cantillon.

I’ve never seen something that expensive from 3 Fronteinin.

Was it the Shaerbeek Kreik?

HAS to be the special Kriek. Even the Lou Pepe series from Cantillon shouldn’t be THAT expensive.

It’s nice to tase one young, but all Cantillons (and most of the better Lambics in general) are amazingly ageworthy. Still sitting on some Krieks and Rose de Gambrinus from the 90s that still have crazy acidity to them, and the fruit takes on a very Burgundian character, woodsy and tart, still definitely ‘of the fruit’ but more from the skins and seeds than from the pulp. Some of these specialty releases should go even longer, but there isn’t really much of a reference point because nobody really started going them until the late 90s. The Boon Marriage Parfait series were done earlier, one of the first ‘premium’ Lambics, but they weren’t to the degree of specialization as the ones from Cantillon, 3 Fonteinin, and most recently Hanssens.

Patrick,

That $37 price for the Drie Fontenein Kriek is about what I would expect to pay – in a bar! The few times I’ve seen it at retail it’s been less than $30 for a 750mL. Similarly, the small handful of times I’ve seen Cantillon’s “Lou Pepe” Gueuze in retail it’s been $30 per 750mL. The one time I purchased a bottle of the “Lou Pepe” I thought it was very good, but not worth the price premium over the regular gueuze. I wrote a TN on it, which can be found in the gueuze/lambic thread, if you are interested.

The differences between the ‘regular’ bottlings and Lou Pepes are much more noticable in the fruit based ones. The straight Gueuze is an individual barrel selection made because of it’s distict characters, which don’t always translate, and I agree that I’m generally just as happy with the regular. The fruit based ones are made from uncut barrels where the fruit was soaked, so the intensity is very noticable.

hmmm, good to know. thanks for the clarification. perhaps I’ll give one of the fruited Lou Pepe’s a chance next time I see one.

on another note, I have a bottle of the Ommegang - Zur (Flemish Sour Red, brewed with cherries) chilling in my fridge – I’ve never tried that beer, so I’m pretty excited for it. It will meet its demise tomorrow during the Michigan football game. Go Blue!

Have to look for the ZUR.

Haven’t tasted, or even seen it around.

[cheers.gif]

Go BLUE! I also have a Zuur in the fridge. Good stuff!

Yeah, trying new beer is part of the fun. And if you don’t like it you can take solace in a reliable favorite.

It was a special bottling. I like the sound of $18-$20 a lot more than pushing $40.