Is Belgium Cherry Lambic The Worst Beer You Can Drink

[mika]

...I can only think of one reason to add fruit to beer...

to make fruit flavoured beer ? :huh:

 

[Mercs Own]

Boon, Girardin, Oude Beersel? Dunno how much of them get over here :unsure: .

I am at this very moment typing this reply as I gently sip my bottle of Oude Gueuze - YUM - yep sour tart and fruity not as sour and tart as the Cantillon Kriek although it does have a similar nose and tartness. I go to a bottle shop in Brighton - Cloudwine Cellars and they have a good range of Belgium beers including the Cantillon, Oude and Boon not to mention your Saison's both Aussie and Belg etc etc. I almost bought another of the Cantillon Kriek to give it another go but thought I would try one I havent before. Oude also have a kriek and Cantillon a gueuze both for sale at Cloudwine- I know what I will be buying in the new year.

I love this style of beer and whilst I like the idea of the cheeses Ducatiboy stu I cant help but think the Oude Gueuze would be brilliant with bacon, eggs, mushroom and roasted tomato and some good sour dough! And yes for breakfast :icon_chickcheers:

 

[neonmeate]

i love really sour and stinky lambics and krieks but even after drinking lots of em i find cantillon kriek pretty difficult to take. it's just so bloody acidic. i've had serious unsweetened lambics from hanssens, girardin, drie fonteinen, oud beersel, de cam, boon, lindemans etc over the years and none of them come close to cantillon for sheer wincing sourness. even tim webb in the good beer guide says cantillon beers are

"excellent examples of the sort of drinks about which one can say 'This is absolutely superb and I don't like it' without being branded a complete idiot"

the cantillon beers are amazingly complex and creative beers but some of em are pretty hard going. in the framboise as well the fruit content is sort of an injoke - tastes like the seeds of the raspberries and the stones of the cherries but without any sweetness or fruit flavour at all.

don't give up on lambics just yet! ive been into the lindemans cuvee rene gueuze over the last couple of weeks and it is a great example of stinky bretty complexity without the gutwrenching sourness of cantillon (although other lindemans beers are sweetened up). or oud beersel is a good example of a traditional and stinky kriek that still tastes more of cherries than blue cheese and homeless people's pants in vinegar.
they have oud beersel and hanssens in at cloudwine at the moment if you want to get em in but something tells me you mightve been scarred for life already!

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Still could not finish the glass...


Each to their own... :icon_cheers:

 

[Whistlingjack]

to make fruit flavoured beer ? :huh:

Or to disguise a foul taste...

When you add fruit, it isn't beer anymore, its cordial!

WJ

 

[Muggus]

Or to disguise a foul taste...

When you add fruit, it isn't beer anymore, its cordial!

WJ

Then Gueuze it is! :icon_drool2:

After recently diving in the deep end (well sort of) and trying Cantillon Ros De Gambrinus, i'm kinda glad to hear that its probably one of the most brutal out there. Don't get me wrong, I loved it to bits and the tartness of it was very welcome, especially being a lover of fresh raspberry and all, but i'm looking forward to trying something a bit more coherent I guess. It's kinda hard to get past the sourness of such a beer, and i've really wanted to find the definition of what people regard as 'funk' in a beer once and for all.
Luckily i've got a few more lambics ready to go in the cellar! :icon_cheers:

 

[Tony]

"excellent examples of the sort of drinks about which one can say 'This is absolutely superb and I don't like it' without being branded a complete idiot"

Thats the one.

I found the beers flavour and complexity fantastic. The massive cherry presence and the flavour of the germs but it was so sour and dry/tart i found it almost undrinkable. Each mouthfull made me screw my face up and my cheeks pull in. Worse than sucking a lemon..... whick i do regularly. Love lemon!

a fantastic experience and i wont say its shit......... its not! Its incredible.......... but i didnt like it!

cheers

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

If it wasnt so tart/dry then I would have handled it a bit better......

Had lots of flavour and complexity, but the sheer tartness was overpowering

 

[sinkas]

I had the Cantillion ROse de Gambrinus the other day, too sour for me,

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Had a look at the bottles Tony had..

Good until 2027..

The other bottle he had was good untill 2018 !!!

 

[Muggus]

Had a look at the bottles Tony had..

Good until 2027..

The other bottle he had was good untill 2018 !!!

Always wondering if its worth the wait...

Same goes with Grange though!

 

[goatherder]

mmm, I had the Cantillon Bio Gueuze, Rose de Gambrinus and the Kriek not too long back. I loved all of them and I think I could drink a bit of it. I served it in Champagne flutes as an aperitif with a cheese platter. All three, especially the fruit beers, were a big hit with the ladies.

 

[Muggus]

All three, especially the fruit beers, were a big hit with the ladies.

I thought that would've been the case when I was trying the Rose, but SWMBO had a mouth ulcer at the time and winced in pain with every sip.
There's a lesson there somewhere.

 

[petesbrew]

Hmm, I wouldn't say it's the WORST you can drink. But having said that I'm no kreik fan either.
I'm hanging to get my hands on a Cantillon Framboise to try again.

 

[kook]

Hmm, I wouldn't say it's the WORST you can drink. But having said that I'm no kreik fan either.
I'm hanging to get my hands on a Cantillon Framboise to try again.

The last time they made the Framboise was 1979 wasn't it? And I don't think that there are many more bottles of it floating around. Kulminator is out last I heard.

 

[Thirsty Boy]

Or to disguise a foul taste...

When you add fruit, it isn't beer anymore, its cordial!

WJ

can anyone spot the German trained brewer?


I have one thing to add to the Belgian Cherry beer argument.... chocolate. Drink teh stuff while eating chocolate. The sourness of the beer and the sweetness of the chocolate balance each other out and the cherries and chocolate combine into a grown up cherry ripe experience.

I have not tried the Cantillion kriek however, and Cantillion beers are full on... so it might overpower even chocolate. I'll find out soon though, there is a bottle of the stuff in my cellar

 

[Tony]

I also had a bottle of the Bio and managed the whole bottle...... but had a gut ache when done. Massive lemon sourness but not as bad as the Kriek. The cherries really add to the sourness and tart punch in the face.

Im almost tempted to buy a bottle and forget it for 10 years to see if its different.

IMO...... it was a 1 year old young beer.

anyone done this?

cheers

 

[kook]

I also had a bottle of the Bio and managed the whole bottle...... but had a gut ache when done. Massive lemon sourness but not as bad as the Kriek. The cherries really add to the sourness and tart punch in the face.

Im almost tempted to buy a bottle and forget it for 10 years to see if its different.

IMO...... it was a 1 year old young beer.

anyone done this?

cheers

I've tried Cantillon from the 70's and 90's and trust me - it only gets more sour. Though it does get more complex in the process.

 

[Tony]

Thanks mate..... will invest my money in some belgians made with "yeast" to age a bit.

cheers

 

[bljpoad]

I had my first cherry lambic a couple of weeks ago (Timmermans Kreik) and found it reasonably enjoyable. I probably couldn't drink more than one in a sitting, but it is always interesting to try different styles
- Berwyck