De Cam Oude Kriek

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 10 | Overall: 10

C: transparent cherry red, pink ring
A: tart cherries, yeast, vinegar
P: medium
F: tart cherries, vinegar, yeast
O: Another outstanding brew fromk the fine folks at De Cam, no artificial notes

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

375 ml bottle , dated January 2006. Poured a rich burgundy, pink colored Kriek with absolutly no trace of foam. Low carbonation. No lacing. The aroma is a sour cherries bomb, wood. The flavour is a lingering fruity perception with a lot of tannins. The mouthfeel is crispy and ... vinous. First comes the sourness of the cherries and then a certain sweetness. This full bodied Kriek has a lingering sourish red fruity finish. A splendid Kriek ! I approve, another one please !

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

375ml January 2006 Bottle Date; Sampled January 2008
Very minimal carbonation, though more than the Gueuze I just had, the head barely forms a few, extremely small groupings of bubbles after a careful pour. When roused it forms a pinkish tinged tan colored thin layer of froth that quickly becomes a few lonely islands and a ring of foam. The beer pours with hazy, cranberry red color that shows a pinkish hue to the red when held up to the light. The aroma is quite tart as that is what I notice as I am inspecting the beer visually. A deeper smell of the aroma yields an up front, sharp, tartness (predominantly lactic), followed by a fruity, bright cherry skin aroma. Sour lemon notes intermingle with cherry aromatics, lightly funky barnyard notes and a touch of urea. The more time one spends smelling the aroma the more a sour cherry note comes to the fore. The aroma is not all that aggressively funky for a Lambic, though it does have a substantial acid quality to it.

The beer has a light fizziness to it, though it is not quite as low as a real ale. Tart, yet somewhat clean up front; flavors of lemons, definite lactic and very dry, the cherry notes are certainly not omnipresent and in fact are almost more aromatic in character. The beer finishes with a tannic structure and a slight astringency that is most likely from the cherries (pits & definite skin flavors), but also is likely contributed a bit by the barrels. there is a certain flavor combination here that makes me think of cherry flavored children's aspirin; it definitely has a certain medicinal / aspirin quality to it, especially up front. Predominantly lactic in acid character, but it does have a touch of uriatic notes and hints of funky butyric acid. While this is light and easy drinking, the tannins do add a certain fullness to the body that provide a nice texture.

A thoroughly enjoyable Kriek. It could certainly have more carbonation, but I like the substantial, sourness as that is what I was looking forward too. A touch more, well integrated funkiness would push this over that top.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

(bottled 2005) 6.5%, bottled at Helsinki Beer Festival (Thanks to Tranquillity & his girlfriend for this one!). Hazy murky dark red colour with red/pink head, which goes away fast. Aroma is cherries, some vinegar and even other red berries. Flavour is quite the same. Richer than many other Krieks I have had. Excellent thing!

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Dark hazy red colour. Pink head. Sour and dry aroma with traces of cherries and wood. Very dry, sour and musty flavour. Oak, cherries, wood. Tart finish. Very good traditional Kriek.