Mort Subite Oude Kriek

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

Bottle: Poured a dark reddish color lambic with a rather large pink foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma of sour cherries is dominant but with more acidic notes then anticipated. Taste is a closer to actual lambic then I would have expected and a lot more closer tot he real thing then their regular brand. Oak, sour cherries with no syrup and tart and acidic notes makes a refreshing drink. Well done but unfortunately not available oversea.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 7

2006 dated Neck Label; Best By May 2012; Sampled January 2009
The beer pours into my 25cl tulip glass with a pink tinged, pale colored head. The beer is a deep red color that shows a brilliantly clear, bright red stained, gold color when held up to the light. The aroma has a nice, musty, moldy, wild mushroom and farmhouse cheese funkiness to it up front that is noticeable even as I pour this. A deeper inspection of the nose yields more of the same as well as a tart back note of cherries and aspirin. Brettanomyces definitely have left there signature in the aroma; there are also musky notes of dried sweat soaked blankets and some phenolic, almost plastic like notes here too.

Nicely sour with a big lactic acid presence. The finish has hints of tart cherry skin notes to it, a bit of tannic bite and a hint of cherry-flavored aspirin. In the middle the Brettanomyces kicks in at a level that is subtle compared to the nose, but still contributes a musty, earthy note that impinges on the oral-nasal cavity more than on the flavor. The cherry notes become a bit more noticeable as my palate gets used to the sourness, but it is never nearly as noticeable as its effect on the color of this beer. There is a nice backdrop though of fruity, cherry skin flavors that serve as a framework for most of the other flavors here. The fruitiness can at times provide a suggestion of sweetness that belies the dry, tart finish that grips this beer. The beer has a bit of tannic heft to it that keeps it from being thin, but the dry tart character keeps this pretty darn quaffable.

My second pour of this beer sees the cherry flavors becoming a bit more noticeable, in fact the cherry is coming into its own here. This is a nice example of a Kriek, it could use a bit more funkiness and some more fat cherry notes and then a bit more tartness, but then it would be a different beer. I am definitely enjoying this.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Bottled (2006 limited edition, according to bottle). Dark ruby red colour, big pinkish head. Aroma is very sour cherries along with some wooden and grassy hints. The same goes for the flavour. A very bigtime cherrybomb.