North By Northwest Kriek

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

ooh wee! loved this encounter... was from the very bottom of the keg, murky and kinda thick, but it was heaven, a beer of this style mixed up was like a smoothie for beer nerds, i loved it .. . purple with a nice head .. . cassis and cherry dominates .. . full and delicous! .. . good level of tartness! if a mixed up bottom of the keg sample can be so good, would love to try a super fresh sample.. ohh wee! its time for betty white to check into shady pines..

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Sampled GABF 2008
Pours with a murky, cherry red color and only a touch of head. The aroma is lightly tart with an expressively fruity, tart-cherry note to it. The cherry actually dominates the aroma pretty well and, while a very nice cherry expression, does not allow a whole lot of other aromatic notes to be noticeable. I do like that this is more of a tart cherry focus, rather than a syrup-laden cherry character that can be found in many a beer with the name Kriek on the label.

This is only lightly tart and it still has a fair amount of sweetness to it (though it is not sticky sweet), which really accentuates and amplifies the cherry flavors. The sourness is has some light lactic notes to it, but also seems significantly contributed by the cherries themselves. It is light enough to be drinkable, but definitely has some texture and body to it. It is perhaps a bit sweeter than I prefer in a Kriek, though it doesn't have the cloying-sticky-sweetness of something like the New Glarus beer, and it could definitely use some a more aggressive sourness, but it is still quite drinkable and I was quite happy to sample this multiple times (though I always went for the NxNW sour first).