Thursday, July 12, 2012

Night of Lambics!

My wife wanted to open something fun this past Sunday and I've had these two lambics in the refrigerator for a while so I figured it was time. The first we opened was the Drie Fonteinen Oude Kriek. I bought this a while ago though not so long that I expected to see a 2007 date on the bottle. Five year old kriek? Sure, why not!
After pouring the two glasses, I noticed tons of yeast on the side of bottle. Glad it didn't end up in either glass! Pretty vinegary nose with some cherry. The vinegar may also have just been from the tartness of the cherries as it didn't come through in the body. Some musty cherry notes too, similar to what fermenting cherries smell like. Quite still at this point. Tart up front then some cherry and vanilla followed. Not much funk. The cherry definitely grew stronger and more intense as I drank more. Just absolutely delicious. The major difference between this older bottle and a fresh one was the carbonation which made the cherry tartness more intense.

After that we opened a bottle of Geuze Tilquin.
Some notes of hay and farmhouse in the nose. Lightly funky though not too strong. Lovely body, sweet and sour. Nice carbonation. The flavors expanded as I drank more and developed into a nice tartness. I still like the Drie Fonteinen Oude Geuze the most of the big three geuzes, but this was quite delicious.

Quite a great night that reminded me of being in Belgium. If only lambics weren't so expensive here in the states, I'd drink them every night. So enjoyable and delicious.

4 comments:

  1. Looks awesome. Drie Fonteinen's stuff is probably my favorite of the spontaneously fermented bunch. Their Oude Geuze is incredible.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yeah, I love their Oude Geuze. It was my favorite geuze I had while in Belgium. Perfect mix of tartness, funkiness, and a little sweetness.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nice, you've been to Belgium? I'm headed there next summer as a gift to myself for finishing my MBA. Anything that was a must see? Did you bring back some Westy?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yeah my wife and I just went there this past May. I had some posts during the time and am trying to get a compilation post together.

    I thought the trips to Beersel for Drie Fonteinen and Poperinge for Westvleteren were awesome and not too difficult. The trip to Antwerp for the Kulminator was fantastic but almost purely beer. The other two at least offered a castle and an awesome bike ride.

    I didn't bring back any Westvleteren because I already have two bottles at home. Instead I brought home Cantillon, Drie Fonteinen, De Dolle and even one Lindemans.

    All in all, the trip was absolutely amazing. So much awesome beer, tons of beautiful sites, and just relaxing.

    ReplyDelete