Brouwerij Lindemans - "Oude Kriek Cuvee Rene" lambic [Belgium]

You may have seen Brouwerij Lindemans' stuff in the store - they make a very popular line of fruit beers called "lambics" with tan labels and little pictures of fruit on them. Popular "flavors" of this style include peach, cherry, and strawberry. Lambic is a type of fruit beer and unlike most types of beer, lambics are fermented using wild yeast and bacteria. While I've had styles similar to it, I've never given this any kind of analysis here on the blog.

Today's beer is even one step more specialized than a lambic, though - it's a kriek lambic. Kriek is a term in Flemish that means "cherry", and in a beer context, it's usually used to describe beers (like sour beers, lambics, or even stouts) that have been made with whole cherries or cherry parts. Traditionally, these beers were made with a somewhat-uncommon variety of Belgian Morello cherry called Schaarbeekse, although such a variety is not exclusively used today. These aren't simply cherry flavored - cherries have a very active role to play in the entire brewing process.

The example we have today is a 7.00% ABV kriek lambic made with only water, barley malt, wheat, hop flowers, sour cherries and wild yeast. The bottle says it was bottled in February of 2016. So a bit aged, but that's ok. I grabbed this at Putnam Plaza Super Liquors in East Hartford, CT.

It's sealed with a bottlecap, and underneath is a cork, which opens with a pop. It emits a light haze.

Pours very fast out, and fizzy too! Lots of fast-receding foam. Check out that gorgeous red color - a cool neon color when candled!

I first noticed the texture - fizzy and dry, with a strong tartness. There's some acidity in there, but nothing approaching a gose. There's some lactic sourness, as expected, and the cherry flavors do make a late but noticeable appearance to the beer - nothing too overwhelming. Despite the super red coloring and cherry flavors, in my opinion this is more of an old Flanders ale than anything else. Fans of the peach lambics will see quite a difference, as this ale is quite different than its tan-labelled sisters (and stronger, as well!)

I should note that just like goses, this once-archaic style is making a resurgence in the American craft beer market. Breweries like New Belgium, Brooklyn Brewing Co., and New Glarus Brewing and are all making bonafide kriek ales, and Brewery Ommegang has some kriek-like offerings. So if you like cherry, or are a fan of sour and tart ales, give this authentic Belgian beer style a go.