
Bottle date 2001, Cork date 2002, Sampled April 2004
This beer pours an ever so slightly hazy deep red color. It is topped by bubbly light red to pink colored head, that never quite disappears entirely. The carbonation is persistent, though not overly high either. The aroma is sour and woody at first, then notes of Barnyard funk kick in. There is a definite musty, leathery, ancient dusty room type aroma here. At the very end I get a bit of sweet cherry notes in the nose.
The tasted is softly acidic (for a Lambic) and it is accompanied by a rich body. There is a definite dry, tart, tannic cherry note here. The time spent on the cherries seems to have increased the body quite substantially. This is quite good, and quite different from what I was expecting. It is a bit softer, and a bit better integrated than the standard Cantillon beers. It is nicely sour, with notes of citrus & vinegar. The finish is woody and reminds me of cherry skins. This is certainly a beer I could drink a lot of. The cherry flavor is quite good in this beer. There is no sticky sweetness, like that found in the more commercial versions, instead there are these intense, chewy, mouth filling, cherry skin, dry, tart flavors that just proclaims that there are cherries in this Lambic. I really like this, and it certainly has grown on me as I finish the bottle.