Brasserie Cantillon Iris

My buddy Adam brought over a bottle of Brasserie Cantillon Iris to share with me and a friend. The beer pours a cloudy brown-amber color with a bubbly off-white colored head. The aroma is funky and full of vinegar, horse blanket, and hay. It is a very pungent, yet very enjoyable, aroma. The taste is tart with vinegar, lemon, and cherry. Some horse blanket, hay, pepper, and earthiness come out in the finish, making it very dry on the end. The alcohol content is 5.0% ABV. The amount of sour contained in this beer was remarkable and extremely enjoyable. It gave a nice pucker while drinking it, and the lemon and cherry flavors played nicely with the farm flavors.

Cantillon Fou' Foune

One of the best beers I tried the night that my friend Deuane pulled out of his cellar to share with friends was the Cantillon Fou’ Foune, a 2009 vintage. The beer pours a cloudy straw-yellow color with a bubbly white head. The aroma consists of vinegar, lemon, apricot, oak, and yeast. The taste is very sour with lots of bitterness and funk that was reminiscent of sour patch kids. There is a yeast base that sweetens the beer a bit, but the focus here is on the plenty apricot and vinegar that make the mouth pucker and are in the spotlight. Some lemon also comes out in the finish. The alcohol content is 5.0% ABV. This sour was a wonderful blend of apricot, lemon, and vinegar, obviously making the mouth puck a bit, but the amount of fruit flavor, especially after two years, was quite enjoyable.

Cantillon Classic Gueuze

I picked up a bottle of Cantillon Classic Gueuze from Al’s of Hampden and decided to open it for Belgian National Day. The beer pours a orange-gold color with a bubbly white head that rapid fades away with the hissing sound of carbonation. The aroma consists of lots of vinegar, Belgian yeast, lemon, orange, hay, and barnyard funk. The taste is smooth at first with a solid yeast base before a very funky sour takes over the tongue. There isn’t too much vinegar associated with this beer, but I picked up a lot of hay, barnyard funk, lemon peel, and orange. The finish brings out a peppery spice that hits the back of the mouth and lingers for a while. The after taste is a sour lemon, but not a fruity lemon taste, and slight oaky remains. The alcohol content is 5.0% ABV. Overall, I liked the Classic Gueuze, but I wouldn’t say it’s my favorite Belgian lambic. It really has a barnyard taste to it which takes some getting used to, but the citrus notes make up for it.

Cantillon Rose de Gambrinus

I ordered a bottle of Cantillon Rose de Gambrinus while at the Sharp Edge Beer Emporium. The beer pours a red color with a foamy white head. The aroma consists of sour raspberry, vinegar, and yeast. The taste is big on vinegar up front before the sour raspberry tartness comes into play. Luckily, there is a sweet Belgian yeast finish to save your tongue from all of the sour flavors. The alcohol content is 5.0% ABV. This was a decently sour beer with some great raspberry flavor. The vinegar and tartness was too overpowering or puckering, making it an enjoyable drink.

Cantillon Low Pepe Framboise 2005

Another bottle our table tried at the Pliny the Younger event at Monk’s Cafe in Philadelphia was the Cantillon Lou Pepe Framboise, 2005 vintage. The beer pours a red amber color with a thin filmy white head. The aroma consists of sour cherry and apple with background hints of vinegar. The taste is puckering with sour cherry and apple before the vinegar taste kicks in and sharply. Some lemon and raspberry poke through a little bit with some earthy hops. The alcohol content is 5.0% ABV. The vinegar may have begun to take over this beer a little too much due to age, but the backbone was still present and it was a very drinkable beer. I enjoyed how much of the earthy hops remained in this beer and were paired very well with the tart fruit flavors.

Cantillon Blabær Lambic

As part of a beer tasting event at a friend’s house, I sampled a glass of Cantillon Blabær Lambic. The beer pours a purple color, which is an astounding sight, with a thin filmy white head. The aroma consists of sour blueberry and cherry. The taste is sweet and sour at the same time. The blueberry makes up the sweet part at first before a tart and vinegar-like flavors kicks in on the tongue. The finish gives out a nice pucker that makes you squint, but is very enjoyable. The alcohol content is 5.0% ABV. The Cantillon Blabær Lambic is by far the best lambic that I have had, even though my scope of tasting in lambics is not very vast. The wonderful mix of sweet and sour, as well as an awe-inspiring appearance, made for a great experience drinking this beer.

Cantillon Crianza Helena

During a beer sharing party at a friend’s house, I tried some of a bottle of Cantillon Crianza Helena. The beer pours a golden color with a thin filmy white head. The aroma consists of lemon, wheat, and alcohol. The taste is light and bubbly, which is very heavy on the brettanomyces, with hints of lemon, wheat grass. The best part of the beer is the sour cherry finish. The alcohol content is 5.0% ABV. This beer was very lively in the mouth with its carbonation and brett characteristics, and was quite enjoyable.