Cantillon. I can’t think of another word that makes “sour” beer lovers as excited as that one. Brasserie Cantillon, the famous Lambic/Gueuze producing brewery from Belgium makes some of the most sought after beers in the world. Recently, I opened a bottle of their Rosé De Gambrinus, a raspberry Lambic, to share with Nick on his birthday.
Upland Brewing Co. out of Indiana is notorious for releasing a wide variety of fruited Lambics. One I recently had the chance to try was a 2011 bottle of their Persimmon Lambic. The fruit itself is new to me, so I wasn’t really sure exactly what flavors to be expecting out of this one. A big thanks goes out to Jason for the chance to try this one.
As part of Philly Beer week, The Farmers’ Cabinet located in Center City featured an event called Belgian Beer Geek Brunch this past Sunday. With an intriguing draft list and for only being open a few months, I had to check it out. One of the more limited beers on tap was Fou’ Foune from Cantillon in Brussels, Belgium. This Fruit Lambic was served in a 7 oz miniature stemmed glass.
I was fortunate enough to receive Friek, a limited one-time release Kriek Lambic, from Odell Brewing Company in Fort Collins, CO. Traditionally, Kriek is a Belgian-style beer that is brewed by fermenting a Lambic with sour cherries. Some may be more familiar with Framboise, another Belgian-style “sour” but instead of sour cherries, it’s fermented with raspberries. The Friek, however, is both!
I was standing around at Craft Ale House talking with the owners and I mentioned that I needed a new beer to review. Melissa turned around and went to the bottle cooler and pulled out a 750ml bottle of Vanberg & DeWulf’s Lambrucha and started telling me about how it is a Lambic that is brewed with Kombucha Tea. Feeling adventurous I decided to bring it home and give it a try, I swore that I heard “Take a walk on the wild side” playing as I left the bar…ominous.
