7.8

Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

I guess the geuze created some months ago for this Rock & Roell Experience pub (and event organiser) was successfull enough to pave the way for this logical extension of the range: an 'oude' kriek, again blended at Lambiek Fabriek. Thick and foamy, loudly crackling, pale pinkish-tinged off-white, moussey head, collapsing into an irregular blanket of foam and then slowly dissolving over a hazy vermillion robe with somewhat rosy tinge and lively fizz, a shade paler in colour than most traditional kriek nowadays actually, including Lambiek Fabriek's own Jart-Elle. Aroma of sour cherries as is to be expected but more 'unripe' and skin- and seed-forward than fleshy, redcurrants straight from the bush, Bretty 'urine' and damp hay, apricot kernels, stale (blood) orange juice, young green tree leaves, a faint whiff of chlorine, old pecorino, wet old wood, sweat-soaked leather, some forest floor and rhubarb. Tart, estery and fruit-filled onset, a tad 'waxy' from the cherries, which are very present in a tangy, somewhat astringent yet juicy way, flanked by impressions of yuzu, redcurrant, unripe red plum and rhubarb; the sourness remains altogether quite 'mals', moving into a deep lactic 'yoghurtiness' through a bready core that remains soaked in tannins and acids from the fruit. Mushroom- and leather-like funkiness grows stronger in the end, meeting with drying woodiness in itself amplified by the pits of the fruit; some hay and tree leaf aspects make for a 'wild' side to the whole, but in the end everything is connected well, with a drying, lipsmacking, tannic yet still juicy and supple finish. The sour cherries are unmistakable, but behave a bit berry-like here, with more tanginess, tartness and crispness but less fleshiness than average for the style; nevertheless this fruit lambic delivers as promised: easygoing (for its style at least), supple and quenching, but with all the complexities, funkiness and 'wildness' of any traditional lambic. Not quite on a par with Jart-Elle if I may continue the comparison, but certainly tasty, genuine and solidly made. I wonder what the next Pajottegem lambic will be...