Bottle, many thanks JefVerstraete. Deep ruby color with white head. Aroma is sweet, cardboard. Taste is cardboard, iron, oxidized. Oily mouthfeel with low carbonation. Meh but hey, it's a retired Lambic tick!

Bottle shared @ RBBWG 2017. Hazy brown/red colour, almost no foam. Sweet nose of cherry juice, caramel, some funkiness and tartness. Lots of oxidation.

Bottle share at RBBWG 2017, thanks for sharing. Circa 1989-1990 vintage. Mercike Jeff. Ouverte avec qcq difficulté, le bouchon s’étant fracturé en 3 morceaux malgré les précautions prises pour l’ouverture. Couleur ambrée voire cuivre, col fin beige qui reste bien tenace malgré l’age. Arôme reste agréablement parfumé avec un accent clairement mis sur une oxydation de l’age. Fruité de cerise reste de ce fait très discret mais donne tout de même de plaisantes effluves de cerises. Palais reste bien plaisant ace une effervescence encore vivace, le profil cerise se mêle à un caractère oxydé presque madère qui est encore accompagné par une petite douceur fruitée, lointain souvenir d’une bière qui devait être clairement plus douce. Difficile de noter dans ces conditions mais l’age ne lui a pas fait défaut sans non plus la bonifier.

Sampled at the RBBWG2017 . Thnx for sharing, everyone ! Psyched to try this ! Smell is full, oak, funk, very mild cherry notes. Taste is bit sweet, cherry, not to much sourness.

Probably pre-Belle Vue bottle, still made at St. Anna-Pede brewery No head left, hazy red beer. Walnuts, port, madeira, cherrysyrup. Sweet cherry, biscuit, walnut cake, old winebarrels. Light body, thinned by aging. Seriously! This has bettered with the aging Madeirisation. De Neve Kriek always was sweet cherrysyrup. The more’s the pity, as their unfiltered Gueuze ranked amongst the very best.

Cellared bottle dating back to 1990, shared at RBBWG. Loose, bubbly, off-white, quickly vanishing head, cloudy burgundy-hued copper robe, likely turned more brownish with age. Aroma clearly oxidized, even ’moldy’, damp cellar, next to stewed plums, sugared fruit yoghurt, tomato juice, candied cherries, raspberry jam, wet wood, fried chicken, wet hay. Sweet cherry candy in the onset, hints of cherry tomato and ripe blue plums, a bit sugary and artificial, but not feeling really ’industrial’. Carbonation is very soft, almost flat even, mouthfeel is thinnish and a tad watery as a result but still smooth and ’rounded’ enough. There is a very light lemony sourish hint but the fruit sweetness prevails, some soapy wheat in the middle, somewhat drier finish, yoghurty too, with retronasal maderisation. Oxidized and clearly way past its prime, but interesting and age can do fascinating things with a beer like this. Seems like this was a kind of ’compromise’ between sweet and sour ’kriek’, with a certain authenticity to it. This probably wasn’t the most complex or traditional kriek in the first place, but seen the ’historical’ context I can imagine this being perfectly acceptable. Reminds me a bit of the regular, sweetened version of Boon Kriek, but less sugary. Too bad I never tasted this young...

Thank you jefverstraete! Happy to try this one. 750 ml. bottle sampled @ RBBWG VI (2017). 1989 - 1990 Vintage. Production halted in 1991 apparently. JorisPPattyn informed us that originally this beer was all candy sweet & that age + oxidation improved it quite a bit. Pours a very murky amber brown, little bubbles. Nose is just plain awful, ditch watery, thin, rotting metallic, hugely watery. The nose doesn’t mater in beers with this much age, taste is actually surprisingly quite enjoyable. Moldy orange peel upfront leading into pleasantly oxidized cherry syrup, walnut & porto style, thicker than expected, low sweet herbs,.... Pleasant cherry syrup with porto & lower walnut qualities. Unsurprisingly little carbonation, comes close to watery, carries surprisingly more body than expected, possibly due to the additives.

Imported from my RateBeer account as De Neve Kriek (by Belle-Vue (AB InBev)):
Aroma: 6/10, Appearance: 3/5, Taste: 5/10, Palate: 2/5, Overall: 10/20, MyTotalScore: 2.6/5

25/II/17 - 75cl bottle @ RBBWG (Beerlovers Bar, Antwerpen) - BB: n/a, 1989 pr 1990 vintage (2017-208) Thanks to JefVerstraete for sharing the bottle!

Clear to slightly hazy reddish brown beer, practically no head. Aroma: very oxidized, little fruity, dusty, bit funky, cardboard. MF: soft to no carbon, medium to light body. Taste: very sugary, sweet, slightly sourish, bit fruity. Aftertaste: sugary, way too oxidised to be enjoyable, sweet, slightly fruity, more sugar.

750ml bottle 1990 vintage pours out a rusty nail color topped with a white ring of a head. Old barrel cherries and sweet notes. Taste is more of the nice cherries sweetness and some oak.