Bottle web SB 2021-12-18 AR: Complex kriek, citrus, tar cherries AP: deep bourbon, no head F: Complex kriek, citrus, tar cherries

Botte at home. Almost clear very deep ruby with short lasting deep pink head. Massive sour cherries up front, bitterkoekjes, marzipan, light yoghurt, also a touch of lemon. Soft malts underneath, not really very funky, it's more lactic and citrussy. Medium sour, refreshing but not overpowering. Nor very sparkly in the mouth.

This is very nice, I'm really surprised by how good this is. Love it.

Great balanced tart cherry flavor

2020 harvest, lovely aroma of cherries, taste of sweet and mild sour cherries, some wood, subtle and balances, nice stuff..

The newest lambic producer in the Senne Valley to date, Boerenerf, commercially active since a few weeks now, could not avoid digging into the classic formulas - so an oude kriek is in order, made with 3 Fonteinen lambic and a very generous 400 g of sour cherries per liter. Comes from a 37.5 cl bottle with cork and muselet - both of which were rather hard to remove. Medium thick, pale off-pinkish white, irregularly edged, bit uneven-bubbled and slowly breaking yet generally very well-retaining, audibly crackling head on a misty deep blood red robe with bright ruby glow - a delight to the eye. Rich bouquet dominated by a truckload of ripe and juicy sour cherries, cherry wine, redcurrant juice, cooked wild apples, lemon flesh, dusty attic, wet old oak wood, almond from the cherry stones, vague and volatile background hints of roses, (cherry) tree leaves, cherry tomatoes, swimming pool chlorine, damp cellar, dry forest floor and undeterminable minerals. Utterly crisp onset, lemony acidic for a brief moment but this is quickly mitigated by the sheer fleshiness of this heap of blooming ripe sour cherries - yet clearly steering away from the fructose sweet core that I had in the sweet cherry version; a vinous, indeed cherry wine effect stretches out over the palate, accompanied by a ton of 'real' fruitiness but also 'dematerialised' fruit associations of red apple, redcurrant and halfripe nectarine, brought alive by the perfect amount of effervescence, in between lambrusco-like and prosecco-like and not detracting from the overall vinosity. A bready core is completely soaked in this sour cherry juice, while above it all, the complexity of the lambic gets a chance to unfold; a thick 'string' of lactic acidity balances the juiciness with dryness, but the juiciness remains stronger all the way. Light funky notes arise in the finishing stage: damp dark green tree leaves, haystack, a touch of farmland and a brief whiff of pungent armpit sweat; wood and cherry stone tannins do their work, but like the lactic sourness, are no match for the fleshy, juicy, vinous and bright red fruit character. This beer glows, it basks in the generosity of nature itself, combining rural elements with a tidewave of delicious 'cherriness'. This comes very close to the perfect Oude Kriek: 3 Fonteinen itself could hardly have done it any better. The two unusual lambics I had from this Boerenerf before were astonishing enough but without a real frame of reference; now it is clear than in the traditional lambic genres too, this Senne Eylenbosch knows precisely what he is doing. This new oude kriek has the perfect amount of fruit (even more), the perfect mouthfeel, the perfect depth and layering, the perfect amount of funk, the perfect degree of sourness - it can withstand comparison with all the greats in this genre, as far as I am concerned. I am flabbergastered.