Speling van het Lot XVI.iv - Rabarber + Kriek

Bottle, 750 ml at Lambikodroom OBD. Shared with Hrvoje and Tin. Red with white head. Fruity, lots of cherries, some rhubarb, juicy, medium sourness.

Another Twist of Fate by 3 Fonteinen – an adventure in taste that just keeps evolving – now combining sour cherry with rhubarb, departing from the general idea that sour cherry can function as a ‘supporting’ fruit for other flavours; let’s see if they can convince me that this is true… Thanks to Craftmember for sharing during Open Beer Days. Medium thick, pale pinkish-white, moussy head, edge-retaining with nice white veils in the middle over a cloudy ruby red robe with dark fuchsia-ish tinge. Aroma of ripe (sour) cherry more than rhubarb though the latter is certainly there, unripe nectarine, roses, fruit yoghurt, some light swimming pool chlorine, dry rosé wine, Roosvicée, red apple peel, lilacs, freshly whipped cream, light vanilla-scenting oak wood (and cherry stones, no doubt). Fleshy sour cherry effect in the mouth and a lot of it, but this fleshiness and juiciness cannot conceal that this blend contains a lot of acidity, piling up the oxalic acid from the rhubarb (and indeed an actual raw rhubarb taste) on the lambic’s own acids and the acidity of the cherries; finely tingling yet lively carb, smooth malt core, bready and almost a bit biscuity, but deeply buried under all that cherry and rhubarb. Drying, very yoghurty lactic tartness throughout, lemony edges, sharp oxalic acid effect remaining – with both wood and cherry skins and stones adding extra tannic astringency in the finish; some warming, almost port-like alcohol is noticeable, but it is that sheer fleshiness of a very generous dosage of cherries that stays around the longest. Elegant in the nose, a tad too acidic in the mouth for me; I do, however, accept 3 Fonteinen’s view that indeed the cherries reinforce the rhubarb, but the opposite is also true. I wonder what other fruits (or flavours – rhubarb is not a fruit after all) they seek to combine with cherries – just imagine the vast amount of possible combinations, for instance… If those are the intentions, then this Twists of Fate project will doubtlessly continue to entertain beer aficionados for a long time to come.

0,75l bottle at the Lambic-O-Droom. bourdeaux like color, small white head.smells funk, cherries, marzipan, rhubarb, cheesy. very nice smell. full body,soft carbonation. tastes of cherries, marzipan, earthy, very subtle rhubarb, lightly acidic, grassy, peppery. finishes dry and medium sour with notes cherries, rhubarb and some grassy notes. very nice one, very subtle balance.

8, 4, 8, 4, 16

Bottle at OBD. Pours a cloudy ruby with medium off white head that lasts. The aroma is cherry skin, funk, barnyard, wood. Slick body, funky, cherry, berry, lemon, oak, funky, nice tartness, enjoyed this.

Sour and a bit tart, fruity. Cherry, some rhubarb maybe, a bit of funk. Very nice.

Tart, sulfur vegetal