Alarmingly red, like a pint of sparkling grape juice, with a vinous undertone to match. Crisp and full of bright cherry tartness, mostly dry with a modest sweet black cherry undertone bolstered by oak vanilla notes. Finishes a bit weak, tart but overly sparkly. Still tasty, though.

Bottle from Systembolaget. Pours dark ruby with pinkish head. Cherry aroma with some black and redcurrant, light citrus and very light funk. Taste is similar with cherry upfront, not very sour, more like tart cherry jam. Lightly, woody finish. Solid beer altogether. Medium body and very light, subtle carbonation.

From bottle at Oud Beersel, Toer de Geuze ’17. Clear cherry red with a pink head. Light cherry aroma. Flavors of berries and tart cherries.

From bottle at Oud Beersel, Toer de Geuze ’17. Clear red with a pink head. Aroma of sweet and tart cherries with citrus notes. Flavour is light to moderate sweet and above moderate sour. Medium bodied with soft carbonation.

Bomber from Bruisin’ Ales. Pours dark cherry with a pink tinged head. Moderate tart cherry aroma. Med body or so. Flavor is arguably cooking cherry, but seems a bit sweet for that. For me it has an earthy note. Not sure how this differs from the 2015 other than ABV.

Pours deep ruby into a snifter. Pink head with good retention recedes to hug rim. Cherry and oak aromas. Sharp with cherry and hay upfront turning to bitter earth and oak before returning to a cherry pith finish.

New Belgium sour ale based on traditional cherry lambic, as part of their Lips of Faith series. Bomber shared with Ster at Uncle Babe’s in Gent. Label - and the New Belgium website - mentions Oud Beersel as the supplier of the lambic involved in this one, rather than Boon as is mentioned above on this site... Thin, loose, dirty off-pinkish, lightly lacing head, hazy cherry red robe with amberish-brownish tinge. Lots of fresh cherries in the nose, fruit yoghurt, cherry pits, some stale sweat, sweet white grape, vague sherry, caramel, passion fruit and fermenting hay. Convincingly rich cherry pulp flavor in the onset, hints of purple gooseberry and very subtle passion fruit, spritzy carbonation, lean and smooth mouthfeel; sour but not puckering, rather a soft, sedate, accessible lactic tartness. This tartness continues over the middle and dries the palate in a gentle manner, at least compared with traditional cherry lambics; bit ’moelleux’ in the middle with a light caramelly malt base, sweetish underneath the tartness, fruity and juicy, dryingly tart finish with still vague traces of that soft caramelly sweetness lingering. Comes across as a hybrid between actual ’oude kriek’ lambic and cherry oud bruin, which is no surprise since it is basically a blend of Oud Beersel Oude Kriek with New Belgium’s own house sour Felix (which, if I understood correctly, is a kind of blonde counterpart of oud bruin, I guess roughly in the style of e.g. Petrus Aged Pale and the like in Belgium). Fairly clean, straightforward and perhaps lacking a bit in complexity to be internationally great, sour but in a mellow, tart, yoghurty and, as said, ’oud bruin’-like way, accessible and suitable as an introduction to sour cherry beers - a tasty introduction indeed, with still more than enough fruit acidity to be credible and authentic. Pleasant sour, in all.

On tap at The Hay Merchant. Pours a clear ruby with small off pinkish head that lasts. The aroma is strong sweet cherry, wood, funk. Thin body, funky, wood, light cherry, decent.

4 oz pour on draft at Spacebar. Clear ruby red with light pink head. Aromas of tart cherries, vinegar. Tastes of cherries, oak, vinegar, booze, tart lemons. Light body with a dry finish.

Clear red colour, white head. Aroma of cherries, cherry pips, wood, fruity. Somewhat sour flavour, wood, cherry and cherry pips. Light sour finish, wood, cherry pips and skins.
(from 65cL bottle @ Leuven Innovation, Leuven 2015)