Flaska från Etre. Röd, disig, fizzig rosavit krona som snabbt lägger sig. Bärigt, lätt murrig, mycket björnbär, blåbär, hallon, vinbär, vinbärsblad. Något högre och pigg syra, lätt kropp.

Red with a lasting white head. Funky aroma with wood and red berries. Dry and tart fruity flavour with red berries and good Tilquin funk.

The 'red one' in this charming series of meerts-based fruit lambics by Tilquin, this one combining blackcurrant, raspberry, redcurrant, blackberry and blueberry, al used in what one could call 'second run', i.e. left over from earlier Tilquin fruit lambics. Bottle under high pressure (more than the earlier ones I had from this series): the cork popped out with a loud bang at the same time I took off the muselet. Medium, immediately breaking but edge-retaining, off-white, irregularly edged, dissipating head on a misty warm vermillion red robe with orangey and ruby shades, sparkling rushing through the mist. Aroma offers the anticipated 'kaleidoscope' of red and purple fruit alternating, redcurrant coming up in a really fresh way, blueberry becoming stronger when warming up, blackcurrant obvious enough too, raspberry and blackberry strangely much weaker but still very noticeable as well, all covering subtler notes of dusty old wood, dusty attic, dry hay, old dried lemon peel, kefir, dried roses, vague 'Bretty' urine, grass silage, lime juice. Spritzy, 'bright' onset, lots of tart red berry acidity with again redcurrant flavour acting dominant and very fresh and fleshy with that typical fiery sharpness to it, and blueberry coming in second place with its spicy-sweetish-tart 'purple' flavours; the taste nicely follows the aroma here, as blackcurrant (cassis) arrives third while raspberry and blackberry remain altogether subtle - a profile almost completely matching that of Lambiek Fabriek's Pluri-Elle, to draw a straightforward comparison. Effervescence is high and 'crystalline', accentuating the pungency of the fruits - which oddly seem very fresh rather than 'reused'; mouthfeel is supple and a tad vinous, but slender at the same time. More berry skin and seed tannins appear from the middle onwards, but this bright 'acuity' of the fruit remains the main factor, easily slicing through a grainy, bready core and uplifting the natural lactic and other acids from the lambic along the way. Woody, berry-tannic and dry in the end, with light Bretty 'funk' notes (damp hay, very vague urine in an animalistic, non-offensive way) and a certain end bitterness, which in this case seems to come more from the fruit than from hops; still, this utter bright red crispness and juiciness, as if crushing a bursting ripe redcurrant berry between the front teeth, remains the core business of this 'mixed fruit lambic'. Edgy, bright and pungent, but with layers of complexity thanks to the lambic composition; I expected to like this one the least of the whole series but I am really pleasantly surprised here. So far, the quality level of this Meerts series has been remarkably high in my opinion, so keep them coming please!