Hapu, mustikas, mõru, mustikavarretee, linnased, nats vesine. Ok.

The ‘cassis lambic’ in this new series, continuing what the company Goossens did until the sixties, namely producing traditional lambics – now carried out by the Kestemont family, hence the name. Snow white, thin and open, unstable, loose head on a hazy deep ‘dark orange’ to copper-coloured beer. Aroma of indeed strong blackcurrant berries, stale lemon juice, old wood, damp tree leaves, armpit sweat, sour tomatoes, old dry rosé wine, raw rhubarb, yoghurt, hints of rosewater and butter. Quite sharply fruit-acidic onset, notably juicy with clear cassis flavour running through it all, flanked by notes of redcurrant, rhubarb and lemon; fine-bubbled sparkling. Drying lactic and fruit-sour, tart, yoghurty and juicy middle with bready undertones, blackcurrant continuing and blending in well with the natural lambic sours and tannins from the wood; the skins and seeds of the fruit expectedly amplify this tannic effect, but things never get too astringent; instead, a rounded fruit sourness and juiciness keeps dominating, like sour oranges and redcurrants, draped in this typical herbal blackcurrant aroma and deepened with some leafy and earthy aspects in the finish. Remains quite bright and juicy till the very end, with a very natural, earthy, ‘freshly harvested’ feel to it – this is a very solid fruit lambic indeed and so far probably the best of the Kestemonts for me.

Bottle from Etre. Hazy reddish purple with brief head. Some cassis, quite vinous and tannic. A bit of acidity.

20/I/23 - 375cl bottle @ Wim’s place, BB: 26/XI/41, lot: 20211126 (2023-79) Thanks to Alengrin for sharing the bottle!

Little cloudy reddish to dark orange beer, practically no head. Aroma: lots of tannins, earthy, pretty funky, spicy, dirty, a bit weird, some vinegar. MF: lively carbon, medium body. Taste: fruity start, berries all right, I suppose it’s black currants then, very bitter, tannins, pretty acidic. Aftertaste: sweet impression, berries, spicy, pretty dry, a little funky, wood notes, lemony touch, a bit oily in the finish, some spices, thyme.

Bottle directly from brewery webshop. Color: Slightly hazy pinkish red, pinkish off-white head. Aroma: Farmyard and horse manure funk, fruity. Taste: Strong horse manure funk, fruity blackberry notes. Light to moderate sweet, slight tart and light bitterness. Hints of oak wood. Dry finish. Medium body, below average carbonation.