7.6

Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7.5

A clear orange red beer, no head. Aroma of sour blueberries, lacto, brett, funk. Taste of lactic cherries, blueberries, red grapes, funk.

6.8

Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6.5 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 6.5

Süffiger, wenn auch penentrant saurer Antrunk. Deutliche Essignoten, die Blaubeeren spielen einer untergeordnete Rolle. Spritzig, konstante Säure, langer Nachgeschmack. 10/11/10/10/8/10

7.4

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

Small pink head over reddish, faintly veiled terra cotta beer. Fruity, whiff of acetic acid, fruitacid; farmyard. Red fruit/berries, hint of pomegranate (?), cassis and mould. Lambic - Kestemont again! - very subdued, as if diluted with some very neutral beer or with Meerts? Acidthinning, light -burn, refreshing, fruity character. Typical Kestemont. And then Mannekes , OK, Vaccinium corymbosum of Amerikaanse blauwbes wordt vaak blauwe bes genoemd. Maar uw tekeningske klopt niet hè, DAT zijn cassis, Ribes nigrum.

7.9

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

Kestemont venturing into blueberry lambic territory - apparently with certain hesitation, as they refer to this beer as being "experimental", though of course blueberry lambics have been in existence for years, though never in great numbers; one of Cantillon's still most coveted lambics, Blåbær, can be seen as the archetype I guess - note that 'blueberry' is the name given to several North American species whereas the Eurasian species is more typically called 'billberry', but given that we are in Europe here, I think it is safe to say that both this one and its famous predecessor use the same fruit... Anyway, on to the 37.5 cl corked bottle with - of course - blue label: moussey, dense, off-white to very slightly pinkish, audibly crackling, slowly opening and thinning head on an initially clear, beautifully amber-orange robe with slight vermillion glow, hazy and more deeply vermillion further on. Aroma of indeed fresh blueberries and quite explicitly so (more purely so than I had in most other blueberry lambics even - and that includes Blåbær), cold rosehip tea, bergamot and perfumey-soapy lavender even, oxidized green apple slices, purple gooseberries, old wood, blood orange, dark green tree leaves, unsugared fruit yoghurt, Roosvicée, fresh tarragon somehow, rhubarb, wet leather. Very fruity onset in a very genuine way, blueberries all over, with their soft juicy tartness, spicy undertones and almost tea-like herbaceousness, flanked by impressions of plum and rhubarb, but altogether 'mals' and fleshy; moderate carb (perhaps even a bit soft for a bottled fruit lambic - something I had in other Kestemonts as well), yet full and vinous body. Slick bready core, very yoghurty lactic tartness in a soft and fruity way, as if wanting to accentuate the ripe berry fruitiness already present; increasing astringency towards the finish, with the tannins of the wood amplified by tannic effects from the berry skins and seeds, but retaining its fruity juiciness and dominant berry flavours till the very end. Some funkiness appears, in a leathery and hayish way, but it too allows for the fruit to keep shining as brightly as it did from the start, carrying along this perfumey, tea- and almost lavender-like quality which some could perhaps find a bit over the top, even though it is apparently far less strong retronasally than orthonasally. Proteins, probably from the fruit more than the lambic, linger at the back, creating a somewhat meaty effect. The features of the actual lambic, constituting this backbone of tartness, esteriness, woodiness and funkiness, remain relatively modest - for a fruit lambic - but the blueberries make up for a lot here: this concoction shouts 'blueberries' (or indeed 'billberries') from beginning to end and conveys their typical flavours very 'loudly', even accentuating that herbal quality that always strikes me when I eat them (I have an actual shrub on my terrace here in Ghent) - to the point where it becomes almost perfumey and lavender-like. Very distinct even in comparison with other blueberry lambics (not just the famous Blåbær but also e.g. De Cam's Wilde Bosbessen or Tilquin's Myrtille Sauvage), but on the down side, it does lack a bit in basic lambic complexity, which can be said of other Kestemont fruit lambics as well.

6.8

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

Very pale red colour with no head. Very floral aroma perhaps slightly herbal too. Slightly funky.

7.5

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8

Sample from bottle at Stigbergets Fot. Hazy reddish with a small head. Quite tart with black currant, blueberry, funk, some oak and minerals. A tasty one.

7

Hapu, mustikane, nats funky, veits magus, suht mahe. Ok.