Sample at Beer Geek botle shop 2019-02-14 Prague AR: sour kriek, tart dryness AP: dark ruby, no head F: tart sour kriek, very dry, lacmus,

Bag-in-a-box at Luppolo Station in Rome, thank you Manuali. Purple dark pour with no foam. Nose: cherries, a bit vinous, spirit. Mouth: flat round cherries juice, lovely red fruit, easy tough complex.

Glass tapped at home from the new "bag-in-box" packing Oud Beersel recently released of this and their regular lambic - when I first got intellectually interested in beer two decades ago, nothing could have prepared me for the fact that so many years later, unblended lambic would have been so easy to obtain for 'domestic' use… Some loose, pinkish, large bubbles at first (and as expected), but quickly dissolving into nothing (also as expected), over a cloudy, deep 'tomato juice' red beer with darker purplish hue. Aroma of cherry skins and cherry pits, sour cherry flesh of course and even cherry jam, dusty old cupboards, damp cellar, beetroot juice, almond (cherry pit effect), hay, vague chlorine. 'Fleshy' cherry fruitiness to the brim, liquid cherry 'pulp', tart and sour with a light but pleasant and well-fitting cherry skin wryness to it, yet low in edgy lemony acidity; some leftover fructose sweetness within. Supple bready-wheaty backbone totally drenched in sour cherry effects, almost overpowering the basic young lambic features, even though leathery and otherwise Bretty 'wild' notes are clear enough towards the finish. Wry, drying tannins more from cherry skins and cherry pits in the end, more than from wooden casks. Remains very juicy, sour-fleshy and a bit wry in the finish. Classically composed, typical young cherry lambic indeed, highly drinkable, softly sour and in that sense not too inaccessible to a larger audience I suppose - but this remains to be seen, as every visitor, beer geek or not, will be treated to a glass of this honest, traditional, no doubt healthy beverage when they pass by.

3,1 litre bag-in-box at 7,5% ABV, bb 15/11/2019.
Dark ruby body, with no head.
Beautiful aroma with loads of juicy, jammy, sweet-sour cherries, horse blanket, quite a lot of wood, cheese, apples, some leather.
Tastes quite similar, but dry and with the cherries less sweet and jammy.
Medium, slick mouthfeel, with almost no carbonation.
Finishes dry, sour, wooden, moderate funky, with lots of lingering cherries.

Delicious! Loads of distinct cherries everywhere, while also wooden and distinct funky notes for a good depth. Flat carbonation that leads to a great drinkability, the ABV is also dangerously hidden. Beautiful, very quaffable, rustic Kriek.

Score: 9 / 4 / 9 / 4 / 17