25cl, bottle. BBE: 2019-08-20

Kriek altijd matig, maar deze wel prima

Heineken, owner of the Mort Subite brand through Alken-Maes, must have felt the old lambic beers have been enjoying an unprecedented revival in recent years and, like AB InBev trying to upgrade the Belle-Vue brand with so-called 'oude' versions, has now dipped a toe in the lambic pool with this attempted 'Schaarbeekse' version of Mort Subite Oude Kriek. Bottle (37.5 cl) from a Colruyt supermarket in Ghent. Medium thick, brightly and purely pink, mousy head, breaking and dissipating but retaining as a thin ring, over a deep hazy ruby red beer with a darker fuchsia tinge. Aroma of indeed cherry juice with a lot of 'fleshiness' one could theoretically associate with the Schaarbeekse variety, cherry jam, almond or even vague marzipan, lime flesh, soggy bread, stewed plum, cooked apple, soaking wet wood logs, light red Haribo candy note, dry hay, chlorine. Rounded, strangely 'cleanish' sourness in the onset, lots of cherry juice acidity, juicy and lime-like but tempered by a subtle hint of clearly added, vaguely 'background' sugary sweetness which fortunately does not overpower; slick wheaty and lightly bready base, lively carbonation, with the sour cherry juice and lime-like effect continuing; hayish aspect for sure, but none of the natural 'funky' Brett effects found in more traditionally made lambics. The woodiness in the end is almost almond-like, faintly vanilla-ish, as if wood in some or other form was added later on in the production process rather than a deeply integrated ingredient. Refreshing sourness goes on till the very end, not harshly puckering anywhere but at a very 'drinkable' level, though doubtlessly the regular sweet Mort Subite Kriek consumer will be unable to cope with it. A dry, dim, earthy hop bitterish touch appears very late, after swallowing even. All things considered - among which the fact that no coolship is used in the production of the Mort Subite lambics and the fact that this is clearly less deeply complex than more traditionally made examples - this is not a bad effort at all, remaining very drinkable with a certain degree of complexity that I frankly was not expecting. Refreshing, sour at an accessible level due to that pinch of added sweetness, I was expecting much worse from this brand, even if I will probably not buy a second bottle.

0,33 l bottle from Pivoteka, Zagreb. Due date: Nov 26th 2019. Shared with my father. Cloudy golden, diminishing off-white head. Quite funky and fruity, slightly fake-ish candy aroma, slightly sugary. Balance is not bad. Reduced sweetness. Some funky notes. Drinkable, easy going. Was pleasant. Light body, rather abrupt finish.

Bottle, 0.33l. Aroma of wheat, paper, floor cleaning cloth, banana peel, apricot, citrus and flowers. Pours hazy golden color with thin creamy white head, yeast residue and average sparkling appearance. Taste starts light sweet and sour grainy, yeasty and citrusy, follows by apricot, peach, honey and cough syrup with smooth mouthfeel. Light to medium body, slick texture and average carbonation in palate. It’s drinkable, but weird...

Te zoet. Toch liever een zure gueze.

the drinkability of this beer makes it so good for me. it’s is light but the sourness is of the perfect intensity to match the ubderlying beer. not the best gueze, but there’s nothing wrong or off with it, so it is still quite good. online belgian beer factory bottle

Bottle. Red color, a little yellowish foam. Not bad aroma: moderately wild, cherry, of course, a little vinegar, wood, barn, hay. Taste: sour, cherry, cherry jam, dried cherry, a little wild, tart.