Hapu, happeline, kirsikivid, marjane, marjavarred, magus. Huvitav. 3.9ish

Hapu, happeline, kirsikivid, marjane, marjavarred, magus. Huvitav. 3.9ish

0,75l bottle at home shared by Saeglopur, big thanks. orange murky color, small white head. smells spices, apples, bit oxidized, peppery, earthy, lightly smoky. nice smell. full body, soft carbonation. tastes smoky, earthy, spices, herbal, leathery, light wood, quince, light tannins. finishes lightly dry and lightly sour with notes of smoke, quince and some spices. I very much like this one, love the smoky / tanniny notes. great balance. lovely overall, looking forward to more stuff from this brewery 7, 4, 9, 4, 17

Boerenerf is out of the starting blocks with a bunch of beautiful lambic creations, all made with 3 Fonteinen lambic in a kind of new cross-pollination: Boerenerf, being a nearby organic farm, has been cultivating grain for 3 Fonteinen for years, and recently decided to make the relationship reciprocal, so to speak... Medium thick, nicely moussy, shred-lacing, slowly breaking but generally well-retaining, pale lilac head on an initially near-clear, deep and glowing ruby red beer with darker burgundy tinge in the middle, turning misty further on - a feast to the eye, and with this amount of 'rubiness', I wonder what the fruit density in this one could be... Expressive bouquet of a whole lot of fleshy sour cherries - Schaarbeekse 'griottes' shining as brightly as they can, over impressions of cherry wine, cherry stones, cooked plum, purple gooseberry, grass silage, red apple, haystack, light swimming pool chlorine, almond, rosé champagne, petrichor even. Quite intense onset, some lemony acidity quickly shifting to malic acid, from the sour cherries obviously but also sour apple-like, with an undertone of unripe plum and gooseberries; the sharpness of it all then makes place for a softer, more 'deep' lactic tartness, piercing through a slender cereally core and carrying on this truckload of bright red sour fruit, towards a finish where balancing tannic effects come into play - from the wood and the cherry skins as well as the stones - yet not astringent enough to withstand this wave of fleshy, juicy, luscious sour 'cherriness' which even harbours a sweetish core deep within, as I have rarely encountered in oude kriek. The fleshy character of the Schaarbeekse variety really is the centerpiece here, even with a core of ripe fruit sweetness - clearly the intention was to underline the quality of this classic 'lambic fruit'. I had many Schaarbeekse krieken before - but only a few of them managed to showcase the characteristics of this variety, as compared with other sour cherry varieties used in 'regular' oude kriek, as convincingly as this one. The fourth Boerenerf masterpiece in a row for me...

The newest lambic producer in the Senne Valley to date, Boerenerf, commercially active since a few weeks now, could not avoid digging into the classic formulas - so an oude kriek is in order, made with 3 Fonteinen lambic and a very generous 400 g of sour cherries per liter. Comes from a 37.5 cl bottle with cork and muselet - both of which were rather hard to remove. Medium thick, pale off-pinkish white, irregularly edged, bit uneven-bubbled and slowly breaking yet generally very well-retaining, audibly crackling head on a misty deep blood red robe with bright ruby glow - a delight to the eye. Rich bouquet dominated by a truckload of ripe and juicy sour cherries, cherry wine, redcurrant juice, cooked wild apples, lemon flesh, dusty attic, wet old oak wood, almond from the cherry stones, vague and volatile background hints of roses, (cherry) tree leaves, cherry tomatoes, swimming pool chlorine, damp cellar, dry forest floor and undeterminable minerals. Utterly crisp onset, lemony acidic for a brief moment but this is quickly mitigated by the sheer fleshiness of this heap of blooming ripe sour cherries - yet clearly steering away from the fructose sweet core that I had in the sweet cherry version; a vinous, indeed cherry wine effect stretches out over the palate, accompanied by a ton of 'real' fruitiness but also 'dematerialised' fruit associations of red apple, redcurrant and halfripe nectarine, brought alive by the perfect amount of effervescence, in between lambrusco-like and prosecco-like and not detracting from the overall vinosity. A bready core is completely soaked in this sour cherry juice, while above it all, the complexity of the lambic gets a chance to unfold; a thick 'string' of lactic acidity balances the juiciness with dryness, but the juiciness remains stronger all the way. Light funky notes arise in the finishing stage: damp dark green tree leaves, haystack, a touch of farmland and a brief whiff of pungent armpit sweat; wood and cherry stone tannins do their work, but like the lactic sourness, are no match for the fleshy, juicy, vinous and bright red fruit character. This beer glows, it basks in the generosity of nature itself, combining rural elements with a tidewave of delicious 'cherriness'. This comes very close to the perfect Oude Kriek: 3 Fonteinen itself could hardly have done it any better. The two unusual lambics I had from this Boerenerf before were astonishing enough but without a real frame of reference; now it is clear than in the traditional lambic genres too, this Senne Eylenbosch knows precisely what he is doing. This new oude kriek has the perfect amount of fruit (even more), the perfect mouthfeel, the perfect depth and layering, the perfect amount of funk, the perfect degree of sourness - it can withstand comparison with all the greats in this genre, as far as I am concerned. I am flabbergastered.

This is the first lambic from “Het Boerenerf” for me. Quite refreshing aroma of the quince and some unripe pear. Slightly sour and citrus/quince, even some taste of gooseberries, tannine. Dry finish, nice one.. looking forward to the rest..