BB 07/08/2034, lot F. Nice thickness, really low on the carbonation, as I like it. Smell is funky goat. Taste is moderate sourness, bit of vinegar, but not burning or sharp. Some sweetness, goat, very soft, lots of oak. Aged very nicely.

Bottle shared with In de Verzekering tegen de Grote Dorst, Belgium, 06.10.19. Cloudy red. Persistent white head. Aroma and taste of acids, sour berries and lemon juice. Only a slight hint of black currants is left. Dry, acid and astringent mouthfeel.

Small reddish rim over deep-ruby beer. Cherries, honey, acetic acid, bit floral. Cherries' nose gets intense. Acetic "Stich" upon somewhat sweeter red berries flavour. Acetic old cherry liqueur, as ripened in old barriques. Lactic acid, fruitacids. Very serious acidburn, thinning, yet quite slick. Sharp, nowhere I mals /I. Special one.

Hanssens, apparently seeking to connect with the current lambic hype, presented this one-off on the occasion of this year's Tour de Geuze, a lambic macerated with raspberries (17%), strawberries (3%), sour cherries (13%) and blackberries (7%) - the first time I see that many fruit species in one single lambic, at least a traditionally made one. Mousy, off-pinkish white, creamy, membrane-lacing head, medium thick but only becoming this 'full' and visually attractive with quite some 'forcing' and, as a result, unstable and quickly reduced to an 'interspersed', wafer-thin ring of mousse with nothing in the middle; initially clear, very bright ruby red colour with vermillion tinge, showing lots of bubbles clinging to the edge of the glass, turning cloudy and more deeply purplish-tinged red with sediment. Strong aroma of cherry wine, raspberry vinegar, unripe sour blackberries, red wine vinegar, moist and decayed wood, soaking wet cherry pits, barnyard, lemon juice, wet saddle leather, dark green tree leaves, sweet strawberry noticeable in the background, stewed sour grapes, damp cellar, sawdust, horse steak juice, old socks, balsamic vinegar, Cherokee purple tomatoes, swimming pool (the cherries, probably), stale sweat (Brettanomyces), musk even. Very sour onset, strong acetic sourness ('volatile' acids) which in combination with the pronounced raspberry flavour has a strong raspberry vinegar-like effect; the blackberries add further acidity with a lemony effect, while the sour cherries seem to add some fleshiness and 'pulpy' fruitiness that actually counters the acidity a bit. Carbonation remains low (almost flat in the end), mouthfeel is slick but bone dry due to the sourness, which continues unabated till the finish, even burning a bit, but still a tad less so than other Hanssens fruit lambics - so I maintain that it is the overload of fruit, especially the cherries, that somehow absorbs a part of the acetic qualities. Strong fruit peel astringency and woody tannins are added in the finish, less fruit seed effects though; pronounced 'funky' effects (the classic horseblanket) from the Brett are noticeable as well but are smothered a bit by all that fruit. Strawberry remains a vague retronasal background note. Ends acetic, fruit-acidic, astringent and bone dry, but still with that cherry fleshiness trying to soften this flavour; bready yeast effects as well as a 'meaty' (medium rare horse steak) protein effect appear in the very end, when the sediment has been added. As a whole, this one clearly exhibits the acetic character Hanssens' fruit lambics are known for (at least in the past years - their Oude Kriek was not this acetic at all in the first years that I drank it), but the generous, fleshy fruit dosage does what it can to counter this harsh effect. The result is enjoyable enough for a lambicophile like myself, and I love how the raspberries and cherries 'crisply' cling to the tongue after swallowing; the lambic is clearly subordinate to the fruit here, which obviously was the intention. Among Hanssens' most interesting offerings so far.