714. Kriek du Cambridge

714. Kriek du Cambridge

Jadyn and I went to the CBC to get lunch and a pair of tickets to the Belgian Beer Fest a couple Fridays ago. Unfortunately they were out of tickets, which we later procured at Cambridge Common, but they did have a Lambic-style beer on tap. Since I love sour beer I had to order it.

From the website:
Kriek du Cambridge began its life over eighteen months ago, when it was relegated to the darkest depths of the CBC Barrel Cellar, aging in two French oak barrels formerly housing Napa chardonnay. But it wasn’t alone! Each barrel was also filled with fifteen gallons of whole sour cherries, and then inoculated with a zooful of microflora from various sources including bottles of Cantillon lambic, and La Folie from our friends at the New Belgium Brewing Company (yes, we drank most of the beer first). The wild fermentation which ensued left a very acidic beer with tart cherry flavor and a dry finish, very much akin to a traditional lambic beer.
Beer Stats:
Brewery: Cambridge Brewing Company
Alcohol: 9.30&%
Serving: Tap
Style: American Wild Ale

Appearance (4.0): Pours a clear, reddish-orange. Not much in the way of a head, some beige wisps that fade to a ring, about what you expect from a lambic.

Smell (4.5): Sour cherries, medicinal phenols, and a nice, woody earthiness on swirling.

Taste (4.0): Tart cherries upfront, followed by a sour, acidic center. The acidity lasts through to the finish where it mingles with woody and earthy flavors.

Mouthfeel (4.5): Light-bodied, low carbonation, with a very dry finish.

Drinkability (4.0): The sourness is pucker inducing, but it's damn tasty with well hidden alcohol.

Overall (4.15): Very good stuff, great lambic character.

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