Cantillon...Got Some

Found a lone bottle of Rose de Gambrinus (their framboise) at my local liquor store...the guy says there'll be some Geuze next week...which I might prefer. It's chilling while I drink some Steam beer...although it says it's good to go at 50-55 degrees. Alright, Janx, let's see what all the fuss is about...I'll keep ya posted.

Whooooo-Weeee, that's SOUR!!! I couldn't help but pucker for the first several sips...WOW. I expected sour...but not that sour. Still going at it...I don't get that earthy flavor that made me like the Lindeman's. My girlfriend didn't think it was as sour as I did...maybe my palette is off, I don't know. It's good...but a little too sour. Maybe the gueze....

Alright, I'm starting to enjoy it more...(day 2.) Still very sour, but more enjoyable tonight, maybe because I haven't had any other beers yet.

(I'm talking to myself here....goin' craaaaaazzzy!)

It's definitely darn sour...all of them are. The Lindeman's is sweetened.

I think if you give it some time. Let it warm in the glass, you'll find it to be a much more complex brew than Lindeman's. Look for horse blankety, barnyard flavors. Mmmm Cantillon...I'm drooling.

Lambic is an acquired tast! Of all the true Lambic producers around Brussels, Cantillon is the oldest, truest to process and in my opinion, the best.

Lindemans is not considered a true Lambic by most Belgians, because the yeast is not wild, but cultured and the same each time. Also, Lindemans does not use fruit for their flavored lambics, just flavoring. Lindemans also does not blend multiple brews (3 year old, 2 year old and fresh) to make their Geuze.

Hope that you will try Boon (pronounced Bone), Three Fountains (englishsized), Liefman's, Hanson's or even Mort Subite. These all make Lindemans look and taste bad!

Dave

Hi All - I'm just back from a holiday in Belgium and I thought I'd let you know that I managed to fit in a visit to the Cantillon Brewery in Brussels.

What a great place ! Obviously quite old - I think the brewery has been there since the early 1900's and just jam packed full of Lambic smells and flavours !

As the brewery uses an open cooling vessel to allow the natural yeasts to settle in the brew, they were just preparing for the final brew of the 04/05 season as temperatures will soon be too high to allow the wort to cool to the right temperatures in the open cooling tank, up in the attic.
The last brew will have been done yesterday, left to cool overnight and is probably now being casked for maturation/secondary.

Tasting straight from the casks - the straight Cantillon lambic is sour (almost like crab apples but without the apple). The thing that surprised me was that the Kriek tasted even more sour - in speaking to the brewer, he mentioned that this is because of the cherries they use being slightly sour. He also made some disparraging remarks about the bigger breweries using sweetened fruit syrup.

Great place - near the garre du midi if you are in Brussels - well worth a visit