AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 19/20
adamjackson (254) – Canaan, New Hampshire, USA – APR 8, 2012
This is a capped and corked beer. As soon as I popped the cap off, the cork started sliding out of the bottle. I tried to stop it but the cork flew out and dented my ceiling and Cantillon starting spewing everywhere. I did my best and held my thumb over the top with two hands. Intense carbonation unlike any other lambic I’ve seen. Wow.
A – Gigantic carbonation in this beer. Even on a slow pour, bubbles invade the glass producing a 5-7 finger head almost instantly. The bubbles are big, impressive and unforgiving. It takes about 3 minutes for the big bubbles to dissipate and I’m left with only an ounce of beer. This beer FORCES you to drink it slowly. This is a 5 on the SRM rating for appearance. Dark gold to cedar color in appearance. Not easy to see through and a hint of clouds. After a few minutes, the head is just a quarter finger with some lacing on the glass edges.
S – I’m getting a lot of wood, earth and funkiness on the first scent and a really hard habanero or chili pepper burn in the back of my throat. There’s a bit of dried fruits like raisins or papaya. Very tropical fruit scent to this beer. There’s also a big musty scent like dust and old wood. Very intriguing.
T – This has that taste of a very old lambic 4-6 years or more old. The floral notes are actually not that intense. I’m getting oak and apricot and chili peppers. There’s this spice that’s more like table pepper. It’s pretty amazing. I also get honeysuckle and that great lambic funkiness.
M – Almost no carbonation on the mouth swish. Lingering spice and earthiness and tart.
O – This beer is fantastic. There’s no huge taste other than the peppers and I’m not a fan of spicy beers. This is unlike anything I’ve ever had. Solid A but I’d love more sour and less carbonation on the pour.
