St. Louis Kriek - Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck N.V.

Jason

Massachusetts

3.58/5  rDev +1.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

375ml green bottle with a bottled on date of July 9th 2009.

LOOK: Heady, clear burgundy

SMELL: Cherry cough medicine, dried grass, yeast, musty.

TASTE: Crisp, sweet-tart, medicinal, cherry juice, oak, dryness.

At first smell and sip I though I was going to be taken over by sweetness ... even with a heavy push of cherry here there are other aspects that help the balance that out and show some depth. A respectable sweet lambic IMO.

Serving type: bottle

09-19-2011 03:01:26 | More by Jason

M1A2

Ohio

4/5  rDev +13.3%

05-25-2013 03:46:56 | More by M1A2

spycow

Illinois

3.25/5  rDev -7.9%

04-28-2013 22:43:28 | More by spycow

Maxwell

Massachusetts

3.61/5  rDev +2.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5

The beer pours a candied ruby red with slightly dense body with tons of little carbonation bubbles bursting to the top of the glass. The beer pours with a heavy and smooth, two-finger’s width head that sticks around and is white with a slightly yellow-red tint to it. The head leaves a lacing of dry fat clouds of bubbles on the sides of the glass. On the nose, the beer smells of sweet candied cherries, like a cross between maraschino and cherry flavored cough syrup, though more towards the sweet maraschino. There is also a light spicy smell that hints at funk but doesn’t fully show it. On the tongue, the beer tastes sharply acidic with lots of fruit and sweet sugar and little to no bitterness. The flavor begins as sweet cherry cough syrup and then slowly works its way into maraschino cherry territory with very slight hints of funk, but no really funky character. The finish gives the most funk, but even then it is light and surrounded by sweet, candied cherry flavors. In the mouth, the beer feels on the light side of medium in body with a nice smooth and strong carbonation that gives some scrub to the tongue but doesn’t quite handle the cloyingly sweet cherries. The mouth is left very clean except for the pools of saliva on the sides of the tongue which are formed due to the large amount of acid in the beer. Overall, this is an alright sweet kriek. I do wish there was more of a funky character to the beer, and I do wish the cloying nature of the sweetness was a little more in check. That being said, my girlfriend said she enjoyed the beer a lot, though she detected a faint smell and taste of chlorine in the beer, so it does appeal to some beer drinkers. I’m unsure whether Van Honsebrouk used cherry extract in this beer, or if they just used too many cherries, but something in the beer is giving it a synthetic flavoring that is reminiscent of cherry cough syrup. An alright beer overall.

Serving type: bottle

04-15-2013 00:13:43 | More by Maxwell

Poupae

Thailand

3.25/5  rDev -7.9%

03-24-2013 12:11:14 | More by Poupae

Dinkel

Texas

3.75/5  rDev +6.2%

03-16-2013 02:28:53 | More by Dinkel

Whiskeydeez

Kansas

4/5  rDev +13.3%

01-28-2013 18:45:00 | More by Whiskeydeez

stealth

Minnesota

3/5  rDev -15%

01-22-2013 08:57:19 | More by stealth

RandyKemka

Connecticut

4.25/5  rDev +20.4%

12-05-2012 03:27:13 | More by RandyKemka

Tarks

Manitoba (Canada)

3.25/5  rDev -7.9%

11-17-2012 01:57:58 | More by Tarks

schopenhauerale

British Columbia (Canada)

3.5/5  rDev -0.8%

11-12-2012 21:09:07 | More by schopenhauerale

MYJELLOMISFIT

Colorado

3/5  rDev -15%

08-15-2012 14:35:57 | More by MYJELLOMISFIT

Liquoric3

Germany

3/5  rDev -15%

08-15-2012 08:24:26 | More by Liquoric3

inlimbo77

Delaware

3.43/5  rDev -2.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

12.7oz bottle
2011/04/19
Lost Abbey tulip

A: Pours a clear reddish pink color. Two full fingers of pink hued head. Tight bubbles. Nicely carbonated.

S: Smells like artificial cherry sweetness. Like a cherry halls or something. On the swirl I got a touch of lambic funk but it's so muted.

T: Far too sweet to be a Kriek. Their is a touch of tartness on the tip of the tongue, but the sweet fake cherry covers it too much. It's not funky at all. After the tart start, is really smooth and creamy and mellow in the middle. Finish isn't dry enough either.

M: It's actually medium bodied because of the lack of bacteria to dry it out more.

Serving type: bottle

08-03-2012 16:18:32 | More by inlimbo77

sweemzander

Illinois

2.15/5  rDev -39.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 1.5

375mL bottle poured into a tulip.

(A)- Pours a darker crimson blood red color. Some white froth.

(S)- Straight up cherry Jolly Rancher sweetness; very very subtle tartness.

(T)- A little murky, but an overall very sweet cherry juice flavor.

(M)- A normal carbonation level for the style. Pretty much straight up sweet cherry juice; little else.

(D)- Fairly similar to the normal Lindemans lineup of Fruit Lambics, but it fact, perhaps even a bit more plain in the comparison.

Serving type: bottle

05-19-2012 17:49:27 | More by sweemzander

Douberd

Netherlands

3.33/5  rDev -5.7%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Bottle of 250 ml at home.One finger pinkish head, dark ruby colour, quite an activity in the glass in the form of bubbles rising to the top. The head quickly became a half finger thin line on the surface of the beer, so retention is quite good.
Aroma is of course of cherries but is a bit too strong, thus appearing artificial. I can smell something else too, but I cannot tell what exactly, the smell is not pleasant though.
Taste is slighty better, sweet as expected but leaves a slighty sour aftertaste. I think that afterall, the smell I was getting is from sour cherries, and you can trace them on the taste too.
On the body is thick above average for a fruit beer, with medium carbonation. Is nice to actually feel that youy don't drink a cherry juice.

Serving type: bottle

05-03-2012 17:14:32 | More by Douberd

vonnegut21

New York

4/5  rDev +13.3%

04-27-2012 17:26:42 | More by vonnegut21

closisinthehouse

Florida

3.75/5  rDev +6.2%

04-14-2012 16:25:47 | More by closisinthehouse

Drinkerofales

California

3.23/5  rDev -8.5%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Pours clear brown copper, with a big pink champagny head that leaves nice lacing and has great retention. Lively champagne bubbles flow constantly from the bottom of the flute. Very nice looking beer.

Smells like a cherry lozenge. Synthetic, with some funkiness as the beer warms.

Taste is very sweet, then some tart. The whole flavor is pervaded by a synthetic edge, but not as bad as the aroma.

A light bite on the tongue, but carbonated as a lambic should be. Bubbly and light, but not very drinkable.

The synthetic smell, and taste make this one hard to drink, and a beer I will not be revisiting.

DOA

Serving type: bottle

04-07-2012 19:42:46 | More by Drinkerofales

Julien

3/5  rDev -15%

02-25-2012 14:29:06 | More by Julien

ummswimmin

New Jersey

3.65/5  rDev +3.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

I picked out this lambic to share with my wife. She doesn't care for beer (all the more for me), and lambics are more like a high end adult fruit drink.

I poured this into a tulip, and the coloring was a clear, crimson color. I don't see any particulates. The foam was really light, and it went down quickly.

The smell is a very strong cherry. There is a lot of sweetness coming off the top.

The flavor is a sweet bomb. There is a lot of cherry in there. There is nothing subtle about this flavor. The flavor was so strong that I winced with my first drink.

This is a very interesting experience. The kriek was pretty good. However, I like the Oude Fontenien and the Framboise much better than this offering. My wife piped up that she really likes the peach based lambic.

Serving type: bottle

02-17-2012 02:25:50 | More by ummswimmin

Arborescence

Finland

2.95/5  rDev -16.4%
look: 2 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2 | overall: 3

Appearance: Dark ruby red, almost brown.

Aroma: Sweet spices, cherries, almond pits.

Taste: Sweet, maybe too much so. The gueuze base gives the beer a sour kick though, but it is rather well covered by the cherries and the sweetness. Good for someone who doesn’t like the pure lambic taste so much, but wants an authentic kriek. I do like the amaretto-like, almond pit flavour, although it’s more distinctive in the aroma.

Mouthfeel: Mostly just lingering sweetness; medium carbonation.

Overall: I haven’t been drinking many lambics recently, but it is a type of beer that I quite like. This particular kriek is made by maturing morello cherry pulp for at least six months in the gueuze base, which itself a blend of matured lambics. Personally I prefer gueuze or other lambics without fruit, but the kriek is a classic, and quite fitting for winter time. This is not the best one out there though...

Serving type: bottle

02-16-2012 02:01:33 | More by Arborescence

Beertracker

Oklahoma

3.5/5  rDev -0.8%

01-27-2012 16:11:42 | More by Beertracker

WoodersonMB

Manitoba (Canada)

3.5/5  rDev -0.8%

01-15-2012 13:34:32 | More by WoodersonMB

rekel

Netherlands

4/5  rDev +13.3%

12-01-2011 23:52:36 | More by rekel