Cantillon Cuvée Des Champions - Brasserie Cantillon

ausonius

New York

4.83/5  rDev +10.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Bottled in 2010.
It's a 2 year old , unblended brew, so I'm assuming 2008 Vintage.

Enjoyed in a 22 oz. Riedel red wine glass.

Appearance - Golden straw.
Big fluffy, almost Weisse-beer head (served at 55 degrees F) Subsides in about 5 minutes to a thin foamy head with a good amount of lacing.

Aroma - Big, pointed, wheaty, sour wild-berry, sappy, key-lime, fresh straw. Beeswax (but no honey) & flowery fruit, with decent amount of waxy, silky, pungent, floral, spicy, noble hops. Funky, complex Lambic, Brett & old oak lactic nose.

Palate - Wow! Great assertive mix of funky lactic key-lime, lemon, dry tangerine, blood orange & sour wild red cherry. Medium, but positive sourness blending with grainy wheatiness & round, but pungent, waxy, spicy, sappy hops.
Very firm, complex end flavor. Slightly bitter, very fruity, powerful russian olive, medium sour/bitter, waxy, dry finish.

Love the balance of flavors. Fairly dry. The combo of hops & focused Lambic funk, & fruit is all of a piece, intense, pungent & perfect.

Mouthfeel - Good carbonation. Grainy/wheaty, lactic, full, complex, with hoppy finish.

Drinkability - Great!

This is Great, & unique beer.

If I were King, every Lambic brewer would make a version in this vein.

Not quite as big & round as Cantillon IRIS, but more pointed, & hops more powerful on nose & on palate.

96 Points

Serving type: bottle

04-22-2011 06:23:42 | More by ausonius

jrenihan

Ontario (Canada)

4.26/5  rDev -2.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Bottled June 27, 2012.

Beer is translucent golden, bordering on opaque. Moderate white head, OK retention.

Very nice smell. Funk is notable but a bit restrained. A strong fruit smell is present. Apple.

Taste is quite tart. Funk and barnyard flavours are there, but not overwhelming. The added hops have a big impact. A bitterness accompanies the tartness expected from the lambic. Grass, apple, lemon and oak are all detectable.

Medium bodied, highly carbonated, but with delicate bubbles. Dries the mouth.

Overall, very good as one would expect from Cantillon, but I found the bitterness a bit jarring. I may like this beer more with a bit more time on it.

Serving type: bottle

06-19-2013 19:43:56 | More by jrenihan

TobiasG

Massachusetts

4.5/5  rDev +2.7%

06-18-2013 19:46:10 | More by TobiasG

TheCrowsNest

California

4.75/5  rDev +8.4%

06-16-2013 17:18:25 | More by TheCrowsNest

IanSpindler

Alberta (Canada)

4.25/5  rDev -3%

06-16-2013 00:19:57 | More by IanSpindler

DeanMoriarty

California

4.25/5  rDev -3%

06-13-2013 17:22:45 | More by DeanMoriarty

warnerry

Michigan

4.39/5  rDev +0.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Bottled 27 June 2012 (Cuvee Saint-Gilloise label)

A -Pours a slightly hazed deep golden brown with one finger of creamy off-white head. Head has good retention before fading to a thin cap.

S - Nice lemon and funk initially. The funky element of the aroma is persistent throughout the aroma, but it isn't particularly strong and not overpowering, though it seems to get stronger and pick up more of a cheese element the further I get into the glass.

T - Very tart up front, with a lot of lemon and some under-ripe peach. The tartness masks the funk initially, but a nice earthy layer comes in midway through and lingers into the aftertaste. Both he tart elements and the funk linger for a long time after the finish.

M - Very creamy mouthfeel to accompany the mouth puckering tartness. Finishes moderately dry, but less so than many other gueuzes. Pretty impressive.

O - Still relatively young, so I assume this may become more dry over time, but this is a very enjoyable gueuze.

Serving type: bottle

06-12-2013 23:48:09 | More by warnerry

Hopbully

Virginia

4.5/5  rDev +2.7%

06-11-2013 05:30:22 | More by Hopbully

Ayelikebeer

Illinois

4/5  rDev -8.7%

06-11-2013 01:26:50 | More by Ayelikebeer

iL0VEbeer

New Jersey

4.25/5  rDev -3%

06-06-2013 17:05:30 | More by iL0VEbeer

nrs207

Pennsylvania

4.25/5  rDev -3%

06-06-2013 00:09:42 | More by nrs207

Mebuzzard

Colorado

4.5/5  rDev +2.7%

06-05-2013 05:02:06 | More by Mebuzzard

CwrwAmByth

United Kingdom (Wales)

3.89/5  rDev -11.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

750ml corked bottle in a snifter and pint glass.

Pours a nice, full, orange colour with a small white head.

Smells very tart, and funky.

Tastes crisp and refreshing, with a lemon acid hit, rounding itself off quickly and not lingering for too long.

Overall pretty nice, one of the more balanced gueuzes out there.

Serving type: bottle

06-04-2013 23:04:57 | More by CwrwAmByth

bird22

California

4.5/5  rDev +2.7%

06-03-2013 05:05:47 | More by bird22

NCBeerFan

North Carolina

4.25/5  rDev -3%

06-02-2013 22:27:37 | More by NCBeerFan

VAbdoyan

California

4.75/5  rDev +8.4%

06-02-2013 04:24:23 | More by VAbdoyan

fehrminator

North Carolina

4.25/5  rDev -3%

06-01-2013 02:54:55 | More by fehrminator

Anonymous1

Illinois

4.5/5  rDev +2.7%

06-01-2013 01:43:01 | More by Anonymous1

acc88

Illinois

4.5/5  rDev +2.7%

05-30-2013 22:41:02 | More by acc88

Quackus

New York

3.5/5  rDev -20.1%

05-30-2013 02:05:36 | More by Quackus

SDStoneEnthusiast

California

4.5/5  rDev +2.7%

05-29-2013 05:45:07 | More by SDStoneEnthusiast

atoulouk

Indiana

4.25/5  rDev -3%

05-28-2013 14:33:30 | More by atoulouk

tectactoe

Michigan

4.4/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Thanks to Mike for splitting his bottle with me - Cantillon in any form is always greatly appreciated. Cuvee de Champions (a.k.a. Cuvee St. Gilloise) pours a somewhat translucent, golden-yellow color with a huge, foamy, eggshell tinted head that fizzes up quickly and leaves some nice bouts of chunky lacing along the glass. Very volatile beer, as even a modest pour produces a huge layer of foam.

Before I even lean in to the glass, I can already smell the funk in this one. Extremely funky from start to finish; cheesy, musty barnyard, horse-blanket, wet hay, old cork... you name it. The funk is based off of that signature Cantillon aroma, but even takes it up a notch and amplifies it quite a bit. The funk is accompanied by some herbal lemon zest, a bit of grass and leaves, and a mild, abrupt tartness that is mostly akin to apples and white grapes. If anyone asks you what "funk" smells like, let them take a whiff of this.

Needless to say, I was very excited to finally toss this one down the gullet after the insanely funk aroma that had just pierced my nostrils. The first sip includes a nice round of pears and even some peach tartness that went primarily unnoticed in the aroma, along with smaller amounts of green apples and white grapes as noted earlier. The tartness exerts itself quickly, jolting your taste buds for a moment before fading away into nothing more than a lasting, fruity sweetness.

The funk is actually a bit toned down on the palate, although it's still incredibly apparent and certainly the most important part of this brew. Funky musk, damp cellar, and corky horse blanket all come to mind when tasting this brew. Sometimes it's hard to accurately describe the funk you're smelling, but those words all come to mind. Just know this - Cuvee de Champions is an incredible funky brew, bottom line. The mouth feel is pretty sparky with a nice, highly carbonated snap. Light bodied; slick with a dry aftertaste.

Probably one of the nicest additions of funk I've tasted - so incredibly funky while remaining drinkable and free from anything offensive or off-putting. A nice meshing of flavors with some fruits and a light, yet assertive tartness that keeps you coming back for more. If this were more easily available, it would be the "go-to" brew to introduce someone to the world of unabashed funk.

Serving type: bottle

05-28-2013 12:44:33 | More by tectactoe

vonnegut21

New York

4/5  rDev -8.7%

05-28-2013 01:31:02 | More by vonnegut21

mscudder

Georgia

4.5/5  rDev +2.7%

05-27-2013 23:33:15 | More by mscudder