Saint Lamvinus
Brasserie Cantillon

Saint LamvinusSaint Lamvinus
Beer Geek Stats | Print Shelf Talker
From:
Brasserie Cantillon
 
Belgium
Style:
Fruit Lambic
Ranked #4
ABV:
7%
Score:
100
Ranked #122
Avg:
4.54 | pDev: 7.49%
Reviews:
513
Ratings:
2,313
Status:
Active
Rated:
Tuesday at 06:29 PM
Added:
Mar 20, 2003
Wants:
  1,423
Gots:
  467
Everyone knows some of our best friends are wine growers from the Libourne region in France, more specifically those who make Saint Emillion and Pomerol. They respect the tradition and let their wine ferment in a natural way.

Fermentation, origin and vintage are still kept up.

Our collaboration resulted in a product uniting the best of their wine and of our beer : the Saint-Lamvinus.

The grapes, of the merlot and cabernet-franc varieties, are soaked in Bordeaux barrels containing two to three years old lambic. The beer is not blended before the bottling. The foam is caused by the addition of a liquor which starts the fermentation.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Phatz:
Photo of Phatz
Reviewed by Phatz from Pennsylvania

4.25/5  rDev -6.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
I had very very high expectations for this beer. I have become a huge fan of Cantillon, as they have never let me down with any of there sour Lambics or Gueuze. I nearly acquired this before. I had it on my order but due to the huge price I removed it from my list and made room for 6 or seven other beers in it's place. When I changed my mind and decided to pay the price... it was no longer available. Thus, I was very excited to find this beer on-tap at Capone’s. Talking to another friend who had it in the bottle previously he thought the bottle was better than this tap version, true or not my wife and I both enjoyed it. I bought a growler for $45 at Capons Restaurant in Norristown PA. It seemed a better deal than the $30 for a 750ml. I also shared the beer with many of my friends. [In retrospect I should have been a selfish bastard because my wife and I *really* liked the beer, more than many of my friend, but I like to share so ... =)]

Appearance: Pours an attractive red color with a small pink head and little lacing.

Smell: WOW! Acidic Lambic berry tartness and vinegar in the nose. Sour cherries sweet-tart candies, and some dry vinous alcohol.

Taste: This is a dominantly sour beer but it has a small element of sweet sugar like a candy before the tartness takes over. Berry and cherry and sour grapes blend together in a sour flavor that is somewhat vinous, and that has a notable alcohol element undisguised, and the leaves you with the dry lingering aftertaste. The sour flavor carries over into the long linger dry aftertaste and leave you with more sweet-tarts on the cheeks. As a fan of dry wine, my wife found this a familiar sensation.

Mouthfeel: This is so dry and yet, active with sharp sour interplay against cheeks and the light carbonation snap-crackle-pop on the tongue. It is pretty rough across the tongue in a beautiful sour Lambic fashion. And I love the bone dry finish.

Drinkability: As it warms it actually becomes a bit more rough. The acidity becomes even more pronounced and the tartness forcing the pucker becomes more and more intense. If you want to avoid that, Then it is best to drink this shortly after opening, and boy it does go down nicely, but I recommend sharing it, despite the $30-$40 price tag. It is a lot of sour. Personally, I love it, I could handle putting it in my kegorator, if I was interested in spending the $450 for a quarter barrel keg.
Feb 26, 2007
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 4.5 by rare_bird from Michigan

Tuesday at 06:29 PM
Photo of ThisWangsChung
Reviewed by ThisWangsChung from Maryland

4.29/5  rDev -5.5%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
2023 vintage.

4.29/5: The first few sips didn't bowl me over, but it got so much better after half the glass; beautifully nuanced funk, light tartness (at best), and the delicately vinous nature make this an absolute winner
Sunday at 12:00 AM
 
Rated: 4.09 by LunchMoney from Minnesota

Mar 11, 2024
Photo of moysauce
Rated by moysauce from Illinois

4.5/5  rDev -0.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
Only had the 2015 vintage in 2023. Don't know what this tastes like fresh.
Mar 06, 2024
 
Rated: 4.5 by Juggerr from New York

Feb 11, 2024
 
Rated: 4.6 by smi69 from New York

Jan 24, 2024
 
Rated: 4.29 by Ox8840bo from Illinois

Dec 28, 2023
 
Rated: 4.25 by Rkitchen from Michigan

Dec 28, 2023
 
Rated: 4.68 by pdonovan16 from Massachusetts

Dec 21, 2023
 
Rated: 4.25 by BSW from California

Dec 14, 2023
 
Rated: 4.78 by notchucknorris from California

Dec 12, 2023
 
Rated: 4.25 by jschott75 from Illinois

Oct 01, 2023
 
Rated: 4.62 by Jcoleman4 from Ohio

Aug 31, 2023
Photo of joaopmgoncalves
Reviewed by joaopmgoncalves from Portugal

5/5  rDev +10.1%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
This was drank almost a week ago, at Vítor Claro's home - the winemaker from Portalegre, behind the Dominó and Claro & Ferreira brands.

Trying to review this from the top of my mind.

Poured from the bottle to a stemmed wine glass.

A: The body is dark purple with a light purple, almost pinkish head. Created a generous foam quantity that lasted quite a while before jumping in.
S: The aroma is actually perfect without any overpowering acidity. It's balanced as it is sweet, savory, and acidic to the right point. It's a great beer only by smelling it.
T: It's the taste of heaven. I think that after Fou'Foune, this might be my favorite Cantillon beer. It's perfectly balanced with the sweet notes from the grain and the grapes embracing quite well the light fruitiness, and very light bitterness of aged hops combined with just the right amount of acidity incoming from Brettanomyces. It's really great with nothing to point to as a downside.
M: Body has just the right feel, being light with the cool effervescence and silky tones from the sweetness you can find in this beer. Bitterness is low. Acidity is mild.
O: As said before, this ranks at the top of my favorite beers. Unbelievably good.
Aug 18, 2023
 
Rated: 4.48 by dan_amdg from Illinois

Aug 11, 2023
 
Rated: 4.25 by Dgman8053 from New York

Aug 10, 2023
 
Rated: 4.5 by PprBurke from Virginia

Jul 28, 2023
 
Rated: 4.92 by CAcker from California

May 11, 2023
 
Rated: 4.52 by Catalinmunteanu from Romania

May 06, 2023
Saint Lamvinus from Brasserie Cantillon
Beer rating: 100 out of 100 with 2313 ratings