Cantillon Soleil De Minuit - Brasserie Cantillon

Fux

France

4.63/5  rDev -0.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Bottle from the recently released 2012 vintage, 750ml. Generously shared by a true lambic lover during an epic sour tasting.
A: The beer is yellow / orange with golden copper glints. Pours crystal clea rwith a white head that fades quite quickly.
S: The nose is very fruity. The cloudberries outstand (there is 6€ worth of fruit on a single bottle, hence this nose!). it reminds me a little bit of red currants and cranberries (with little sourness however). There is also tropical fruits notes and some pear. A light funky scent and some hay aromas in the bakbone.
T: The palate is surprisingly little sour, with almost no tartness on it. It emphasizes much more the fruity flavors, with cloudberry, red currant, orange, mango. It also shows very nice wood flavors. It is not the fruity explosion of a fresh Foufoune, but there are various fruits layers here that express in a brilliant way and which should age well.
M: The mouthfeel is not much sour, but very bright. The beer is very easy to drink, refreshing.
O: A very nice treat. I'm very happy to have been able to try this one. This is a very solid offer from Cantillon, once again.

Serving type: bottle

05-09-2013 23:40:39 | More by Fux

MasterSki

Illinois

4.53/5  rDev -2.4%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Review #2500. So I missed drinking a magnum of this beer in 2009, as when I visited Akkurat, they were undergoing renovations and their cellar was inaccessible. After my near-miss I had largely abandoned hope of trying this beer, but lo and behold it shows up at a friend's house less than a mile from where I live. 1999 cork, served in Hill Farmstead stemware.

A - It's still carbonated after all these years. Removing the cork yields a nice pop, and a careful pour yields some quick-dissolving white foam that settles to a partial ring and some stray bubbles. Lightly hazed dark orange body.

S - As someone who's enjoyed cloudberry jam on occasion, I was pleasantly surprised by the persistence of the fruit character after 13 years. Slightly overripe cloudberries mingle with musky funk, mild vinegar sourness, and perhaps a faint hint of oxidation. The aroma is quite potent, and leaps from the glass.

T - The taste, on the other hand, is quite sour, with white wine vinegar and a lightly salty mineral character I get from many Cantillon offerings. Berry flavor is more understated, lending more in the way of a tart, candy flavor. I think I prefer the balance of funk, fruit, and tartness found in the aroma, but this will definitely please lovers of all things acidic.

M - Lower carbonation, medium-light body, and exceptionally dry on the palate. There's some tooth-coating candy stickiness left behind. Not quite as moisture-obliterating as the Feestbier.

D - I must agree with Arne - magnums are the appropriate serving format for this beer. I could imagine crushing 1.5L of this on the Akkurat patio with the sun still shining at 9pm. However, I think there are at least a half-dozen lambics I'd choose over this one if I were stuck on a desert island.

Serving type: bottle

06-29-2012 17:37:48 | More by MasterSki

Tnudish

Wisconsin

4.58/5  rDev -1.3%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Wow, never thought I would have an opportunity to try this beer. This is without a doubt the pinnacle of my beer drinking career. I will try to do the beer justice with this review. Cork denotes this is the 1999 vintage.

A-The beer pours a hazy tangerine color with a small white head. Great carbonation still after so long.

S-I’ve never smelled or tasted a cloudberry, so these next two categories will be hard to judge. The nose is incredibly musty with some pretty prominent urine notes, I don’t know why, but it’s incredibly appealing to me.

T-Soleil is crazy sour, probably the most sour Cantillon I’ve ever had. Typical Cantillon funk and lemon rind.

M-Light mouthfeel, gentle carbonation, good acidity, and a moderate finish.

O-Fantastic beer and such a treat to enjoy, I would probably still rate Loerik above this, but that takes nothing away from this. An incredible experience that I’ll never forget. Thanks guys!

Serving type: bottle

06-26-2012 03:46:52 | More by Tnudish

Sean9689

Illinois

4.28/5  rDev -7.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

First, this beer wasn't only available in magnums (sorry, Arne). Secondly, this was an unlabeled 750ml with a cork from 1999 into a Narke tulip given to a friend by a really good friend not in the USA.

A - Pours golden in color, fizzy white head, bubbles on top.

S - Super funky tart nose, light fruit, some booze for only 5%. The fruits are sweet but I'm not exactly sure I can pick out cloudberries. Musk, hay, and light acidity.

T - Super sour, tart, light booze burn on the finish, lightly oxidized, light fruit aspect....not sure if it's cloudberries or not, but some fruit is there. For only 5%, I'm surprised how much alcohol there is on the way down. The finish is very tart, light fruit.

M - Light body, light carbonation, dry finish.

O - Sour...very sour. Not as much finesse as I thought there would be with this Lambic. I think the fruit has been overtaken by the tart funky notes, but still, there's some complexity. I am grateful to have tried this beer, and I know I'll never have it again. Thanks to my friend for making this happen because of some genuine beer karma....much deserved.

Serving type: bottle

06-24-2012 05:13:26 | More by Sean9689

alfrantzell

California

5/5  rDev +7.8%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Soleil de Minuit is a simple lambic, really --

There are the cloudberries, slightly sweet, somewhat tart, but still fresh after eleven years in the bottle. Then comes the lambic, easily recognizable as Cantillon - ripe socks, yellow woodsorrel, and antique armoires. The whole thing goes down with a champagne consistency.

-- and since this was available only in magnums, that came in handy!

Serving type: bottle

04-28-2010 16:29:39 | More by alfrantzell

ggaughan

Pennsylvania

4.4/5  rDev -5.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

I have been waiting to try this beer for so long and was dissapointed to find they did not have 75cl bottles of this at Akkurat when I visited in August 2008. On a return trip in September 2009 my cousin krkearney and I split a 1.5 litre magnum of it ourselves! Vintage 1999. The beer poured a slight hazy golden color with a 1/2 inch head. Bottle appeared flat as there was no pop when the cork was removed but there was definite life left in the bottle. The nose had a very unique and interesting berry character. A bit tart as well. The taste had a strong tart and acidic character. Lovely berry notes, a bit of wood and pepper in the background. The cloudberries are very present in this beer and make for a fantasticly unique beer.

Serving type: bottle

10-10-2009 11:16:54 | More by ggaughan

gnoff

Sweden

4.43/5  rDev -4.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Bottle at Akkurat in Stockholm, Sweden. November 2005.
Brewed for Akkurat by Cantillon, flavored by cloudberries.
Put on bottle in 1999, matured well since.
Very nice smooth scent and flavor, well balanced but still sour.
Part from the price I wouldn’t mind having a few more ot these.

It's still a lambic in the bottom though, and the taste will remind you of it.

Serving type: bottle

05-08-2006 12:57:10 | More by gnoff

bark

Sweden

4.05/5  rDev -12.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Vintage 1999. This beer is probably only sold at the beer bar Akkurat in Stockholm, who made this experiment together with Cantillon.

The colour is orange-red-brown and the liquid is somewhat shady. There is no virtually no head at all, although there is a thin white lacing.

The smell is an almost unbelievable blend of sweet cloudberries and sour vinegar. There are also some notes of wheat flour and iodine.

The taste is as complex as one could have expected; there are dry notes of lemon peels, white vinegar, iodine, lime, fruits and cloudberries (which didn’t dominate the taste as much as I had thought). The aftertaste got a loch and developing taste of cloudberries, a full sour body and salt-sour notes of jam and gravy.

The carbonation was representative for the gueuzes with lots of very fresh small bubbles.

Serving type: bottle

09-09-2005 21:49:49 | More by bark