Oud Beersel Oude Kriek Vieille - Brouwerij Oud Beersel

Indybeer

Indiana

4.45/5  rDev +6.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 5

12.7 oz bottle. Pours a highly carbonated brilliant red, with a massive pink head, and lots of lacing. Aroma is tart and musty, like old hay. Taste is the quick pucker of a lambic with just the right amount of cherry and some malt to balance it out. Finishes smooth and dry. I really like this. Very tasty

Serving type: bottle

05-20-2004 04:22:07 | More by Indybeer

abents

Wisconsin

4.22/5  rDev +1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a beautiful red with light pink head. Nice lacing along the glass. Tiny bubbles. Smells of tart cherries almost like a dessert. Interesting aromas very pleasing. Taste takes off with a sharp tartness that is very interesting. Mellows out a bit and rounds out with nice cherries and many other flavors. Tastes almost like a wine at times, but it still has a nice grainy/bready taste to it. This is one intense brew. Tartness reigns supreme, but the multitude of other flavors makes this a great lambic. Very refreshing brew for a nice hot day.

Serving type: bottle

05-11-2004 01:21:01 | More by abents

bditty187

Nebraska

4.35/5  rDev +4.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Vaguely hazy, amazingly scarlet in hue with a tint of magenta, it has great color depth. A massive amount of bubbles raced towards the largely white but noticeably pink influenced head. I was very impressed with the head retention; it reached a modest half finger in height and held that size for a long time. The subsequent lacing was lacking, as in none. This is a beautiful beer visually. The nose screams real deal lambic! There is a big, all encompassing airiness about the bouquet that somehow captures the essence of Belgium, it seems bigger than the beer itself; it wraps the other aromas in a nice little parcel. This package contains notes of hay, cherries that are largely tart, barnyard funk, a box of nails, wine, stray sourness, lemon, two-week-old wheat bread, wood, and a sack of old barley. The potency is a little shy for me, I worked hard for the subtle aromas, I am glad I found them as this is one inviting beer. The palate is very refined, there is no bullshiting here, it is straightforward, pedal to the metal tart; it is puckering tart. That is damn nice and very refreshing. After a few shocking sips I could notice more cherry flavor, wood too, hay, funk, a bit of white wine, lemon zest, some bready notes, grape skins, and more cherries. Damn this is tart! If you missed the point I’ll summarize, this is complex. The mouthfeel is quite pleasant, medium in body with big carbonation, as wanted. I have no complaints about the mouthfeel but I’d like a touch more bulk, that’s just me. The drinkability is excellent. There is a whole lot of flavor and it jived perfectly with my tastebuds. I found it amazingly refreshing; I know this would be killer on a humid summer day. I hope the next time I visit John’s Grocery in Iowa City they will still have some more to purchase. That is where I bought my 12.7-ounce bottle. Recommend.

Serving type: bottle

04-29-2004 02:43:51 | More by bditty187

WVbeergeek

Ohio

4.5/5  rDev +7.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Appearance: Ruby red body pink finely carbonated head leaves behind thick patches of lace nice appearance. Aroma: Black tart cherries very acidic in nature with some cherry sweetness as well, pleasant yeast note as well brings a bready subtle tone to the table. Taste: Extremely tart blend of cherries, touch of cask aged notes excellent traditional lambic, not as lip puckering as a Cantillon but tart nonetheless. Mouthfeel: Lighter bodied effervescent bubbly texture. Drinkability: Nice all around traditional fruit lambi, excellent stuff and damn affordable around 4 dollars not bad at all. This is a drinkable lambic I love the complexity of a Cantillon and the candy like sweetness of a Lindemann's but this one has a balance that I just find more palatable and consumeable for session drinking.

Serving type: bottle

03-21-2004 19:36:58 | More by WVbeergeek

cokes

Wisconsin

4.33/5  rDev +3.6%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Smeared ruby body under a misty, pink-grey head that is slow to depart.
Nose full of oak, and hay, and white grapes, and bile. Cherry pulp is noticed, but barely and in the periphery.
Searing tartness begins the experience. Blisteringly acidic. Acedic acid. Rotten oak-barrel hued chardonnay. Monster white grapes...soured of course. Horse piss. Eye-watering, back-of-the-throat tingle that precedes the eruption of dinner back through whence it came. Bile ducts are pumping. Lightly metallic. Wheaty maltiness shines though when the tartness allows. Dry throughout. Sour cherries materialize towards the finale. Sweetness is non-existent. Pastures are manifest around the time of the swallow.
Oh yeah, this is tart as well.
Light bodied, fully spritzy, and would normally be guzzleable, if it wasn't so intense as to produce tears after each draught.

This one raises a middle-finger to friendly, fruity versions of the style. Then it spits in Lindemans face.

Serving type: bottle

03-19-2004 00:47:21 | More by cokes

Wildman

Ohio

4.35/5  rDev +4.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

This beer poured a deep red almost maroon color and formed a pink salmon bubbly head that retained itself, only slowly subsiding leaving trace lace. A heavy amount of carbonation is present. An aroma of cherries, yeast, plus wine aspects with a hint of wood/pine. A flavor of cherries, with a vinous quality not found in the sweet types. The finish is sour and astrigent in wine style that is not present in Lindemans and others.

Serving type: bottle

03-06-2004 23:01:24 | More by Wildman

GreenCard

Oregon

3.83/5  rDev -8.4%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Best before April 3, 2023...

Appearance: red as pomegranate juice, very slight haze, big spongey layer of pink foam, good head retention, some lace

Aroma: dark cherries, a bit vinous, cork, a faint overtone of lambic character, wet wool?

Flavor: an upfront lactic acid sourness followed by a slight fruitiness and a palate of musty wood quality, touch of sulphur, finishes tart and dry with a mild enteric bitterness in the aftertaste

Mouthfeel: light to medium body, fine carbonation, acidic and a bit slick

Overall Impression: A quite high quality kriek, though a bit too sour without much overt fruitiness to compensate. Beautiful color, foam and clarity. Quite a clean flavor.

Serving type: bottle

02-20-2004 20:45:50 | More by GreenCard

HiroProtagonist

Maryland

4.8/5  rDev +14.8%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Served from a corked and caged 375 ml green bottle with a best before date of 2022. The smallish cork popped with little effort. When the geuze-kriek was poured into a glass chalice, an ample fizzy pinkish white head formed and gradually settled into a fine, rich blanket with thicker edges and fantastic lacing. It was quite effervescent...like champagne. This pink-ruby hued beauty was very pleasing to the eye! The complex nose was beaming with fresh cherries, accompanied by sour-tinged oak, earth, and must. The first sip was very puckering, in a lemon juice kind of way. With the second sip, the puckering was gone, and in its place was a fantastically complex array of sour/tart notes that danced on my palate. This delightful celebration of flavor was infused with juicy cherry essence and earthy tones. The kriek finished dry and alive with long-lingering cherry tartness. The flavors were big but masterfully balanced, resulting in an extremely satisfying experience. The carbonation was just right, and the body was appropriate. The Vandervelden family made a fine product here, and it is sad that they are no longer going to produce fine ales such as this again. They don't much better than this!

Serving type: bottle

02-01-2004 05:33:43 | More by HiroProtagonist

Crosling

Colorado

4.58/5  rDev +9.6%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 5

What a beer to sample for my 100th review.

Oud Beersel Kriek, a real kriek, not a sissy American interpretation! I have been craving a Kriek all week and finally this is about to touch my lips.

Sampled at room temperature.

While loosening the wire the corked exploded out like champagne and the kriek went everywhere! Fortunately I was able to save almost the entire beer.

Pours a deep cloudy magenta with a beautiful frothy white head with a light pinkish hue. The color is unbelieveably beautiful. The head is mountainous in size and the lacing on this beer deserves its own paragraph:

After the 3rd pour the large head morphed into something that can only be described as a large meteor crater. A thick and beautiful lace.

It is hard to imagine how this could look any better.

Nose is wood, all kinds of cherries and very sour compared to the other two krieks that I have had before. Smells great.

Tastes wonderful. Very complex. Very sour with a lot of tart flavors. Initially it was a little overwhelming but I got used to it quickly and definately started to enjoy it. Dark sour cherries were next and were very enjoyable. The sourness and the cherry seem to blend together perfect and create a perfect lingering finish. Wood and a subtle dryness is also present but barely.

Huge carbonation settles down a little towards the end to the right level. Mouthfeel changed a lot during the session but was always a little to thin.

This was wonderful.

Serving type: bottle

01-25-2004 02:42:35 | More by Crosling

RedBaron

Illinois

4.75/5  rDev +13.6%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

As my first beer of 2004, I couldn't have been more pleased with this selection. Actually, my partner recommended we uncork it in front of our fireplace, with the Rose Bowl on the tube.

This fantastic gueze uncorked nicely and poured quite vigorously, with a pinkish head, which sustained greatly througout. The apperance was a brilliant champagne rose, clouded slightly due to its non-filtered nature.

The nose was a typical Belgian lambic 'wildness' of earthy muskiness, combined with a mild malt sweet smell.

The taste was of tart cherries, and an excellent tasty yeast 'bite'. The lingering effect of the tart taste was very nice, and it certainly made me want more. The mouthfeel was medium-bodied, chock full of the various malts used in this beer. This is one beer that is highly drinkable, but must be done so with considerable respect--there simply aren't many beers in the world like this one. Although I'm not a huge fan of the lambic/gueze/faro family, I know a classic when I taste one, and this is certainly one of them. Happy New Year!

Serving type: bottle

01-02-2004 02:51:13 | More by RedBaron

CharlesRiver

Connecticut

4.35/5  rDev +4.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

375ml bottle, corked and caged. Best before date is 12/2022, I think I made it.

Deep pink in color with a light pink head. This beer started to foam out the top as soon as I poped the cork. The smell is sour right from the get go. It starts to tickle the back of your throat before you even sample it. I head starts to calm down after about 30 seconds or so.

The first sip is amazing. Sweet in the beginning, tart in the middle and more dry in the end. Unlike anything I have tasted. The flavors are much more balanced than I expected. Very effervesant but not as bubbly in the glass as I expected. Mouthfeel is champagne like but doesn't look like it.

I believe this brewing has stopped brewing? If so, that is a true shame. I will be buying more of these.

Serving type: bottle

11-14-2003 22:29:53 | More by CharlesRiver

hotstuff

Indiana

4.47/5  rDev +6.9%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

I am not very fond of Lambics-Fruit style beers, but this one I truly enjoyed drinking and rating. It poured an average sized ivory head with fine-small sized bubbles that was mostly lasting. The body was clear with very lively carbonation with a red-ruby hue. The nose was that of cherries with a sweet, cherry, sour, tart and tangy flavor. It had a tingly and dry mouthfeel and was light bodied. This beer left a fair amount of lacing on the sides of my glass. This is a Lambic-Fruit beer that I would definitely drink again if given the opportunity.

Serving type: bottle

10-27-2003 22:28:23 | More by hotstuff

chaduvel

Massachusetts

4.75/5  rDev +13.6%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Deep dark red with tons of bubbles. Champagne-like large wispy head that fades to form a quarter inch that stays for the rest of the session. Smell is sour cherry with hints of horse blanket and raw earthy yeast. Taste is sweet for a brief second and then overwhelmingly sour. Sour but dry cherry dominates with more hints of gueze. Dry champagne-like finish. Cherries are real and raw, and the flavors here are amazingly complex and satisfying. An amazing beer!

Serving type: bottle

10-27-2003 15:25:42 | More by chaduvel

putnam

Michigan

4.83/5  rDev +15.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Does the cinnamon jawbreaker red color mean that straight juice has been added? No. This is fermented juice here. Why? Because it is very very dry. I guess they must have had a lot of blood-red ripe cherries lying around, because the color is unreal.
I recommend drinking this beer at cellar temperature. Cold, it is needlessly dry and only faintly aromatic. Warm, it bursts with rich aromas of giant clods of pressed cherry pulp and baked cheese. On the palate it has the noble richness of aged vinegar and oak barrels combined with vitamin C, sour cherry and dough flavors. There is a distant Luxardo-like cherry pit dimension that shares bitter almond and almond paste nuances, something that adds sweetness as it warms. Extremely persistent, complex and balanced on the finish. I would serve this next time with fish in sauce made from this beer.

Serving type: bottle

09-25-2003 16:17:49 | More by putnam

Gueuzedude

Arizona

4.63/5  rDev +10.8%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

This beer is a beauty, it pours like a perfectly clear ruby in liquid form. There is perhaps a hint of haze, but you really have to try to see it. This bottle was not highly carbonated, the head is almost non-existent when carefully poured into my glass, it is well carbonated though because when I agitated and swirled the beer it quickly shows a nice pink head. There are notes of sharp acidity in the aroma, musty old barn, a hint of cherry there too. This beer is bone dry, as any authentic lambic should be, and sharply acidic at the front of my mouth, yet it finishes with a mellow acidity and a bit of tannin. In the finish I also find a bit of an astringent cherry pit flavor perhaps (definitely astringent, but is it cherry pit derived). I did not detect this astringency in the Gueuze though. The color and clarity of this beer is stupendous. This is definitely a hard lambic, it does not have much of the soft acidity of some. A hint of cherry at the front of this beer but other than the color, one would be hard pressed to identify this as a fruit beer, much less one made with cherries. Citric acid seems to be the most dominant acid flavor, and I do not detect much in the way of ascetic acid. As this beer warms up the acidity becomes a bit softer, more round, the malt seems to be clamoring for attention a bit more. This beer is still bone dry but the cherry seems to express itself a bit more, in a cherry fruit sweetness sort of way.

Serving type: bottle

09-25-2003 01:31:18 | More by Gueuzedude

Realale

Missouri

3.28/5  rDev -21.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Corked 375ml bottle. Best Before date of 12/2022!

Clear lurid red - looks like Faygo Redpop. Huge fine raspy head intially settles quickly, but a top-up results in a huge head (2-3") that stays.

Nose is sour barnyard over a touch of sour dark cherry. Hmmm. Really quite restrained for what I expected.

Incredibly shrill and sour in the mouth. Some support from the cherry, but this is really a one note beer right now. Very long, but not very complex. I hope this just needs time in the cellar, as its not up to the level of the gueuze from this fine brewery.

Serving type: bottle

09-22-2003 16:29:57 | More by Realale

stcules

Italy

3.3/5  rDev -21.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Cherry-Red colour, with ruby reflexes. Pinky foam, quite persistent.
The smell is cherry (obviously...), with some spicy notes. Maybe some pine-apple, and roses.
Hoppy taste, quite strong for a beer like this. Wood and tannic (the core of the cherry). Astringent.
The aftertaste is quite bitter (the hop again). Not sweet. Medium body.

Serving type: bottle

09-21-2003 01:34:45 | More by stcules

dmarch

Pennsylvania

4.85/5  rDev +16%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Ok, this is both one of the worst beers I've had and one of the best. Why is it one of the worst? Because I feel really sad drinking this knowing that it could be the last Oud Beersel beer I ever drink since I heard the news that the brewery was closing. It was an Oud Beersel that made me realize that my true calling was beer. It was the gueuze to be specific, but when I saw this on the shelf, I knew I had to grab the last bottle.

It pours ruby in color, only much more beautiful than the gem. It had a huge white head that the massive level of carbonation doesn't let fade. I've never seen carbonation like this. It doesn't have a constant beed of bubbles that flow to the top. It has clouds of carbon dioxide, not just fine bubbles. The aroma is of sour cherries...very sour cherries. The taste is how I love my lambics. Very very tart, not sweet, just tart.

There seems to be an infinite number of beers I have yet to try, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm going to miss this one. One of my favorite lambics.

Serving type: bottle

09-12-2003 01:45:18 | More by dmarch

marburg

Michigan

4.8/5  rDev +14.8%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

One of the best beers I've ever had. Some of these traditional lambics are simply mind-blowing.

Blood red, ruby, garnet, fire engine. Whatever you want to call it, this is the purest shade of deep, powerful red I've ever seen. A light pink, frothy, soapy head graces the top. And as is true with so many great lambics, a torrent of bubbly swirls moves throughout the body.

The aroma could be a bit fruiter, I think. It's driving forces are a rotting apple sweetness draped in a light notion of sourness. Begins with a fleeting sweetness that's enveloped with a potent sour flavor. A cherry background lingers from mid-palate through the finish, which is very crisp.

A superb brew. There are few finer beverages that have ever passed my lips.

Serving type: bottle

09-09-2003 01:11:35 | More by marburg

Jon

Illinois

4.55/5  rDev +8.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

Oud Beersel's Kriek, packaged in a caged cork 375 ml bottle, pours a brilliant, ruby red grapefruit juice-like hue with a monstrous, bubbly pink colored head that settles into almost nothing. Subtle trails of lace are left down the flute glass. The nose features a musty, extremely sour lambic profile (and rightfully so) that will almost make your eyes water after a long whiff. The taste, after one gets past the tart, sour acidity, is quite nice. Notes of sour cherries, an almost chewy graininess, and hints of oak are evident. The finish is bone dry. This is a complex and refined traditional kriek, to be most certain. The mouthfeel is outstanding, as it coats the palate with a huge effervescence. The acidity, not to be forgotten, cuts right through the palate, as well, leaving its mark. As far as drinkability is concerned, this is quite drinkable for a gueuze lambic veteran. If you can stand the sourness, this is very refreshing, almost like a fresh squeezed lemonade. Highly suggested for fans of traditional lambic.

Serving type: bottle

08-13-2003 02:59:30 | More by Jon

beerguy101

California

4.25/5  rDev +1.7%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

Red color, cloudy. Head is pinkish and medium. Aroma is wood, old basement mustiness, some fruit and some yeast. WOW Big sour kriek. Cherry flavor is sweet and sour and tart and fruity. Vinegary, woody and earthy. Complex taste. Sweet and sour flavors are well balanced. Mouthfeel is full. Finish is clean and dry. Aftertaste is slightly bitter, with a lingering cherry tartness. Very nice beer. It nearly a crime that its not being made any more.

Serving type: bottle

06-26-2003 17:40:01 | More by beerguy101

goz

Massachusetts

3.58/5  rDev -14.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Pours a clear brilliant red, with a smallish pink head. Aroma is sweet, lot's of tart cherries, some other fruitiness, and a bit of the barnyard. Flavor is tart cherries, some slight other fruitiness, super sour, somewhat acidic. Body is medium, super dry ending.

Serving type: bottle

06-24-2003 08:21:04 | More by goz

marc77

California

4.5/5  rDev +7.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Golden amber hue with excellent clarity when decanted off the sediment. Mountainous, pitted head slowly erodes into persistently frothy, muddled fluff. Waft of vibrantly tart, fresh, but prematurely picked cherries and red currants hit the nose at first. A superceding melange of cheesy old hops, pungent lactic notes and sweaty, enteric ammonification lend an impression of savory, mild blue cheese, which contrasts and offsets the initial brightly tart fruit well. Sharp, acetic tartness a notch shy of pucker inducing bathes the palate at first, then yields to rounder notes of oak aged, still vinegary, young balsamic. Damp, earthy mildew mid palate widens in an agreeably musty suggestions of rain soaked horse and wet cork. A vague grainy, wheat like presence surfaces late along with a resurgence of underripe fruit of a red grape like nature, only to be superceded by an enveloping, yet bone dry, dessicated hay impression. Very well attenuated, superbly crisp and soft on the palate. Finishes expectedly dry, yet complex and oddly lingering, with hints of porous flora laden oak and sour sop. A fabulously balanced, immensely quaffable, well crafted kriek. It has the depth of character of a fine gueuze, and although a kriek, cherry wasn't a dominant flavor component. The microbial community steals the show. Best before March 2022. It's young and will only continue to improve. Delicious!

Serving type: bottle

06-09-2003 18:29:56 | More by marc77

TXHops

Texas

4.35/5  rDev +4.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

6.5 % ABV

Since Oude Beersel is currently shut down, based on info provided by the esteemed TheLongBeachBum, I needed to make sure I got my hands on a bottle of the kriek while I was in Boston. This beer was clearly ready for me to review it, because before I even finished unwrapping the wire cage, the cork popped out and flew all the way to the other side of the room, after smashing into the ceiling. Oddly enough, the beer didn’t gush at all—just a Herculean pop. The strikingly beautiful hazy pink body coordinated dashingly with the light pink head of constantly-replenished foam. The tart aroma suggested brettanomyces and lactobacillus, as well as dirt, cranberries and leather: appetizing! Although the nose suggested that this was gonna be a sour beer (and I knew that going in as well) I was shocked, nay STUNNED by how sour this beer actually was. One sip forced my right eye to close entirely, while my left eye fought through tears to maintain a slit through which to stare in disbelief at the glass. The odd thing was, the beer didn’t start quite that sour. In fact, while the kriek was in the my mouth, I could taste tart fruit and sour Geueze, but I could also discern a hint of vanilla or oak. But as soon as I swallowed—SLAM! When the air touched the inside of my mouth and allowed the taste buds to think about what had happened to them, the reaction was quick and sudden. This beer literally took my breath away.

After a 10 minute reflective period that also served as an acclimation session for my palate, I was able to taste the fruit more clearly. The cherries really did take on sort of a cranberry character. I’ve never eaten a sour Belgian cherry, but I assume they don’t taste like Bings or Maraschinos ;). Still, the tartness is more reminiscent of the native swamp berry of the Northeastern US. The soft carbonation is very reminiscent of any other Belgian style beer (dubbel or tripel especially) and the licorice-like flavor that emerged late reminded me instantly of Orval. A bit of warmth resulted in very little dulling of Oude Kriek’s intensity. I was still shaking my head at the end of the bottle…

Serving type: bottle

05-30-2003 20:32:06 | More by TXHops

UncleJimbo

Massachusetts

4.22/5  rDev +1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Oude Kriek Vieille. 12.7 oz green bottle, corked. Best before 05.04.2022.

This lambic poured a clear, lite orange red color with creamy, fluffy, light pink foam and lively carbonation. The smell was vinous sour cherry with some citrus, biscuit, and a hint of yeast. A pleasant aroma. The taste was rather tart initially, but after a few drinks one gets used to it. The dominant flavors were cherries and musty grapes. A rather delicate flavor. The mouthfeel was sharp, crisp, and clean. The body was medium. There was a somewhat tart, lingering flavor. This was a nicely drinkable kriek lambic. It was definitely not overly sweet, but the tartness was refreshing.

I have stashed away a couple bottles of this to see how it tastes in a few (or twenty?) years.

Serving type: bottle

05-15-2003 22:20:02 | More by UncleJimbo