Belle Vue Kriek - Brasserie Belle-Vue

rvdoorn

Netherlands

1.78/5  rDev -48.4%
look: 4 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 1.5

look: the beer pours a nice deep red colour with a nice not long lasting head.
Smell: vinegar and candy cherries
taste: sweet sweet cherries, almost like the candy ones you give to children.
Mouthfeel: medium carbonation, sticky and syrupy.
Overall: this beer is too sweet,unbalanced, lacks all sourness and bitterness in the taste. Tastes like cherry soda, avoid

Serving type: bottle

07-03-2011 06:51:06 | More by rvdoorn

Wegomlegging

Virginia

3.68/5  rDev +6.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Pours dark with a red hue, and a nice head that vanishes quickly. Nice scents of sour cherry and red vinegar. Taste is nice and understated, with only a hint of kriek cherry and sour Flemish, obviously not added sloppy after the beer. Soft drink, easy to down a few of these. Kriekenbier is not for everyone, and not particularly masculine, but will admit it's nice.

Serving type: bottle

02-17-2011 04:01:39 | More by Wegomlegging

Long813

Nova Scotia (Canada)

3.03/5  rDev -12.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Dated: 16/12/10

A: Dark clear red body with no head and lacing.

S: Light scent of cherries and vinegar. The sourness overpowers the fruit.

T: Faint water-like cherry flavour with a stronger vinegary presence.

M: Light bodied with low carbonation. Almost no aftertaste.

D: All over-meh. Weak in all categories - I could be drinking crystal light cherry water and not know the difference.

Serving type: bottle

12-23-2010 21:42:07 | More by Long813

ThaCreep

Belgium

2.85/5  rDev -17.4%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2 | overall: 3

Too pronounced nose of cherries, no acidity in the body and very sweet, on the edge of syrupy. However, mouth a little cardboard as if beer was blocked. If the finish is naturally low in terms of bitterness and balance, there is however a slight bitterness in the aftertaste. For creating this beer, it was probably used an extremely young lambic to be less harsh on the palate.

Serving type: nitro-tap

10-01-2010 13:53:18 | More by ThaCreep

philphilphil

Australia

4.18/5  rDev +21.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Had on tap twice, writing from notes.
Appearance was a beautiful red with one inch head which was the lightest pink.
Smell was of cherries.
Taste was a balanced but kind of sour (good)
Mouthfeel wasn't bad but not amazing
Drinkabilty is high, except price, were it cheap it would probably be the staple drink for 14 year old girls.

Serving type: on-tap

09-04-2010 08:42:57 | More by philphilphil

Brabander

Netherlands

3.73/5  rDev +8.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

My wife had this beer today. Normally i am not much into this kind of beer but i had a few sips of this beer.

Poured in a Palm like chalice the beer looks very inviting with the pink beerfluid and the lightpink head.

It has the smell of the kriek (cherry) very noticable. The taste is a bit sour with the cherrytaste on top of it.

Is gives a mouthfeel like you were drinking a cherry soda. For warm weather a good drinkable beer.

Serving type: bottle

05-23-2010 13:36:03 | More by Brabander

GoBrewOrGoHome

California

4.22/5  rDev +22.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A- brilliant raspberry red, very clear, slightly pink head that holds
S- more sweet then sour, loads of cherry, hints b. lambicus
T- nicely balanced, taste like it smells, tart up front but nice sweetness follows,
M- med body, well balanced, not over carbonated,
D- very easy to drink if you enjoy sour fruit beers, this is a nice representation,

Serving type: on-tap

03-21-2010 23:32:04 | More by GoBrewOrGoHome

BlackHaddock

United Kingdom (England)

2.05/5  rDev -40.6%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

Brown 25cl bottle of 4.3% ABV, poured into a Westmalle chalice.

Cherry red in colour, pink collar and lacing, a thin covering also sat on top of the body at first.

Weak aroma for a kriek, not your normal 'in your face' cherry smell.

Sweet and syrup sweet, not a mans kriek at all, kids and sweet toothed females only.

Very un-impressed. Mass produced and you can tell.

Serving type: bottle

01-24-2010 20:59:29 | More by BlackHaddock

JeremyBrews

Japan

3/5  rDev -13%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

A- Billowy layer of head that recedes slowly. Nice lacing. Thick but translucent to light. Cherry cherry, domestic berry.

S- Sour cherries complemented by a slight waft of airplane model glue. Perhaps the off-scent is due to the lambic-style wild yeast?

T- Sweet cherries, sour wild yeasts. Not going to make it any more complicated than it is.

M- Fizzy, medium-light body that coats somewhat.

D- Overwhelmingly cherry beverage with no noticeable malt or hop flavor or aroma. Although I don't appreciate the lack of these typical beer qualities, to be fair, I haven't tried enough lambics to judge this beer against its brethren, so I ranked it as average.

Serving type: can

10-27-2009 08:56:02 | More by JeremyBrews

jeranbrews

New York

3.13/5  rDev -9.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

A - About 1.5 fingers of lite fluffy care-bear pink head that settled quickly. It came with crazy-strong spider-man-action lacing on the sides of the glass all the way to the last drop. The color of the beer was like strawberry jelly or cough syrup. No bubbling.

S - Smells of cherry candy, that kind of sweet, artificial smell. It reminded me of scented markers and a jar of jam.

T - A strong sour-sweet taste at the beginning with a very very faint yeastyness. The aftertaste had kind of a pungent orange peel flavor (kind of like that Orange-clean stuff you use to scrub counter tops).

M - The mild tangyness of the beer clings to the inside of the mouth with a film, kind of like a half-shot of olive oil. No detectable carbonation.

D - This is a drinkable beer. Fruity, sweet, a good chick drink, but overall the flavor was too simple. There are no strong characteristics about this. Cherry coke is cheaper and gives almost the same buzz.

Serving type: can

10-26-2009 14:35:39 | More by jeranbrews

RuudJH

Netherlands

3/5  rDev -13%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Trying some more krieks, I had to try this, probably the most commercial in this category.

A: it's as a lot of krieks red colour, with pink head.

S: It smells like a lot of sweets, or softdrinks with cherry flavour, allmost artificial. The sour is there, but it's very faint.

T: Also sweet, but there's a dry and sour taste to it too. Not enough to make it real though.

M: It's refreshing to a certain degree (a bit more sour would make it much better).

D: It's quite an ordinary brew, meant for an average palate.
Mostly as I expected.

Serving type: bottle

05-06-2009 15:34:34 | More by RuudJH

tempest

Pennsylvania

3.4/5  rDev -1.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Had a bottle at the Ibis Hotel bar. Appear bright, clear red with a pink head. This is your typical, but well-made, juicy fruit lambic. Very sweet and with more body than actual juice, finishes with a bit of sour tang, but nothing that approaches a genuine oude kriek.

Serving type: bottle

04-23-2009 15:48:53 | More by tempest

kellywilson50

Costa Rica

4.25/5  rDev +23.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Kriek is a wonderful option for those who enjoy a refreshing fruit beer on a hot afternoon. It's smell is very enticing with strong cherry aromas. The first sip has a pleasant sourness and then rounds itself out with more cherry flavors. It leaves wonderful lacing in the glass when you finish. Very drinkable!

Serving type: bottle

04-02-2009 01:07:43 | More by kellywilson50

yourefragile

District of Columbia

3.48/5  rDev +0.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Served in a Belle Vue glass on-tap at top of Asahi Beer Tower in Tokyo. The building is weird enough (look it up, its supposed to look like a giant beer glass) but this was one of the three beers on tap, the other two being Asahi of course, and this was substantially cheaper. Ok, whatever. Served nearly ice cold with a little ice on the base of the glass. Oh well.

A: Deep red, cherry tinted color with a fluffy pink-white head that has nice retention and little lacing.
S: Primarily cherry fruity sweet with light sour notes. Pleasant, but not particularly strong or complex.
T: Slightly thin, moderate carbonation and more sweet than tart. Very refreshing with a strong cherry flavor but not a spectacular lambic. Happy to find this beer here and would have it again if nothing else is available, but not my first choice.

Serving type: on-tap

09-27-2008 02:16:58 | More by yourefragile

OWSLEY069

Pennsylvania

4.47/5  rDev +29.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Pours a cloudy deep red to copper color with a small white to no head. In the aroma, dark cherry, sweet and sour. In the taste, a tart dark cherry. A smooth sourness, and a medium bodied mouthfeel, and a small sour cherry aftertaste. Nice sour, big in cherry, a great lambic.

Serving type: bottle

07-31-2008 01:10:53 | More by OWSLEY069

MrMcGibblets

Illinois

3.18/5  rDev -7.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

it should be noted upfront that this is not my favorite style. had this at club popeye on-tap in the proper glassware. a clear deep red with great head and lacing. aroma is mostly strong dark sour cherries with the taste following suit. also a bit of earthy, woody mustiness. light in body with a very effervescent carbonation. puckering finish.

Serving type: on-tap

05-09-2008 02:30:30 | More by MrMcGibblets

mhewes

Colorado

2.78/5  rDev -19.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

A : Pours red with a pink head

S : Cherry and sweet

T : Extremely sweet and syrupy. Definitely taste the cherry but way too sweet

M : Highly carbonated

D : Not one I could drink again. Way too sweet and syrupy to enjoy. Would probably be good to use to introduce a BMC drinker to a lambic.

Serving type: bottle

04-17-2008 01:19:35 | More by mhewes

ggaughan

Pennsylvania

3.45/5  rDev 0%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Beer poured a redish amber body with a thick pink, fluffy head. The nose was slightly sweet yet tart as well. The taste was very cherry, again slightly sweet but tart. I was expected the beer to be more syrupy sweet and I didn't think it was but it is still sweeter than I would expect for a lambic. This is probably a good starter lambic for someone getting started with the style.

Serving type: bottle

04-05-2008 12:07:35 | More by ggaughan

Shadman

Alberta (Canada)

3.13/5  rDev -9.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Had this in the cellar forever..

nice looking lambic. Slightly cloudy, keeps an nice creamy ring and decent lacing.

Nice tart cherry aroma, very rich.

Very dry and tart initally and i could see this putting a lot of people off. Very rich cherry flavors come thru nicely in the middle with the oak and tart cherry finishing things off.

Lot's of carbonation, but overly fizzy compared to some fruit beers I've tried.

Interesting and I'm glad I tried it. Definite after dinner beer as others have commented

Serving type: bottle

04-02-2008 04:16:21 | More by Shadman

Weizenmensch

Japan

3.6/5  rDev +4.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Belle-Vue Kriek 375mL in a corked green bottle, ABV 5.1% (not 5.2% as listed).

Looks great in a Duvel tulip (I don't have a Belle-Vue glass, but I think this is pretty similar). Rich deep red/brown colour with a pink-white head. Pretty impressive!

Girlfriend thinks it smells like canned tomato soup - maybe there's some sharp metallic aroma but it's caused by the cherries, certainly not by bottling problems or any adjunct. Rich cherry aroma as expected, sort of smells like Sour Cherry Blasters candy, a little artificial sour cherry aroma.

Tart like a beer, with fruitiness, but not overly sweet or dominating the beer base. Sour but refreshing, a good choice when your regular lager or pale ale cloys your palate in summer. Some hop bitterness but the flavour of the hops is easily overpowered by the cherry taste. Nice for a change, but I wouldn't drink it all the time.

Mouthfeel is a bit thin. Little carbonation and a high level of mouth bitterness means that unless the weather's really hot and you're slamming them down, you'll get tired of this beer before too long. Definitely one to start the night on, and easy to drink to get your palate moving, but not something you'll have more than a couple of.

Overall: I'm a fan of this beer, because it maintains its integrity as a beer while being an interesting type of Belgian fruit beer. Since it's on tap at all the Belgian bars around Australia, it's easy to get my hands on, and I'll order one on a hot afternoon without thinking twice. Even if I'm at work.

Serving type: bottle

03-26-2008 06:54:46 | More by Weizenmensch

laituegonflable

Australia

2.98/5  rDev -13.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

My mate was kind enough to share a bottle of this brew with me, given that I'd never come across it before and in spite of my trepidation that it would be similar to my much-loathed Timmermans Kriek Lambic.

On first appearance it would seem so. A light crimson colour with a light frothy head, not much lacing. A light amount of carbonation and quite appealling on first glance. But then, it looked like soft drink.

Smells almost exactly like a cherry flavoured Jolly Rancher or something. Very few beer characters here, just an overwhelmingly rich fruit aroma, but quite nice for what it's worth.

Taste isn't bad and considering my aversion to Timmerman's, surprisingly good. It's light and fruity, a lot of cherry characters with the slightest hint of hops on the middle of the palate but mostly a slightly tart fruit quality, but not too sour that the taste makes your lips pucker. Quite pleasant and quite drinkable.

Serving type: bottle

02-11-2008 02:04:08 | More by laituegonflable

thierrynantes

France

3.13/5  rDev -9.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Beer bottle (37,5 cl), tasted in 2003.
Appearance: Kriek developed with lambics, macerated cherries, red colour, pink foam and perennial
Smell: cherry aroma
Taste and mouthfeel mouth fruity, a little syrupy
Drinkability: kriek beer too sweet

Review added 11-18-2007, translated from french 1-26-2008.

Serving type: bottle

11-18-2007 11:27:24 | More by thierrynantes

brendan13

Australia

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

A - Poured into Belle Vue Kriek tulip glass a deep cherry red colour with a fluffy pink tinged head.
S - Quite a strong cherry smell, slightly sour smelling.
T - The tart cherry hits first but is quickly followed by a fairly sweet taste, most likely from a liberal addition of candi sugar.
M - Medium bodied with a fairly high carbonation level.
D - A decent enough beer worth trying, good every now and then.

Serving type: on-tap

09-25-2007 22:09:59 | More by brendan13

smcolw

Massachusetts

3.85/5  rDev +11.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Mahogany brown color and clear; the head starts off well but there is very little lace.

Mild cherry smell--far less than expected.

Nice sour cherry flavors; light carbonation with a thin body.

This is a very drinkable kriek. It is more sweet than most lambics.

Serving type: bottle

09-01-2007 02:35:53 | More by smcolw

drseamus

New York

3.45/5  rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

As with most krieks, this beer has a vibrant red body with a pink head. The head on this beer disappeared much quicker than most krieks though. It has a slightly sour aroma but is dominated by a sweet cherry aroma that seems authentic. The cherry flavor is a bit different though. It seems almost artificial either because it actually is artificial or they just put too much cherry into it. The sourness is there in the background helping to cut the overwhelming cherry flavor. Some residual sweetness is present as well. Holding with the style guidelines is the light body and it gives a decent drinkability.

Serving type: bottle

07-30-2007 02:37:55 | More by drseamus