La Bécasse Kriek
Brasserie Belle-Vue

Beer Geek Stats | Print Shelf Talker
From:
Brasserie Belle-Vue
 
Belgium
Style:
Fruit Lambic
ABV:
5%
Score:
82
Avg:
3.5 | pDev: 15.43%
Reviews:
17
Ratings:
21
Status:
Active
Rated:
Jan 26, 2020
Added:
Oct 17, 2003
Wants:
  1
Gots:
  1
No description / notes.
View: More Beers
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Photo of KooVee
Reviewed by KooVee from Finland

3.34/5  rDev -4.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
250ml bottle. Cannot find bb date.

Fire brick red, clear. Foam has pinkish notes, adequate thickness and persistence.

Nose is an attack of caramelized cherry. Begs for a cocktail stick. Hmm. Just the ghost of tartness.

Taste is thankfully not as sweet, actually quite balanced. No real tartness, either. Some, of course but you have to think of it to detect. Pleasant carbonation. Some adstringent cherry to chew on, but not for very long or very substantially.

Not a traditional dry kriek or a soda. More like a generic cherry beer, in line with non-adventurous fruit sours meant for easy drinking.
Jan 26, 2020
Photo of FLima
Reviewed by FLima from Brazil

3.43/5  rDev -2%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Amber reddish color with a thin beige head with short retention.
Aroma with predominant notes of sweet cherry juice. Distant sourness.
Flavor is more interesting with notes of cherries, mild spices, an easy sourness with lemon and orange drops, candy, and a sprinkle of salt and maybe wood. Dry aftertaste with a low bitterness and a slight sourness.
Light towards medium body with appropriate carbonation.
Super easy to drink Fruit Lambic that starts sweet but well balanced by an easy going sourness that dries your mouth gently. Not very complex, but gratefully not overly sweet.
Jun 03, 2017
 
Rated: 3.14 by Bruno74200 from France

Nov 02, 2016
 
Rated: 3.75 by MattMorin from Illinois

Oct 30, 2016
 
Rated: 3.5 by Ty1607 from France

Apr 25, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by Morningstorm from Netherlands

Mar 25, 2012
Photo of TheBrewo
Reviewed by TheBrewo from New York

3.32/5  rDev -5.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
We pour a brew of deep mahogany-maroon. It holds a one and a half finger head of faded pink, with massive bubbles floating about the top of the liquid. There is thick lacing left as it goes. Due to the darkness in color there is a haze to the look, but no outright sediment is noted. Carbonation looks to be medium. The aroma is obvious with red cherry. There are bright inclusions of sour candy smarties, standard malts, and some puckering acetaldehydes. The first sip reveals a tart, seemingly artificial, cherry flavoring. As in the nose, it is quite souring, and very reminiscent of powdery, drying candies. The middle disposes of much of the bitter, sour affects, and continues smoothly through with sweeter malts and a faint tanginess of cherry and green apple. We finish on notes of staler fruit, with more grainy malts to wash down the last traces of bitterness. The aftertaste breathes with traces of grain, which here present with more adjuncts than elsewhere in the swill, and that persistent cherry flavoring, with granules of white sugary sweetness. The body is medium and the carbonation borders on high. There is a slight creaminess about the brew, and the faint initial coating quickly disappears with grapey astringency. The abv is within range and the beer drinks somewhere in the middle.

Overall, what we enjoyed most about this brew was the tangy bite to the flavor. As the style tends to be much sweeter than the average brew, it can become overwhelming if there is nothing to cut it down a bit. Here there is a bite of tart fruit, which does just this, and takes this beer a step up from tolerable.
Mar 18, 2011
Photo of ThaCreep
Reviewed by ThaCreep from Belgium

1.82/5  rDev -48%
look: 3.5 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 2.5
Nose heavy juice and reminding excess and so disgusting cherries. The attack is very sweet and taste of Lambic, nonexistent, so that the body of the beer in the mouth, is reminiscent of the sweet liquid. Whether in the finish or aftertaste, it will not detect any bitterness or any bitterness. A pure product marketing to the less demanding throats. Too bad because the bottle was pretty.
Feb 28, 2010
Photo of gab351
Reviewed by gab351 from Colorado

3.83/5  rDev +9.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
This is the first lambic beer I've had, so I don't have much to base this review on, but I rather enjoy this beer. I didn't know what to expect and was pleasantly surprised when it actually tasted like beer rather than a fruity malt beverage. This beer is very common in the stores in Paris (my wife and I are here for 6 weeks) and we decided to get a 6pack to try it out. It pours a light red/pinkish with not much head to be said of. It smells mostly sour cherries, very fresh. It tastes like beer, only with a very cherry overtone. The cherry comes out very strong in the taste and is very refreshing on a hot day. This beer is very drinkable with only 5% abv and it's so very fresh that it cools you off well after being out and about all day. I am very excited to try more lambics after having this starter.
Aug 11, 2008
Photo of TheSarge
Reviewed by TheSarge from Virginia

3.38/5  rDev -3.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
This kriek pours with a nice looking whitish pink head and has a ruby red and clear body.

Aromas produced are of course cherry and ketchup like smell.

In the taste the cherry doesn't over dominate the beer. The actual lambic is easily perceptible.

Overall this is a decent lambic, but I've had better. This needs a bit more cherry in it, because the bacterial ingredients of the lambic come through too strong.
Jun 16, 2008
Photo of TwinSox33
Reviewed by TwinSox33 from New Hampshire

4.7/5  rDev +34.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
Great beer. Most interesting fruity beverage that actually maintains its beer characteristics, and is not just an alco-malt. Had it in France...Vive La Bécasse! Thick foamy head that lingers. Smell of cherries, tastes the same with some clean malt. No bitterness to speak of. One of Belgium's best. Can't seem to find it here though..dang!
May 06, 2008
Photo of ghostfacekilla69
Reviewed by ghostfacekilla69 from Virginia

3.42/5  rDev -2.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
a: nice clear crisp cherry red with but absolutely no head

s: cherries; some chocolate malts; spices

t: very strong nice combination of bitter and sweet cherry flavors; chocolate malts; some alcohol as well

m: a little on the watery side; lightly carbonated

d: i feel that this could be a really good beer for dessert; especially if you double-fisted it and a chocolate stout
Feb 15, 2008
Photo of HotterThanHell
Reviewed by HotterThanHell from Arizona

3.85/5  rDev +10%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
My brother (ungespundet) sent me this from France via our mother for my wife. She likes the Kriek beers that are almost cherry syrup with a bit of carbonation, after a few drinks she let me finish it and the other bottle.

Not usually a Lambic guy, and actually have never finished one until this Kriek by La Becasse.

To start, this is actually a beer and taste like a beer. The hint of cherries is a nice touch that adds to a mild malty flavor with a head (when properly poured) that lasted the ten minutes it took me to consume the beer.

Smell of course was of cherries, but there is a bit of malt in the background. Feels good in the mouth with a medium/light body and no discernable aftertaste.

I could drink this beer. Wow, a drinkable lambic, that would probably go well with a light fish on the grill. Use one bottle as marinade and drink the rest.

Prosit!
Aug 21, 2007
Photo of roblowther
Reviewed by roblowther from Texas

4.13/5  rDev +18%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5
25cl bottle purchased in Bourganeuf, France. The appearance is very kriek, dark red with a frothy, quickly gone pink head. The smell? Drumroll please. Cherries. Sweet sugary notes and a twinge of bubblegum in the background. The taste has a malt up front, followed quickly by cherries. Not too sweet, this one is a nice balance between the cloying sweetness and the sour lambic tastes of others I've had. The mouthfeel is a bit thin but has a nice oiliness to hold it together. The drinkability is very good for a fruit lambic. The balanced flavor means you don't head into a diabetic coma after one. All in all, I really like this one, much better than ones I've had for much higher prices. It reminds me of bing cherry cider, but with just enough malt to let you know its beer, after all.
Mar 16, 2007
Photo of Beertracker
Reviewed by Beertracker from Oklahoma

2.99/5  rDev -14.6%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3
La Bécasse Kriek (Original) interestingly enough comes in a brown crown capped 25cL bottle featuring the elusive snipe or woodcock. If I'm not mistaken, this is simply Belle-Vue Kriek bottled for the rest of the European market. Unlike the corked version, this one isn't bottle conditioned. This Kriek is best served chilled (40-45°F) from a tulip or sparkling wine flute. This stylish Kriek pours up with lots of sparkle that creates plenty of pinkish Belgian lace that billows above a bright cherry reddish-golden body. Very nice! The sub par aroma has some decent tart/cordial cherry notes along with a musty/earthy cellar character, but lacks the typical Payottenland complexity. Unfortunately, this example also shows some oxidation along with a distracting metallic character. The flavor starts off expectly fruity with plenty of sweet candied (cherry cough drops) cherry character that gives into a welcomed wheat berry graininess along with a hint of marzipan nuttiness. There's just enough acidity, bitterness and alcohol in the finish to keep this one from being overly cloying. This imported cherry lambic from InBev is rather one dimensional and much what I expected for a mass-marketed overly processed product. Certainly worth a try for sour beer fans!

CHEERS! Beertracker
Nov 11, 2006
Photo of amatuerbeerguy
Reviewed by amatuerbeerguy from Oklahoma

3.77/5  rDev +7.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Poured out a nice ruby red color, with a slight pink head.

Aroma of cherry, with some sour overtones.

flavor of a sour cherry, with some sweetness.

mouthfeel of a light to medium body, nice carbonation lending to the long head retention and lacing.

Overall this is a nice beer, with the acknowledgement that you like fruit beer/lambic. It is a drinkable beer under the stated circumstances.
May 13, 2006
Photo of descartes
Reviewed by descartes from Oregon

3.15/5  rDev -10%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Poured from a 25 cl litter bottle.

Appearance: Dark red with thin white head.
Smell: Really strange, red fruit but also herbal hints, I am not sure I like it.
Taste: Sour Cherries on the front with a bubbly midde and a hoppy finish. The transition between the middle and hops is very strange and feels slightly off.
Mouthfeel: Very dry, light bodied.
Drinkability: I suspect that either you love it or you hate it, I didn't particularly like it.
Dec 27, 2005
Photo of JohnfromDublin
Reviewed by JohnfromDublin from Ireland

3.57/5  rDev +2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Tasted a couple of bottles in the UK over weekend Sept 2-5 2005, bottles purchased by my host in France in August. A roundabout way of drinking a Belgian Lambic... Brewed by Interbrew 5.1% ABV.

Poured a nice tan/red colour, with a respectable white head.
Smell was not as fruity as the taste, with some maltiness coming through. Taste is quite cherry tang, as expected. The balance of cherry and tartness was quite nice.
Mouthfeel was quite dry and overall I found this a very drinkable offering.
I much preferred this to the Bellevue Kriek that I have had a couple of times, being less sweet.
Sep 06, 2005
Photo of Sigmund
Reviewed by Sigmund from Norway

3.78/5  rDev +8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
375 ml corked bottle, champagne style, bought in Prague. Label says: P.H. Wandenstock Belle-Vue Kriek Lambic. ABV is 5.1%. Brewed by Interbrew Belgium, distributed in the Czech Republic by Staropramen. Beautiful red colour, large pink foamy head. Lovely aroma of sour cherries. Flavour is of course sour cherries too, initially sweet, with a hint of hops. Not very complex, and the finish is surprisingly short.
Mar 31, 2005
Photo of Boto
Reviewed by Boto from Connecticut

3.8/5  rDev +8.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
37.5cl bottle: This one pours a clear ruby color. Pouring it fast does give it a bit of a red-tinged head. The head dies down quickly, even there was a bit of carbonation. Some lacing down the glass. The aroma has both sweet and sour notes of cherries. The taste is a bit tart, but a hair lighter: the cherries don’t overpower the taste. A nice Kriek.
May 23, 2004
La Bécasse Kriek from Brasserie Belle-Vue
Beer rating: 82 out of 100 with 21 ratings