Transatlantique Kriek (Oud Beersel)
New Belgium Brewing Company

Transatlantique Kriek (Oud Beersel)Transatlantique Kriek (Oud Beersel)
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From:
New Belgium Brewing Company
 
Colorado, United States
Style:
Fruit Lambic
Ranked #110
ABV:
7%
Score:
90
Ranked #9,972
Avg:
4.02 | pDev: 6.72%
Reviews:
37
Ratings:
135
Status:
Active
Rated:
Nov 28, 2023
Added:
May 03, 2015
Wants:
  11
Gots:
  35
Winner of a gold medal at the 2018 Great American Beer Festival, Transatlantique Kriek begins its life in oaken vessels of Gert Christiaens’ Oud Beersel, a 130-year-old lambic brewery in the Zenne valley of Belgium – home of authentic Lambic beer. After time spent aging in wood, Oud Beersel’s lambic is blended with tart Polish cherries and shipped across the Atlantic to New Belgium. In concert with Oud Beersel’s cherry lambic, or Kriek, we blend an equal portion of golden sour ale matured for 1 – 3 years in our oak vessels called foeders. 50% Sour Golden Ale blended with 50% Traditional Cherry Lambic Ale leads to an intense cherry nose, a sour flash across the palate and a refreshing, mouthwatering finish.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by micropale:
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Rated by micropale from Pennsylvania

4.21/5  rDev +4.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Aug 25, 2015
More User Ratings:
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Reviewed by StJamesGate from New York

4.25/5  rDev +5.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Deep garnet with puffy ring of rose foam; Luden’s cough drops, wet oak + honeycomb crunch on the nose; hay, slight biscuit, mature cider vinegar, dark Polish cherries, Golden Delicious apples, vague hints of clove and lemon zest, and mild wood; dry, spritzy, light.

4.25 x5

This is a funny one to track, but I’ll try:
It’s intensely cherry. And not in a cloying or artificial way, just rich, round, real cherries. That’s its best feature.
For that, it’s not very sour. I mention apples; you could almost convince yourself you’re biting into a farm-fresh tart variety - it’s only just that bracing.
It’s also not very woody, and not at all funky. Only whatever sourness that is there tells you that it’s mixed ferm.
I don’t see the sense in blending. I’m not sure what the golden ale adds, other than to keep this from being a full bore lambic.
So you end up with a mature, well-integrated, fairly complex cherry sour that is satisfying yet not at all deep - everything it has to offer it gives up in the first few seconds. It doesn’t linger on the finish, doesn’t change as it sits on the palate, doesn’t shift as it warms and opens. For as lovely as this is - and I’d give it to friends who don’t like kriek, pair it with cheese or chocolate, etc. - that somehow feels disappointing.

A very good beer missed a chance for greatness; for further details see Kriek Mariage Parfait.
Nov 28, 2023
 
Rated: 4.41 by McSeal from Connecticut

Oct 22, 2023
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Rated by edthehead from Maryland

4.41/5  rDev +9.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Tart, crisp, dry, fruity, could use a little bit of funk.
Apr 30, 2022
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Reviewed by ilikebeer03 from Texas

4/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
2016 bottle. drank 4/22/22.
pour is a beautiful crystal clear ruby red. a finger of lightly pink/white head fades quickly
Nose is bright lemony tart cherry up front. a hint of funk, straw
taste is tart cherries, lemon, biscuit, straw, hints of brett.
easy to drink. not overly tart. crisp medium plus carbonation
Apr 23, 2022
 
Rated: 4.02 by PaleAleWalt from New York

Apr 19, 2022
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Reviewed by BBThunderbolt from Kiribati

3.57/5  rDev -11.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
Thanks to 66jzzmstr for this one. 22oz bottle (indeterminate date) poured into 16oz tulip. Poured a clean, clear cherry red color with a thin cap of light pink head that quickly dissipated and left OK lacing.

Nice cherry scent, some tartness, and a touch of grain.

Same on the tongue.

The body was thin, crisp, and had a dry finish.

Drinkability was good, I could have drank the whole myself.

Overall, a really nice brew. If you manage to see one, grab it.
Dec 25, 2021
 
Rated: 3.75 by Birdlegs from Washington

Nov 06, 2021
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Reviewed by StonedTrippin from Colorado

4.24/5  rDev +5.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
shame on me for assuming this little cork and cage rig was nothing other than a packaging refresh, no, its a new beer entirely, different lambic base, and different new belgium beer in the blend, i think the old one was boon and a lager, this is oud beersel and their own wood aged sour beer, and the result is something infinitely better than the old turquoise labeled bomber from when this was first released. seems like the price has come down too, i regret not knowing about this sooner. this is way better, the color pops electric red in the glass and its quite thick, some sediment at the bottom, short pink head. the nose and flavor are the same, super tart and very intense cherry, almost medicinal to me, pie type, cherry candy, and concentrated juiced cherry all at once, some lambic funk still coming through the obvious fruit sweetness. good citric acidity in the flavor, lots of body but not much malt flavor, some cool wooden maturity to it against the fresher cherry vibe, a wine note in the oak, and warming alcohol making it kind of wintery, trace spiciness at the end only adds to that. its acidic but not overly so, not too sweet either, and the lambic isnt covered up by the fruit, even though its a heavy dose. the sourness is more from the new belgium thread in the blend i suspect, and it works really well. if you, like me, wrote this off after the old blend, try the new, its a league better. i only wish my friend didnt open this up when we were already blasted, but friends dont let friends drink kriek alone! impressive improvement over the original!

edit: equally bomb the second time around, had to revisit it. the color is epic, the sourness is restrained, the funk is there, but the cherry is so natural. its softly textured but lively, almost creamy to me, without the sharp acidity a lot of these have. absolutely fantastic, hoping to get another one to see how it ages. really delicious and approachable and drinkable! great for the holidays.
Oct 01, 2021
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Reviewed by gandres from Philippines

3.77/5  rDev -6.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Sunday, September 19, 2021 9:18 PM
375 bottle poured to wine glass
Sight: red, small foam
Aroma: sweet malty aroma
Taste: pleasant, low sweetness, low sourness low-medium bitterness
"Mouth feel: good carbonation, tart, long bitter sweet finish, very good carbonation
Overall: very good beer, ok to repeat but not look for
Sep 20, 2021
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Reviewed by macrosmatic from Florida

3.41/5  rDev -15.2%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
Reviewed from notes. 2016 bottle, purchased locally 3/15/16. Consumed 12/7/19. Poured from the 22 oz. bottle into an El Catador Barrel-Aged glass.

A: Quite hazy reddish brown with good streams of carb. A thin off-white head fades quickly. Sure looks a little muddy.

S: Not huge, but a nice mix of lactic and malic tartness and sour cherries. Some Brettanomyces basement and barnyard funk, and lemony citric in the background. Some light cracker malts and maybe just a touch of spice. Decent, but not wowing me.

T: Thin sour cherries with some lactic and milder malic sourness. Light cracker malts, minimal funk on the taste (to the point that I wonder if it was only the power of suggestion on the nose?). Some lemon-rind citric acid dryness on the back end. No bright fruitiness to speak of. Lightly sour cherries and the mildly acidic dryness at the swallow.

M: Light body, low alcohol. Carbonation sensation on the low side.

O: Passable perhaps, but nothing more. A let down for a Kriek to be sure. It's not "cherry" enough, not sour enough, and no real funk to speak of. And really an oddly insubstantial body. Nothing I’d seek out again for sure, but I’ll finish what’s in my glass. I wouldn’t seek this out to drink this again.
Mar 26, 2020
Photo of Apellonious
Reviewed by Apellonious from North Carolina

4.23/5  rDev +5.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
16.9 fl oz bottle, A ruby red with a quickly disappearing head. Aroma is mild sour, cherry, pear. Taste is right in line. Adequetly carbonated, with a medium feel. Worth checking out.
Mar 07, 2020
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Reviewed by StoutElk_92 from Massachusetts

4.51/5  rDev +12.2%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75
2016 vintage

Pours dark red with a dense creamy light pink foam head. Smells mild and light with dusty notes, oak barrel, fresh cherries, pie spice, slight yogurty, tangy fruit, with hints of earthy hop. Tastes like sweet and tart cherries, pie spice, cherry pit, oak barrel, bready wheaty malt, tangy dark fruit, with mild earthy hops. Feels medium plus bodied, smooth with moderate carbonation. Overall a real nice blended kriek sour ale.
Mar 03, 2020
 
Rated: 3.5 by XmnwildX12 from Minnesota

Feb 29, 2020
 
Rated: 4.47 by Trmmilwwi from Illinois

Sep 06, 2019
 
Rated: 4.19 by dukeufo from California

Aug 03, 2019
 
Rated: 4 by mattreitz49 from Florida

Jul 26, 2019
 
Rated: 4.04 by Lelampp from Ohio

Jul 18, 2019
 
Rated: 3.99 by SierraFlight from Virginia

May 25, 2019
 
Rated: 3.98 by BKotch from Texas

May 10, 2019
Transatlantique Kriek (Oud Beersel) from New Belgium Brewing Company
Beer rating: 90 out of 100 with 135 ratings