Experimental Cassis
Hanssens Artisanaal bvba

Experimental CassisExperimental Cassis
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From:
Hanssens Artisanaal bvba
 
Belgium
Style:
Fruit Lambic
Ranked #131
ABV:
6%
Score:
84
Ranked #23,151
Avg:
3.7 | pDev: 15.68%
Reviews:
117
Ratings:
267
Status:
Active
Rated:
Dec 15, 2022
Added:
Mar 01, 2009
Wants:
  19
Gots:
  32
Ale brewed with black currants and matured in oak barrels.
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Ratings by DCon:
Photo of DCon
Reviewed by DCon from Missouri

4.67/5  rDev +26.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Bought a 12.7 FL OZ bottle of this @ The Hair of the Dog in St. Louis, MO for $14. Poured from the Scroll looking label w/ Pink writing & outlining into a 12oz Tulip Glass. Has lotnr: H stamped off on the side.

Aroma- Has a big time "stinky" aroma including big time barnyard and a "horse blanket" attribute I've found in many of these. An unknown fruit aroma is blended but definitely compliments all of the sour notes nicely. Well planned out aroma!

Appearance- Pours almost no head at all and same goes for the non-lace finish. Has the darkest red/light-medium brown colored body that has good clarity but deep.

Flavor- Black currants are the main attraction here! A very ripe and dark cherry/sour berry flavor comes in next. Most acidic brew I may have ever tasted! High barnyard level and has a bit of oak in the finish. Wonderful!

Mouthfeel- Light Bodied, HIGHEST carbonation level, Puckers the mouth big time, and finishes tart with berries and a taste never enjoyed before. You have to have this yourself!

Overall Impression- While finding that after each drink, it made my mouth water and pucker up, I would have to say they did a fantastic job of aging and making this one of their most complexed brews! May be one of my favorite sours this month so far! Pick up a 12.7oz bottle and share if your not brave enough to take on this type of brew. For me, this was spot on!
Feb 22, 2012
More User Ratings:
Photo of REVZEB
Reviewed by REVZEB from Illinois

3.88/5  rDev +4.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Magenta appearance with a white ring. Sour black currant dominates the smell with sour oak, lacto, hay. Taste add pungent vinegar, but less than the usual hannssens lambic, a kiss of barnyard funk on the finish. Feel is sour, somewhat acidic, gently pungent, and more so oaky. Better for the series
Dec 15, 2022
Photo of TheBrewDude52
Rated by TheBrewDude52

3.09/5  rDev -16.5%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
very tart.
Nov 29, 2022
Photo of damndirtyape
Reviewed by damndirtyape from Ohio

2.59/5  rDev -30%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2
12.7 fluid oz bottle (corked and caged), served in a Lindeman's flute glass.

Appearance: Popping the cork was anti-climatic - there was no noise at all, and yet the cork was firmly in place and took some effort to remove. The beer had no head, seems mostly flat other than a little bit of bubbles noted on the sides of the glass and at the top. Clear/bright red-purple color.

Smell: Black currants and the classic lambic tart/funk aroma.

Taste: Quite tart. There is some black currant in here, but it's more vinegary and sour than anything else. Very overbalanced.

Mouthfeel: Thin, flat, a little slick.

Overall / Drinkability: Either something is very very wrong with this bottle, or this beer is not at all what I was going to expect. I've had a Cassis lambic before, and it was a delight - sour/tart, but not overwhelming. This is just too much tart and not enough flavor for balance. I feel like I'm drinking flavored vinegar. Quite the disappointment and I could not finish it. Nice color and smell, and that's about all I can say about it.
Mar 25, 2022
 
Rated: 4.04 by TMoney2591 from Illinois

Nov 30, 2021
 
Rated: 3.84 by gbiello from Massachusetts

Nov 19, 2020
Photo of officerbill
Reviewed by officerbill from New York

4.31/5  rDev +16.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
so far as I can tell this was bottled in February of 2016 (4 years, 10 months ago)

The, difficult to remove, cork came out without any poof or pop. An easy pour (to avoid sediment) resulted in a deep purple ruby with no head.
Immediately hit with the aroma of black currant jam and hay
currants, almost ripe blackberries, green grapes, hay, straw, barnyard funkiness with a little apple cider
No carbonation, a "thick" feel on the tongue with a dry leathery oak mildly tart finish
This is very good. The black currant (cassis) is front with moderate tartness and natural funkiness filling it all out. An excellent fruit lambic.
Oct 31, 2020
 
Rated: 3.73 by gshak from Texas

Jun 06, 2020
 
Rated: 4.12 by warnerry from Michigan

May 03, 2020
Photo of NeroFiddled
Reviewed by NeroFiddled from Pennsylvania

4.45/5  rDev +20.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
Hanssens Artisanaal bvba "Hanssens Lambic Experimental Cassis"
12. 7 fl. oz. green glass bottle, corked & caged.
$11.09 on clearance @ Roger Wilco, Pennsauken, NJ

Notes via stream of consciousness: The cork came out with some difficulty, but also without any "pop". The first pour was then completely clear but lacking any head. It's ruby in color. I can see it has some carbonation to it though as there are some very fine bubbles, but only a few. The aroma is funky with brett and lactic acid. It's got the usual "barnyard" as well as leather and must, and a bit of fruit to it. I know that it's cassis but I wouldn't know that from smelling it. On to the flavor... it's sour but somewhat rounded. It's certainly got some sharpness to it but it's not nearly as cutting as some. The funk remains heavy and I appreciate that - sour and funky is what I want from a lambic, and the fruit here adds a third dimension that's great. I'm still not particularly getting cassis, but at the same time I'm certainly not getting any other specific fruit as well. If I didn't know that there was cassis here I'd probably suspect blackberry or elderberry, or maybe a mix with some black raspberry thrown in. There's some oak to it, and a dusting of mineral character as well, and I guess I don't need to point out that it's got a dry and acidic finish. It's bone-dry and oaky with a touch of crushed granite-like mineral lingering. It's also a bit astringent, like chewing on a grape, but that's to be expected and not a fault. It's vinous, but really more like red grape juice that's been thinned with white vinegar and water. Ohhhhh, that sounds horrible! It's really not bad at all, and so much more. I could easily see sitting at a table and relaxing in an old brown café in Antwerp while slowly working my way through one of these - and maybe more! It's a sipper. Even a nipper! But I'm constantly drawn back to it, and its aroma and flavor do not let me down. In fact, the further I go, the further I become accustomed to its acidity, and the more it opens up to me. Now, there is the issue of the cassis and so let me address that. It's unique. Cherry and raspberry are common, but the cassis lends it something special. That mineralish note that I found is most likely from the skin of the cassis. There's a kind of bitterness to it that's different, and not from hops. That's the cassis. In the mouth it's acidic, and thus zesty, but also fairly light in body. Ah, this is interesting. Now that I've poured the last of it I notice that it must have been laid on its side before I bought it. One side of the bottle is black with sediment while the other remains green. There's still a lot of sediment at the bottom of the bottle though. The label suggests that it's from March of 2013 which would make it almost 7 years old now, which makes sense. I wonder how much that has changed it. In the end I find it really well done, and somewhat unique. It's everything I'm looking for in a fruited lambic with the geueze base showing itself clearly and the fruit not becoming sweet, or falling back too far in overall flavor. I'd suggest that this is well worth seeking out but I'm pretty sure that time has passed.
Review #6,869
Dec 28, 2019
Photo of Thomas_Wikman
Reviewed by Thomas_Wikman from Texas

3.8/5  rDev +2.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
It is good but I am not sure black currants are great in a Lambik. Different but not my favorite Lambic.

Look: dark red and somewhat purple with a very thin white head

Aroma: black currants, red wine.

Taste: It is tart, some Brett funk, lots of black currants, some oak tannins and red wine flavor.

Body/Overall: light to medium body.
Nov 11, 2019
 
Rated: 3.75 by brittanylicious from Indiana

Aug 06, 2019
 
Rated: 3.75 by heysuz from Indiana

Aug 06, 2019
 
Rated: 4 by redfox405 from Virginia

May 01, 2019
 
Rated: 3.77 by ajdemma from New York

Apr 04, 2019
 
Rated: 4.25 by paulish from New York

Sep 29, 2018
 
Rated: 4.3 by desint from Belgium

Sep 05, 2018
 
Rated: 4.22 by rjp217 from Massachusetts

Sep 18, 2017
 
Rated: 4.06 by Foley67 from Scotland

Aug 26, 2017
 
Rated: 3.27 by Quafftastic from Virginia

May 16, 2017
Experimental Cassis from Hanssens Artisanaal bvba
Beer rating: 84 out of 100 with 267 ratings