Kriek 2023 w Ripe Scottish Cherries
Innis & Gunn

Copenhagen 1/1 2024. 33 cl bottle from Meny, Borups Allé, Frb. F. White and brown label with the Master Brewers signature. From the 2023 batch.

Pours clear copper with a big off-white head. Stable. Settles as thin fine layer of dom stretching to cover the surface of the beer. Crawling up the sides of the glass. Moderate lacing.

Aroma is fairly intense with a sweet fruity odor mingling with a woody scent. Sweet cherries with light tart notes. Oak and alcohol.

Light carbonation. Slightly thick, oily, soft, almost flat texture.

Flavor is medium intense with a medium strong sweetness followed by a lighter tart sourness. Aftertaste is sweet. Lingers for a bit. Finish is rather dry and woody.

Sweetish but competent take on Kriek.

 

330ml bottle served cold into a tulip. LCBO purchase as part of a mixed pack picked up some months ago. Best before May 2024.

Appearance - ruby colored beer with small half finger of white head. Good clarity with a slight bit of haziness.

Smell - Cherries and oak with a sweet vanilla aroma too. Clearly I&G with the oak and vanilla but the cherries are pretty pronounced as well.

Taste - Ripe cherries up front then oak and vanilla set in, followed by a second round of cherries. Not terribly tart. The interplay between the two is a bit weird, but works well enough.

Mouthfeel - Medium bodied, expressive carbonation, pretty refreshing and easy to drink.

Overall - A good and unique offering and certainly a welcome addition to any mixed pack. With that said, it's not a beer I'd likely go out of my way to buy in vast quantities.

330 mL bottle from a gift pack purchased at the LCBO last month; best before May 2024 and served barely chilled. I&G did one of these in 2021 (same label, same ingredients, same abv, etc.). Is this any different from the last one? Let's find out!

Pours a deep, clear reddish-burgundy with cherry red highlights; its surface is graced with one finger of loose, soapy, pale pink-coloured head that lasts for two or three minutes. A bubbly, frothy collar holds its position, surrounding a thin cap of creamy suds; lots of messy lace is generated with a swirl or two of the glass. Visually, this looks better than the 2021 edition. Aromatically, my notes more or less agree with what I wrote two years ago: mildly vinous & tart, with cherry juice, currants, oak, vanilla and a light, sweet creaminess.

Not bad at all - nice, sweet cherry juiciness right at the forefront, giving way to hints of oak, vanilla, jammy red wine and creamy sweetness. Hints of butterscotch, oak & red wine tannins on the back end, with tart cherry at the finish; the aftertaste starts off fruity and vinous, but fades to dry. Light-medium in body, with low-ish carbonation that gently rolls along the surface of the palate; feels soft and smooth, but not quite plush. Quite crushable, but unique enough to take your time and savour as it warms.

Final Grade: 3.88, a B+. Innis & Gunn's Kriek 2023 is tasty and easy enough to like... but just because you used cherries doesn't mean you can call it a "kriek". Like the 2021 edition, this is a sweet (oak-aged) fruit beer, and emphatically *not* a sour of any kind - in fact, even an adjective such as "tart" seems a bit exaggerative. That doesn't make this a bad beer, but it may mislead actual kriek lovers, who will be expecting something different from what they're actually getting. An interesting twist on their usual oak-aged fare - it's good, but not a brew I feel the need to drink on a regular basis.

Poured a 330ml bottle into a tulip. A thin off white head that diminishes to a thin layer on a clear dark ruby.
Sour cherry in the nose. Some whisky notes.
The whisky notes are more apparent in the taste than the fruit. more cherry as it warms.
Smooth. light body and medium carbonation.
Interesting. Not really a Kriek but more of a cask conditioned Fruit and Field beer. Worth a try.