Big Chico Kriek
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

Pours a hazy purple color with a slight head and lacing
Aroma has generous cherry and wine barrel hints
The taste follows the nose with tart cherry and wine barrel flavors
A medium bodied well carbonated beer
A good Lambic

its pretty cool that as big as these guys are, they are still doing beer like this, insanely ambitious, pretty classically styled, and really well executed. i think this was brewery only release or something, never seen it out in the world before, so thankful to have had this shared with me. its a deep murky red color with some soda fizz but not a lot of head collecting from the bottle pour. its aroma is fantastic, real lambic funkiness and pucker immediately makes my mouth water, tart pie cherries too, tannic red wine with heaps of oak, subtle vanilla and white pepper somehow too, earthy and sour, also a bit sweet with the fruit, and a touch boozy too, really dynamic, even ice cold. i taste a lot in here, heavy pie cherry twang, wild character too, bretty and bacterial at the same time, really mature, lots of wood and wine too, raspberry pucker with the cherry to me, and a little vanilla from the oak. not a ton of grain character but there is some wheat character to the mouthfeel and a light cereal note behind the fruit. the cherries pop but the beer is obviously well aged, its dry at the end for how flavorful it is, very acidic but with enough oak for it to be softened some. fizzy and active in feel, but sharp the whole way. tons of nuance, a spicy hint in here, even a suggestion of cinnamon, and a mouthwatering finish that brings back the best of the fruit and the funk. i liked this a lot, i wish more of this kind of beer escaped into the world for people to try, its always these rarities that impress me the most from sierra nevada. a special one here for sure!

 

While pouring it looks like a sort of reddish brown but once it is settles in the glass it is a dark plum purple with a small head.

Smell is sweet cherry and a little bit of malt.

Taste is sort of weird. Haven't had a Kriek like this before. If I remember correctly this Kriek is aged in red wine barrels but there is absolutely none of that coming through. It's got a very nice tartness to it but the flavor the cherries are giving this beer are not really to my liking. The cherries are musty but not necessarily in a good way. I guess the best way to put it is that it's an ode to the Belgian lambic style that falls short on everything besides getting the tartness perfect. I'm not a brewer but perhaps it was the type of cherries used that caused this one to fall a little bit short?

For the price I probably wouldn't recommend unless you're a kriek lover but I'l have no problem enjoying the rest of this glass!