Brasserie Greff Kriek
Arbor Brewing - Plymouth Taproom

750ml caged and corked bottle labeled bottled on 815 (I'm guesing Aug, 1st 2005 as I bought this at the same time as the Framboise that was bottled in '05).

Poured a medium and cloudy reddish/pinkish color with a smaller sized pinkish off white head. Aromas of cherries, woody, caramel, and trace of cherry pie crust. Aromas on the softer side. Tastes of tart cherries, peppery, woody, and berries. Nice tart, puckering finish.

Notes from 10/11/07

Courtesy of hopdog...
appears a murky red with steady streams of CO2 rising to the top of the small, off-white head. Small traces of lacing are left around the glass.
Smell is of sweaty socks, raspberries, funky cherries, and caramel.
Taste is of the mentioned aromas with more berries, oak, and funkiness coming through in the tart flavors.
Mouthfeel is medium bodied, tart, with a dry, mouth puckering finish.

Generously shared by Hopdog at Phatz' sour beer tasting.

Appearance: Pours a hazy strawberry color with very little whitehead and some residual lacing on the miniscus.

Smell: Sour cherries and a small likening of funkiness. I picked up ground pepper, lilly pads on a pond, and stale orange. Not exactly the most endearing smells, but hey, its a lambic. Interesting.

Taste: Cherries might be the main flavor but they cartainly give way to others like cinnamon, pepper, and plum. This beer is certainly sugary and tart. Basic, leaning towards complex.

Mouthfeel: Pleasantly carbonated like champagne. The finish is dry and peppery. Sourness is evident adn welcomed.

Drinkability: Very good if you like sour beers. This one is an American attempt but does fall behind the Belgian traditionals a little bit. Worth seeking out.

Thanks to Hopdog for sharing.

Appearance: Pours a murky red with pink and ruby hues, an off white head and no notable lace.

Smell: Sweetness and sugar do come through with the tart cherry. It is tart yes but when you use the work Kriek I expect fruit lambic tart not just cherry tartness. It is a very very good try for an American brewery. I did get some cinnamon and a bit of Belgian funk in with the cherries so not bad.

Taste: Gently sour cherries with a nice nip and no vicious sour bite (that I love). It is not Sweet like New Galarus but then is is not Sour like Hannsens Kriek. This is somewhere in the middle. A pretty happy medium.

Mouthfeel: Soft with a sour tingle. medium.

Drinkability: It is a pleasant beer but in the company of many great Krieks Arbor Kriek does not stand up to the best IMO.

Hope this is helpful.
Cheers!

Brownish-Red.

Not much as far as the aroma went, a little bit of cherries, some wood and a bit of cellar mustiness was present as well.

Profound notes of cherries in the flavor but compared to beers of its style (cherry fruit beers), the cherries still need to be a little more prominent. Also, this is very musty and somewhat tart, rather than the sourness I was hoping for. Nonetheless, I did enjoy this brew.

The folks who own Arbor Brewing, the Greffs, have taken a stab at a line of bottle conditioned Belgian ales, matured in casks and then cellared for several months. The Kriek is the first I've had. I've listed it as a fruit beer since they didn't indicate what type of sour ale it was supposed to be imitating, so the style, beyond fruit, is a bit unclear.

Pours with a thin head. Deep pink and light ruby red in color. Sliding it into the shadows turns it a murky brown. It definitely got me interested, expecting a powerful sourness.

Unfortunately, it didn't quite deliver.

Don't get me wrong; this isn't bad in the least. But there was very little tartness, and the dominant flavor was a dull, tongue-numbing cherry that was, frankly, a bit watered down. The aromatics were there -- I could smell some cherry, and I got a minor tingle hinting at sourness. But this just didn't really live up to my expectations.

I normally don't comment on price since it's usually not a factor for me. But I have to say that I felt like $15 was a bit much. I'm sure that the bottling and the corking is more effort than their usual tap-only set up. But for what amounts to 750 mL of mediocre beer, I was reeling a bit.

Anyhow -- I'll try the others as well. But the Kriek is probably a one-time only purchase for me. The cherries are too dulled, and the sourness is dilluted out to a barely perceptable flicker of what could have been.