Oude Kriek Cuvée René
Brouwerij Lindemans

355 ml bottle poured cold into a snifter. Beautiful black cherry color, quickly decending pinkish fizxy head. Stamped, probably recommended, to drink by 2032.
Rich fragrance of cherries, wet leather strap, barnyard musk, Brett yeast.
It was way too early to drink this, I admit, but there’s gonna be one stashed soon. Taste is super fizzed out, lightly dank and sour Cheerwine.
Feel is punk rock carbonation, thin in the mouth.
Overall, the magic happens to this authentic Lambic with age - and that’s the lesson of this review. Let it sit. It’s gonna get real good.,.

Brouwerij Lindemans "Oude Kriek Cuvée René"
750ml green glass bottle "Bottled: 25 NOV 2016" and sampled on 30 JUL 2023
$12.49 @ Traino's Wine & Spirits, Marlton, NJ

Notes via stream of consciousness: A careful pour delivers a clear ruby colored body beneath a bright pink head that fades almost immediately. Brettanomyces is evident in the nose with the usual wet straw, mud, leather, and slight metallic notes. It's also fruity but not overly cherry in character; let's just say it's not like the candied cherries that you find in some other lambics. The taste follows the aroma along with a sharp acidity. It's more cherry-like in the fruitiness, and the barnyard funkiness remains. It's not bitter, of course, but it's still dry, acidic, and fruity in the finish. It's very nicely rounded. The carbonation is moderate but the acidity gives it a little zing, and the body is light-medium allowing it to slide across the tongue. This is definitely one of the better, authentic, lambics.
Review #8,704

750ml bottle into a teku. 2016 vintage.

Great looking beer, deep burgundy body with a persistent pink tinged head. Tart cherry aroma and taste, lightly sour. Finish a touch light, but overall a great drink.

 

 

 

Bottle pour into a taster glass.
L: bright red wine color with a bubbly head that quickly dissipates to a collar around the edge.
S: cherry skin, wine, oak, funk
T: follows the nose
F: light to moderate body, light carbonation

 

Pours a ruby red, perhaps even burgundy. Musty cherry aroma. This isn't super cherry forward. They're there for sure and that mustiness on the nose is found in flavor as well. However, there is a major tartness and a fair amount of acidity. I think that some krieks really lean into the cherries and this doesn't as much. It's dry too. I enjoy this but it's also not my favorite kriek.

Poured from 750ml bottle into Chimay goblet.

L - Cherry colored pour with a rosy pink foam that dissipates to a thin lacy ring.

S - Oaky funk, tart cherry fruitiness.

T - Barrel up front, tart clean cherry, quite dry overall. Not sweet, but also not overly sour.

F - Very fine carbonation, soft, not stinging.

A clean fruity experience. Not sugary or soda like.

 

 

 

750ml bottle, dated December 7, 2016, nearly 4 years in the bottle.

Clear dark red with a column of rising bubbles. Short pink fizzy head with no retention - it was a race to get a whiff with any head at remaining. No lacing.

Aroma is a complex of fruit (indistinct at this point, but the label says it should be cherry), tart acidity, funky and earthy.

Taste is definitely cherry, as taken directly from the trees in my uncle's back yard in Michigan. As with his cherries, it is quite tart and acidic, but not to the level of being truly sour. The earthy funkiness nicely balances the tart cherry, resulting in a beer that, while still on the sweet side, is well back from the level of sweetness in the framboise. The tartness is much more prevalent than the framboise as well. The tart acid provides even a bit of a drying effect in the finish and aftertaste. As the beer warms, the tartness becomes more and more prominent in the flavor, initial, middle, on the finish and into the aftertaste. So, in the end, the lasting effect is not sweet at all. While 7% isn't exactly huge, the alcohol is, nonetheless, not a factor in the taste.

Mouth feel is on the thin side of moderate with the tartness and carbonation providing a tingling sensation.

Overall, a much more enjoyable and refreshing beer than the framboise. This one I very well might make a repeat purchase.

 

 

Reviewed from (long-standing) notes. 750 mL bottle purchased locally on 11/15/17. Marked as 2016 vintage bottle. Consumed on 12/24/17. Poured into an El Catador Barrel Aged glass.

A: Somewhere between maroon and the color of cranberry juice, with a fluffy pink head with decent retention. Average carbonation visible. Moderately hazy.

S: Tart cherries, pressed cherry juice, and some lactic acid tartness. Maybe a touch of raspberry aroma here as well. A modest but present funk – basement and fresh barnyard - with some oak and cracker maltiness.

T: Big tart cherries, cherry juice, and a touch of pie filling. A decent bit of funk here also, following the nose - grassy and barnyard and a bit of basement and cheese. Cracker malts, more juicy berries / cherries. It finishes dry with some more tart acid and just a little more funk on the exhale.

M: Average body...maybe a touch on the light side. Good carbonation sensation and low alcohol presence.

O: I don’t think this would be confused with the best in class, but it’s got nice and juicy natural fruit flavors and a bit of funk. Easy to drink, quite enjoyable. I’ll be curious what a few years in the cellar does to this.

 

i overlook this beer way too often, like ive gotten too conditioned to great lambic having to be brutally expensive and hard to score, i dont know why i let the lindemans name or the reasonable bottle price prevent me from getting into this one until now, i always like their beer, but this was ahead of expectations for me, really very good, way more lambic forward than their more common kriek label, less sweet, more funk, super mature to me too, i loved this and had not problem with the lions share of a large bottle. its brick red in color, sedimented towards the bottom, intensely colored but kind of muted in shine, the head is short and airy and needs to be riled back up every so often. the aroma is striking, piquant and tart from the cherries, immediately mouthwatering, wild and super funky, bretty, old, i love it! the fruit complexion is strong in the flavor, but its dry enough to let the sour lambic come through, oaky and tannic and sharp, light lemon zest to it, minerals, raw wheat, and the absolute essence of the cherries, stunning really. i dont mind the acidity but could use just a little more carbonation to it, i know its okay traditionally for lambic to be still and all, but i like these to really effervesce, and this is well short of that. still, its remarkably good beer overall, an awesome fusion of real cherries (and lots of them) and mature lambic. dont let the availability fool you, this measures up favorably with way more expensive and rare kriek. ill be buying this more regularly...

Bottled 2015
Lots of carb, & fresh, dark red, Morrello & wild cherry, touch of rhubarb. Lactic, oak & Brett in background. Medium sour. Really nice, if not the complexity, balance & intensity of top Oude Kriek like Boon, Cantillon, 3F.