Kriek
Propolis Brewing

BOTTLE with pry-off crown cap over an internally housed cork:

$5.99 USD per 750ml bottle. 2022 vintage.

Cherry skin. Brettanomyces funkiness. Barnyard notes. Wheat. Pale malt. Tart fruit. Cedar. Apple cidre vinegar. Acetic acid.

ABOVE AVERAGE / C+

there is a separate listing for kriek grenache, but from what i can tell all of their kriek is aged in the grenache vat, very cool treatment for this. unique that they call the base beer a flemish style golden ale, uncommon already, but then for it to be kriek and not be lambic is also interesting, cherries and brett in the oak vessel, excited to try this, a very expensive bottle, courtesy of my friends generosity. paler than expected on the pour, a only moderately carbonated pink toned brew that looks a little dull and sedimented, it fizzes but doesnt hold a lot of head, and the color saturation is not very deep, i expected more intense red, especially with the wine barrel treatment. still a beauty to the translucent ruby toned brew. the nose here is cool, cherries sure, medicinal and funky with the brett, but also hints of cranberry and raspberry in play, plus the fruitiness of the wine, not grenache specific to my nostrils, but red wine for sure, as much wood as fruit it seems, and heavy musty funk, still kind of wet, and pretty spirited acidity too. the flavor is balanced, funk before fruit now, a weird brett profile, not as dry as anticipated and kind of separate from the wood rather than intertwined with it, a weird observation in a style like this but its true. big red wine character is amazingly compatible with the cherries, i love that element of this. the base flanders sour type is a cool choice, this is puckery for sure, but its also really dynamic and mature. more raspberry character, pie cherries, a little less intensity and depth to the fruit than expected, but i like this side of the style too, and think this is a real unique take on it overall. not under carbonated but a little mellow there. just a tad disjointed, but a special beer, overpriced at near 30 bucks a go, but these propolis beers are always special and this one certainly is too. sour, fruity, funky, oaken, yummy, seems set for a long life in the cellar too.

2019-01-19
2017 bottle, capped waxed and corked, served in a WABL sample glass. Purchased it at the brewery after the kinetic skulpture race a couple years ago.

Pours a honey amber color with a medium sized creamy head and not a lot of visible carbonation. Smell is tart and funky / brett. Definitely fruity, maybe I could interpret the fruitiness as cherry.

Taste is tart and funky -- maybe split between the two profiles. I'd like it a bit more on the tart side, I think. Fruit profile comes across pretty similar to the smell -- it's definitely fruity, and I could be convinced pretty easily to interpret it as cherry but that's not necessarily clear to me without the convincing.

Mouthfeel is smooth, light, kind of velvety. Overall, it's good.