Kriekenbier
Brouwerij Cornelissen

 

In a high celebration of one of Belgium's most popular fruit, the full cherry flavor comes alive in Cornelissen's cherry ale.

Stained with the dye of both sweet and tart cherries, Kriekenbier releases a frothy, fizzy foam of blush before teasing the nose with the striking full scent of cherries and cherry pie filling. And much of that sweetness transfers to the palate effortlessly with a malty-sweet upstart of cherry candy, soda sweetness and a backbone of wafer maltiness.

The dominance of cherries continue with the middle palate. Sweet, cherry-like and remaining full on the tongue, the beer invites nuances of cinnamon spice, allspice, peppercorn and vinous spice for a shy balance and a welcomed set of complexity. Hints of vanilla step in late as the ale takes a mildly bitter hop bite and a slight winey tone.

Full flavored and medium-full in body, the cherry ale simply finishes sweet for those who prefer their beers resembling the taste and texture of cherry sodas as a sense of cloying defines the largely one-dimensional sweet cherry taste.

From the bottle, it pours a lightly hazy cherry red color with a modest light pink head that soon diminishes to a light pink ring. Maraschino cherry in the nose. The mouth gets the same, a bit too sweet overall for the type, but my wife would have loved it. Be forewarned: a bit sweet!

Medium-dark red color with a light pink head that lasted only a few minutes to just a light covering of the beer in the glass. There's a nice cherry taste, almost candy-like, and the beer is probably a little sweeter than the style guidelines.