Brabantiae
Brasserie Cantillon

Not holding up well. Chlorine flavor very predominant.

Bottled 11/19/18
Consumed 1/13/23

Can I say that I am surprised that I love a lower abv beer as much as this? Usually I prefer a higher abv as they have more oomph. This is so wonderfully complex and soft and pillowy that would be impossible at a higher abv. I don't get much on the nose though, so that's a negative. I can smell a bit of funk and bitterness, but not a lot. On the pallet I love the soft smooth feel. There's some bitterness but it's not too tart. There's a bit of funk, but not overly so. I will drink this entire bottle so quickly tonight.

 

 

 

Brought from my home cellar to share it with my best-beer-friend Mario, after an Other Half can. This bottle was cellared for 4 years after being bottled on 2018.

Poured into a BrewDog snifter.

A: Body is light yellow with not that much solids as expected. Head is white but fades quickly.
S: The aroma is very mellowy and soft due to the port wine barrels. It brings you memories of molasses, honey, yellow sugar, lighter fruits jams. The funkiness, though present, is way too faded.
T: The taste is very interesting as the sharp edges of a Geuze are now a lot rounder due to the residual sugars that a port wine barrel aging inputs to a beer.
M: Body-wise, it's light - not as light as a regular Gueuze for that matter but it's still very drinkable, soft but with a light acidity kick.
O: Would love to have this once again in the future. Not sure how am I going to do that.

 

25 Nov 2018. Slight copper-hued body, a touch darker than bio. A mild sherry background throughout, lemon, cobwebs and that signature brewery funk. Damp hay. Lighter medium bodied, good carbonation. Has a mildly oaky, slightly oxidized finish.

 

750ml bottle at share. Pours out a cloudy, peach colored body with a light, airt head. Aroma is yeasty, funky, light citrusy/lemon notes. Taste is sour up front, citrus peel, lemons and yeasty funk, floral, fruity. Dries out towards the finish.

Pours a deep golden, bordering on amber, touch of redness to it. Nice creamy head as well. The aromas of red pepper, funk, and lacticity are all there coupled with a subtle hint of sweetness from, I'd assume, the port barrels. It's got the funk you'd expect from a Cantillon, but not as much of that red pepper, it's less sharp or acidic. It's got kind of cherry pie undercurrent that provides both sweetness and tartness. There's some wine barrel oaky tannins as well. In some ways, this errs flavor profile wise more towards an Oud Bruin or Flanders Red without any of that harsh acidity or major cider notes. It does in a subtle way. In the best way, this is so unique. I really enjoyed this.

 

750 mL bottle. Bottled 2019. Pours with almost no bubbles. Lightly hazy golden. Smells of dried grass and sour citrus. Stone fruit acidity and oak. Tastes more acutely of red wine. Oak. Sour citrus. Dried grass. Cheesy funk in the finish with lingering oak. Low carbonation. Really low. Strong sourness. A little more sluggish and sour than their standard gueuzes. The port isn't immediately apparent, but it does differentiate it. Good.

2018 vintage. Generously shared by my bro at Thanksgiving. I am truly thankful to try this beer. Plenty of cantillon funk. Lemon. Hay. Port on the finish. Tastes young. A delight but I’d suggest cellaring this beer for several more years.

 

 

 

A perfect amber, starting off chill fogged but calming to translucent, with a moderate but dense white cap that retains well for a short period, slowly settling into a fine bubbly collar.

Smell immediately and throughout two slow pours is champagne. Popping, zesty and brightly sparkling white wine. A closer examination brings toasted graham and hints of caramel malt.

Taste continues that unique-to-Cantillon character, and revisiting the nose, I realize this is the toasty, nutty character of the Port wine barrel. The barrel adds a uniquely mature, bitter element to the fluffy, medium-full body, which comes to a softly, cleanly dry finish that is impressively delicate.

Aside from those barrel notes, which also bring hints of amaretto, the primary experience--which I seemed to have glossed over--is a lightly tart grapefruit-orange gueuzeyness with very low acidity and minimal funk. It's a deilghtful lambic and probably my favorite non-fruited Cantillon thus far.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The new batch, absolutely special gueuze right out of the gate

Gueuze aged in Port barrels. Spirit aroma, Cantillon minerality, flavors of wine but not necessarily grapes if that makes any sense. Got better and better as it opened up.

 

 

 

New 2018 bottling at Moeder Lambic SAINS tasting event.

 

 

Pours a saturated, glowing, yellow to golden color with no head at all, since this is entirely flat.

Smells of burned, charred barrels with an ancient fruit layer wafting into the nostrils, reminding of the heavy bodied wine it once held. There is a subtle, honeyed, leathery funkiness atop, adding just a subtle sour hint to the nose.

Drinks soft, fairly light bodied, almost watery if it wasn‘t for the ongoing sourness in this.

Tastes of honey rubbed barnyard funk with an extra portion of moldy wood branches, which have been cut down a long time ago, but got long forgotten in a humid environment. A note of dried mushrooms settles in afterwards, as well as a hint of lighter cream cheese. Then there is a watery dullness, which just won‘t evolve on the palate at all, which is unusual in a lambic and unfortunate at the same time.

This does just not suffice, as it is too one dimensional on the palate. Neither does it head into an AWA direction, nor is it convincing by its subtleness, it just misses depth of flavor.

 

 

1991 bottle that I got in a trade. Cap was rusted, cork completely dissolved. Decanted it. Color was a deep orange-bronze and very clear except the part that was left in the bottle, which was gross looking. Very oxidized, musty aroma, old books, lemon, wet wood with a bit of rot in it, leather, peaches. Body was very oily, flat, silky smooth, full. Favor less musty than the nose, some honey, lemon, leather, old books, wood, cork. This definitely was past it prime, and I suppose I should have opened it when I first got it, but still it has help up remarkably well for a 26 year old gueuze. I look forward to trying the new one in 2019.