Boon Oude Kriek Mariage Parfait
Brouwerij Boon

 

 

Very good cherry flavored beer. Drank in a Teku glass. Had no head on it whatsoever after pouring it. I wouldn't buy it again, but I am glad I tried it as it was very enjoyable.

375ml bottle into a teku. 2014 vintage.

Looks good, soft burgundy body. Small head fizzes away quite quickly, no lacing

Tart cherry aroma with a hint of oak.

On tasting, cherries much stronger than suggested by the nose. Tart without being drying, fairly sour, a touch of wood.

Mouth between medium and full, finish tart cherry, and at the very end, a light dryness comes in.

Overall, very good kriek lambic, holds up very well after 8 years.

2015 vintage. Pours a deep cherry red, light pink 0.5" head that quickly settles out, no lacing. Nose is oak, must, wine lees, cherry and cherry wood, mild lactic notes. Much of the fruit has sapped out of this over the years - there's an initial hit of sourness at the start, but tannic oak takes over rather quickly and sticks through to the finish. What is there of the fruit registers as sour cherry (I'd also buy raspberry), but it's far in the background. Feel is great - so very smooth and drinkable, the only thing keeping me from drinking quarts of the stuff is price. Would like to have fresh version to drink alongside to see how much the fruit is meant to shine.

 

 

 

2011 vintage bottle. 2033 best before date so guessing this is a 2013 release.

Pours a kind of deep purple with red hues. Kind of in that Coca Cola/Dr Pepper meets Dimetapp grape vein in color. That classic musty cherry character on the nose. Even after all of this time, it's incredibly fruit forward. The cherry character is sweeter than I anticipated. Having this, I'm wanting to get some Intense Red some time soon. This has moderate levels of acidity and funk. Overall, it's pleasant to drink, but I feel like there's less lambic character than I would like.

 

 

Shared 375 ml bottle at local tasting, vintage 2011. Hazy deep red colour, moderate pink head. Lovely aroma of brettanomyces / farmhouse, sour cherries, crushed cherry kernels and almonds. Sour cherries galore in the flavour, tart finish. Classy beer.

 

First Lambic . . . didn't really know what to expect. Not as much head as expected. Bottle was dated 2018. Beautiful red as it poured . . . not nearly as sour as we heard possible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A 375ml corked and caged bottle, 2018 vintage, with a best before date of 24th June 2039. Poured into a Boon stemmed glass.

Appearance: A cloudy cherry red colour, with a two fingered pinkish head that dissipated fairly quickly but settled to a thin cap, while leaving some nice lacing.

Aroma: Cherry, oak, apple, and a touch vinous and funky.

Taste: Light sour, tart, cherry, dried cherry, vanilla, oak, funk, with some vinous notes.

Mouthfeel: Dry, light to medium bodied with moderate carbonation.

Overall: Good cherry aroma and flavours with an interesting mix of oak, vanilla and funk.

 

375 mL cork & cage bottle bought at the LCBO early last year - Vintage 2016, best before Aug 26 2036 and served slightly chilled.

Pours deep burgundy, taking on more of a magenta-purple hue when held to a bright light. A deliberately rough pour produced about one finger of bubbly, light pink-tinged head that settled off within the next minute or so; a tight collar is the only surviving remnant. Its aroma is tart and somewhat vinous, including notes of red wine, oak and yeast funkiness; the cherries, for their part, come off decidedly sour vs. sweet, with hints of raspberry also coming through.

Fruity and flavourful, but not particularly tart/sour for a lambic. Cherries and raspberries dominate the forefront, with a mixture of bready, wheaty malt sweetness, grape must and oak following shortly thereafter. Hints of spiciness at the finish and lingering beyond - cherry pits come to mind - with sweet cherry pie, mild funk, oak astringency and tart cherries carrying on into the aftertaste. Medium in body, with low-ish carbonation levels that gently prickle the palate, resulting in a fairly smooth, fulfilling texture on the tongue. Absolutely no sign of that 8% whatsoever.

Final Grade: 4.24, an A-. While it's not as if I've reviewed scores of them, I will say that Boon's Kriek Mariage Parfait is one of the better krieks I've sampled over the years. Maybe marginally overrated if you're going by its very impressive BA score... but given the fact that I don't drink all that many lambics, fruited or otherwise, there's no real reason to take my word for it - try this beer for yourself if you can find it, and then report back with your own findings. I regret not picking up a second bottle while I could, because I'd like to see how this fares over the long term - I've seen some far-out expiry dates, but 20 years out from the bottling date is so ridiculous that I need to test it for myself... assuming I live that long.

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Best by 04/07/2037 Batch #74306

Medium dark, translucent, ruby-red, with slight pink head, that dissipates to a thin ring.

Smell is dried &/or cooked cherries, similar to pie filling, minus the sweetness. Light acetic notes , and faint tannic wood aromas. Mellows, and blends a bit as it warms.

Taste is dried,vinous cherry, some oak and leather, finishing with the barest hint of cherry+lambrusca sweetness. Some very light bitterness lingers after swallow.

Feel is light-medium, despite the 8%abv, but not watery. Some light, very,very fine carbonation hits the tongue towards finish. Just enough to let you know that it's beer, and not wine. Some just noticeable, slight warming at the back of the palate , and overall, as I get through about 8oz . The only indication that this is 8% , rather than 4%-ish.

Overall, very enjoyable. First time having this , & definitely need to get more.

2020-03-27
375ml bottle served in a little Cantillon glass. 2015 vintage.

Pours a dark ruby with a medium sized head, fairly large for the style really. Kind of murky. Lots of carbonation. Smell is oak with a hint of funk, and lots of cherry.

Taste is bitter and fruit-skinny, moderate tartness, fair amount of oak.

Mouthfeel is dry and light. Overall, good beer.

 

 

Muted cherry flavor. Good carbonation. Pleasing dark red color.

2015 bottle.

L: Pours a ruby red that is clear but very dark requiring a lot of light to see its color. Head is a dark pink with good retention.
S: Sweet cherries. Not a strong aroma.
T: Subtle cherry. Creamy sweet vanilla flavors. Not as much cherry as I would expect and not funky.
F: Medium-low body, carbonation lower than expected.

Underwhelming. The whole beer is a bit muted. The nice lambic funk is missing, the cherry flavor is a bit muted and what cherry flavor is present is not my favorite.