Kriek De Hill
Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pours a dark pink color, maybe red, with a light pink head. A bit acetic for a kriek, but there is some cherry in there and a fair amount of lactic acid. Not terribly complex, but decent. The flavor is also quite heavy on the vinegar and lactic acid making this a rather intense drinking experience. Some cherry flavor and a bit of lemon peel.

 

 

Thanks to RiekerStarBrew for sharing this at his recent sour tasting- poured from the bottle into a goblet.

The color is a hazed rosy shade with deep red accents, plenty of yeast gives a creamy appearance. The cap is thin cream color. The smell is fruity with lots of cherry tart scents, very floral almost vanilla influenced from the wood with oak and mild lemony sour accent in the aroma. The feel is pretty darn sour and yeasty with mild tangy lactic influence and gentle woody texture with moderate carbonation and light sweetness.

The taste is very full of fruit with a slightly acidic taste, mild vinegar tinges with slight tannic tart cherry skin and mild lactic sharpness, almost worcestershire like with the sweet and woody character in the finish. The beer is very unique, lots of sourness with a little fruitiness, could use a tad sweet to counter the tart cherry but expressive and shows the wood aging well.

A - This one has a lot of differences as far as appearance goes. First two pours are a clear amber color. No head, no lacing. Subsequent pours start to get cloudy with sediment. This was after I let it sit for about 20 mins. Last 4 ounces looked like tomato juice. Kinda turned off by the looks.

S - Vinegar and sour cherries. Smell quite a bit of the oak. Decent amount of funk as well. Very nice smell.

T - First pour was very tart and crisp. A bit like smarties. Sour cherries and bite the tongue. Nice funky finish with a bit of acidity. Towards the end of the bottle, you get much less sour character and more of just a cherry juice.

M - Kinda thin with very little carbonation. Kinda thought that might be the case with the lack of head. Subsequent pours thicken things up, but just because there is so much sediment.

O - This could be a really good beer, and I could deal with a bit of sediment. Problem is, out of a 25oz bottle, you maybe only get 18oz of a clean pour. Just too much stuff left in the bottle. Also, at $25.00 a bottle, not really sure it's worth it.

thrilled to finally open this one as i pop the cork it almost takes a light out so i know it is still very much alive. poured into a tulip and enjoyed on 5.13.11

he pour was nice enough, light pink tint to a very cloudy and sediment filled golden liquid. Smooth head of white came up over the top and settled down slowly but finally left the top bare. The aroma was light raspberries, hints of oak, and only a touch of sour. but as it warms it really starts to come into its own. really sour and tart aroma and flavors, still loaded with fruit tones and rich raspberries. light and clean finish. tart and dry it begs you to come back for more.

overall a simply fantasitc beer that just looks like it will never get around.

Bottle from awesome girlfriend, from Wilmington location.
Pours a very cloudy auburn color. Looked just like apple cider.Looks nice... I love my IKEA bourbon glass... dump the entire thing in it with little head... no lacing...
Actually smells like a turned Apple cider... not bad though.... sour and vinegar is strong.
taste is very tart, not as tart as a cascade kriek, but still. Damn tart. cherries are present, and to be honest, the mouthful is fantastic. the carbonation, while lacking in the glass, is perfect on the palate. the mouthful is fantastic. this, while not the best tasting, is one of the best overall... well done.

2009 rate.

Bottle from the Wilmington location. Pours a really clear rose with a thin white head, great lacing. A looker. Pretty wild nose with sour cherries, brett, some vinegar must, and a higher lactic sourness. Really soft in the mouth. Quite sour, cherries and strawberries. Vinegar touch is somewhat off-putting, but not nearly as bad as with the Lambic de Hill. Nicely done, but I just cannot get into the vinegar profile in this. Others may dig it more.

Thanks to Exiled for sharing this bottle. From the Wilmington, DE location.

The beer pours a hazy brown-orange color with a white head. The aroma is very tart. I get a ton of tart cherries and a little bit of malt.

The flavor is also very nice. There is some cherry and oak notes, along with a tad bit of sweetness from the cherries. The thing that stand out is the extreme sourness. The beer is very puckering and makes your mouth water after every sip. The beer gets more and more sour as it warms.

Medium mouthfeel and medium carbonation.

Appearance: Pour is very murky, a muddy strawberry-ruby-cherry-red with pink edges.

Smell: Not nearly as pronounced as the taste. Sour cherries, vinegar, and oak with some funk notes in the backdrop.

Taste: The initial sip is bracingly sour, followed by sour and sweet cherries, vinegar, oak, funk, and vanilla

Mouthfeel: A bit flat, otherwise full and silky

Drinkability: Of the three Iron Hill sours that I have tried this week (Kriek, Lambic, and Framboise) I felt this was head and shoulders above the rest. Very good, it could hold its own against some of its belgian counterparts. Could use just a hint of carbonation (true of all Iron Hill sours I have sampled). THe sourness slows you down a bit but otherwise very drinkable and enjoyable

Poured a translucent copper with a pink undertone going on. Head was very VERY light pink, nearly white and pretty thin.

Aroma was of sour cherry, oak, and some heavy barnyard funk going on.

Taste is a tart and sour cherry and follows up with the nose with an oak and barnyard funk. Some vanilla sneaks it way in on latter sips. Rather dry. I feel a hangover coming on tomorrow with this one.

Pretty solid lambic. Have had better and worse. The bottle was over $20 and at the brewpub only, which is what I would pay at the store for some Cantillion so I don't think I'll be buying it again.

Dark pale red without much carbonation. The slightest amount of brett in the aroma and a strong vinegar smell. There really isn't many cherries to be found. It's like a sweaty sock filled with blue cheese and dipped in acetone. Taste is highly acidic and vinegary. Acetobacter is taking over this one like the framboise but it's not as overwhelming. This one is a little more drinkable but I'm having some trouble finding the cherries.

Picked up this bottle on my last trip out there...looked interesting enough. 375ml bottle served in a Stone Levitation flute...

A - pours with about an eighth inch of sudsy loose foam, very light pink in color. settles within a couple minutes to a thin film. the beer is hazy, ruby grapefruit in color.

S - very vinegary, with some musty basement before a lightly sweet layer of sour cherries joins in. a super sharp piercing sourness cuts through every whiff. pleasant.

T - starts off with juicy cherries and raspberries on top of wet oak...lingering vanilla like sweetness and a sharp citric almost lemon-like acidity.

M - weak point here, the cork was hard to get out but barely yielded a healthy "pop" from carbonation...there barely is any. quite a shame, as it would really liven up and cut into the intense sourness. finishes dry.

D - a solid attempt gone a little awry. this is insanely sour, even coming from someone who could eat sour patch kids for breakfast. hurt by a struggling mouthfeel and could use a little more subtlety.