3F Schaerbeekse Kriek

I'm sure there are bottles out there somewhere here and there, but they're unlikely to be shelf turds as the term is used here. Worse, good luck finding more Schaerbeekse Kriek from 3F in the future.

Armand bottled only a very small quantity in 2012, none in 2013 and there are no plans to bottle it in 2014. There are too few Schaerbeekse trees left in the area around Brussels today to make a reasonably sized batch that would be affordable (according to Armand). So, for now, he is not planning on making it in the short term...but didn't rule out making it at all.

That said, he and Michael have plans to plant Schaerbeekse cherry trees on a plot of land not far from the current brewing site in Beersel. With dedication, good fortune and time, Schaerbeekse Kriek may return to the regular rotation of 3F beers.

You may be able to find a similar (and I use the term loosely) flavor in Hanssens Scaranbecca Kriek.

It uses the same cherries. Hanssens is strictly a blender (they never replaced their brewing equipment after the copper was looted in WWII). Though they purchase the same wort (Boon, Girardin and Lindemans) that 3F uses, their normal Oude Gueuze and Oude Kriek are quite different from those made by 3F due to their techniques for lambic fermentation, blending, etc. That's why I said *might* be *similar*. I've had both and they are not the same. Also, I've only seen it in 375 mL bottles and the price around Boston seems to be in the $26-$32/bottle range.

 

I'm very curious about this! I purchased two 2012 375ml bottles on BIAB recently that Kurt had listed as Schaerbeekse Kriek bottles. Do you know if there is any indication on the label that says anything about the cherries or confirms the fact that they are actually SBK bottles? I couldn't find anything.

 

Definitely try to land some golden blend. To me that beer is better than hommage, fou, and schaerbeekse.

 

What about 2011? Was there a large amount produced

 

Pretty sure I could go to a liquor store right now and get a Golden Blend. At $25 for a 375ml it scares most people away. I get the feeling a lot of stores don't even bother ordering it though

 

never seen a 375 mL bottle in person, so i can't say if they exist.

the US labels say "schaerbeekse kriek" with schaerbeekse over the word kriek.

the older Belgian/EU labels (when it was all red text against a white the giant "3" graphic) say "Kriek" in a larger font over "van schaerbeekse krieken" below it. the more modern (i.e., 2012) labels say "oude kriek" like the regular kriek with the words "van schaerbeekse krieken" in much smaller font below. kurt usually sells the EU bottles, so if you get one like that, awesome for you!

 

They aren't too hard to come by right now. But they just got retired so in a few years they will become real hard to find and maybe get to whale status.

You should be able to trade for it pretty easily. Offer up $4$ of some limited shelf and you could probably get a bottle or two.

 

If it's seriously sitting on the shelves around you hit me up! Lets work something out.

 

I'll check the next time I'm at the liquor store and get back to you. Sucks to hear its been retired

 

@tacosandbeer mentioned that they should definitely have "schaerbeekse kriek" spelled out somewhere on the label. And per your comment, yes they are EU bottles.

I just looked at BIAB and they don't have them available anymore. But I seem to remember the description saying that the specific bottling date (Jan 2012) was actually SBK. I remember that was my main motivation for grabbing those. I'll have to take another look at my bottles tonight to see if there's anything I missed.

 

Curious about this too as I have a bottle of 2011 750ml in my cellar.

 

...so gents? pics of labels?

 

I was under the impression that http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/2216/17647/ was 100% schaerbeekse cherries while http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/2216/84111/ is only 35% schaerbeekse cherries.

I will root around in the cellar for a van schaerbeekse krieken shortly for pictures.

 

750ml

 

the two beers are one and the same...another duplicate in the system. there's only one 3F schaerbeekse kriek.

the 35% refers to the approximate weight/volume of cherries added to a volume of lambic for aging. in a typical 600L barrel, there would be just under 400L of lambic and just over 200 kg of cherries. i wonder if t's either a belgian or EU requirement to put that number on the label when the appellation 'oude kriek' is used? the american scharbeekse label doesn't mention any percentage.

if you look at the euro label for oude kriek, the back also indicates 35% cherries, while the US label makes no such claim.

then there's hommage. the euro label indicates 30% payottenland raspberries and 5% cherries, while the us labels only indicate 30% payottenland raspberries.

consistency isn't the strong suit here. YMMV.

 

Thanks! Good to know! Makes sense too; hadn't thought about the Hommage labels.