Cantillon

Given all the talk of Cantillon scarcity I'd guess a half-chewed beermat and a crayon drawing of Jean.

 

Cantillon is absolutely worth seeking out if you are interested in trying funky sours in their purest and, IMO, best form. The reason they are so highly regarded is that they are probably the most traditional lambic brewery in the world.

If by "BIG ones" you mean rare/highly sought after ones, be aware that a CR or BT alone almost certainly wouldn't land you something like Crianza Helena or Don Quijote. To start off though, I think you would be very well served by seeking out the Classic Gueuze as well as one blended with fruit like Rosé de Gambrinus or Kriek 100% Lambic. All of those are much easier to get your hands on, and it will give you a great idea of what Cantillon is all about, as well as whether or not it's worth your effort to trade for their rarer beers.

 

BT and CR should be able to easily get you the harder-to-get things, like Lou Pepes or Fou Foune. But you may as well start out with the Kriek, Gueuze, and Rose de Gambrinus (their framboise). Those should be significantly easier to trade for, but will require something a step above locals.

 

Order a shipment overseas. With shipping the regular 75cl's are around $20 bucks a bottle. Imho, 5% lambics are just to weak. I would take the beefy RR regulars over the best Cantillons every day of the week and twice on Sundays. My wife likes them a lot so I keep them in the house at all times.

 

How is 5%abv too weak when they can bring all the flavour that you want in a Lambic?

 

I guess I'm more of a fan of american wild ales partly because of the heavier abv tones. For the light style Cantillon makes some good ones, if I'm going to get heartburn I might as well enjoy a buzz with it...

 

Yeah, if anything I'm often put off when American brewers make sours that end up around 8, 9, 10%+ abv. It doesn't fit the style and there seems to be little reason for doing it other than the fact that US beer geeks like all their beers BIG!

 

Same here. Mind you, if I get a chance to try them, I will.

 

The off-the-shelf ones... Ie. the ones you can probably order from overseas are classic Gueze, rose, brouscella grand cru, and Kriek. Iris can also be found time to time. Their rarer but still regular stuff include st. Lamvinus, the Lou peep series, vigneronne, Fou Foune, and cuvée st. Guillose. These are the ones you should start with to get a good sense of what they do. Everything I listed is more than fair game for you to get if you offer up BT or CR.

The rare stuff include blabaer, crianza, jean chris nomad, and 50north4east. You can probably land those with some combo of BT and CR.

Beyond that, stuff like don Quijote, Loerik, sputter duyvil, and other one offs are almost not even worth pursuing. They''re near impossible to find someone who'll admit they have one, much less willing to trade it.

 

yeah I agree.

Veritas 003, Consecration, Temptation and the 7abv + wilds like DDG, Supp, etc... are trying too hard.

 

They're completely different animals IMO. However, the short answer is, I'm willing to wager that anyonewho's had both would say that even though RR makes some of the best American sours, they don't hold a candle to Cantillon.

 

d

As others said alike in some ways but different in more. I love both styles and breweries but you need to do yourself a favor a give a classic gueuze a try. Just drank a 750 tonight with some hickory smoke BBQ chicken
Perfection
It's so good when it touches your lips

 

I can bring a Classic Gueuze, but I'm down to a couple paltry 375mls...

 

As far as being new to sours, what types/specific brews have you had? Lambics, guezes, American wild ales, etc?

 

It should be stated, don't start with something like Beatification. If you want to try sours, try something like Petrus Aged Pale or Oro de Calabaza and work your way up to Cantillons.

 

I will take Cantillon or 3F over RR any day! I just don't think the RR measure up in terms of depth of flavour!