Why the hype about Cantillon (in the US)?

It used to sit on the shelf collecting dust at one point here, but then got popular... Now, what he said above ^

Ive only had a few Cantillon, but give me some Rare Barrel, Wicked Weed Funkatorium or Almanac sours anyday, personally.

 

That's true. 5/6years ago Cantillion was easy to get. Not many stores carried it but the ones that did always had it on the shelf. No one thing started it but suddenly it became the in beer for a small number of drinker. It's like what happened to Corona on a much smaller scale.
I never cared for it but a buddy of mine did and always shared it with me so I've had it often when it was easy to get.

 

It's not quite as simple as that. There are lots of other beers than are more rare in the US than Cantillon but which don't have near as much demand.

(One could argue that it's just as much or more related to the fact that US beer consumers tend to be more discerning in their tastes. )

 

I would agree the reason is because it’s rare. However, the style as a whole is enjoyed and highly sought after by many beer people in the US and the the OG Belgian producers and blenders are natural must haves of these types of beers. Pedigree.

And I will add my own personal opinion that the American made versions of these types of beers are not on the same level as the Belgian ones that I’ve had. So this also contributes.

Comparing against something like Drei Fonteinen is a moot point. For me, in my area, they’re both equally as hard to find (you will NEVER see them in the any beer store where I live) and equally as expensive if you do see them at a store in NYC, at least for the basic blends. So it’s not necessarily an issue of why Cantillon is hyped and others are not. Most of the ones that are hard to find here are hyped.

Most likely by me you will find Boon and Tilquin on the shelves, Tilquin being more expensive. I love both of them and wish I could find them more often. These sit on the shelves forever, unlike Cantillon or Drei Fonteinen would due to name recognition.

 

It is indeed true that there is a rarity factor as was mentioned by @Snowcrash000 but in my opinion there is more to the popularity of Cantillon beers beyond this rarity aspect.

I feel compelled to first caveat that I am not a big consumer of sours/wild beers so take what I state below with a grain of salt.

I have had a few Cantillon beers and I greatly enjoyed them. For my palate these beers had the qualities of being complex and pleasantly balanced. There was no one ‘thing’ that defined these beers; for example they were not just super sour. There were lots of different and ‘funky’ flavors that played well together to create a sublime drinking experience.

I have read numerous times about how Cantillon is not real popular with the Belgian beer drinkers. Well, needless to say this situation is not the case for American beer drinkers and IMO it is not just because of the rarity factor.

I just wish that the Cantillon beers available for sale in the US were more reasonably priced but considering how popular they are I have little hope that prices will ever decrease for these beers.

Cheers to Cantillon beers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

First of all, I love Cantillon. I had a bottle of Lou Pepe Kriek, way back when you could occasionally find them on the shelves for $20-25, that altered how I think about beer. Even today, I’ll splurge on some bottles of Gueuze, Kriek, and Rose de Gambrinus from Belgian Shop or another online vendor once a year or so.

That said...I’ve also done blind tastings of Gueuzes and have consistently preferred Tilquin, which I can find on the shelves for a comparatively reasonable $10 375ml. It is not clear to me that Cantillon is a head above more accessible lambics, even if the hype would assure you that it was the case.

In the United States, and especially among our coterie of beer geeks, I think that the hype of Cantillon has allowed it to become a de facto currency for the acquisition of other heavily desired beers. I wonder sometimes how much of the Cantillon that swaps hands on the trade boards is ever even consumed.

 

I think it's this as well. I also think it depends on what crowd you run with- I didn't really start hearing about the 'hype' for Cantillon until I was a regular poster here on BA. Prior to that, the fellow members of my beer club, my friends and myself were more into Gueuze so Drei Fonteinen was THE beer to look out for; and every time I seemed to see someone raving about Cantillon on these boards it was mostly about the fruited ones (Fou Foune, etc.). Took a while to connect those dots, though...

 

I've had a couple Cantillons, and while they were damn good, they didn't really strike me as being in a different class than high end fruited sours from the likes of Crooked Stave, Hill Farmstead, Allagash, etc. I certainly don't feel compelled to chase them down. I wouldn't be surprised to see them return to shelf beer status a few years down the road either, and I do think I'd pick them up from time to time if that were to happen.

 

Because in America, the harder something is to obtain, the better it is. See 23 yr Pappy.

 

This is a very good point. My first Cantillon was an eye opener in part because it was a new style for me and because I had it before Allagash had built their Koolschip and before a couple of those other breweries even existed. Shows us how far we've come.

 

Building on my earlier point, I think that Cantillon also has a lot of allure in the beer geek trading culture because it’s essentially a blue chip stock. Its reputation is secure. Due to the nature of the beer, assuming it’s properly stored, its value will never realistically depreciate. People might quibble that Fou Foune is better fresh or whatever, but as a bottle of Cantillon ages, it’s only going to be perceived as more interesting trade fodder.

Again, I wonder how much of the Cantillon that is traded on these boards finds its way into a glass.

 

I think it is always interesting to read that Belgium beer drinkers aren't too keen on Cantillon but Americans are. Of the BA community, I still believe the portion that actually seeks out Cantillon (or would if it was around) wouldn't be more than 20%. Sours on average are not near as popular as stouts. In this light, I wonder how that compares.

Or, maybe I am way undervaluing the desire for sours in the US.

 

I dunno, when I visited Belgium, we stayed in some AirBnBs, and many of the hosts/hostesses loved Cantillon. Small sample size, I know. We went to the brewery and everything we had was fantastic. Maybe Cantillon is hyped, but it's still delicious.

In my experience, the U.S. versions are either hard to get (e.g. New Glarus R&D), or not quite up to snuff, or both. I am not aware of a mass-produced, easy to get, U.S.-made gueuze that is as good as Cantillon. (Or Drie Fonteinen.) Would love to find one though.

Can't remember if it was NG Vintage R&D 2014 or 2105, but one of them I thought was damn good (the others were also quite good, just not way up there. IMO.). That wasn't mass produced though.

 

I think you are right. It’s just that the Sourpusses are very vocal in their support!

 

I really enjoy Cantillon. I think Saint Lam and the regular gueze are the finest examples of the two styles for my tastes, with the rest of the lineup great, but not best I've tasted, but close. Apparently many agree with me, and that is why they are so popular

 

Cantillon always received stellar reviews even when it sat on the shelves. It has become rare because far more Americans drink sours than used to do so, and Cantillon long has been considered one of the best sour breweries if not the best sour brewery in the world. This is not a case of scarcity driving high ratings (even though I do believe that often happens) but rather high ratings driving scarcity.

 

Tilquin!

true. although the Pappy situation has a historical aspect that adds a level that makes it an uneven comparison . because of the forced closure of the prior distilling location & subsequent closure of the original warehouse system, not to mention Bernheim shutting down too, the product became finite with a genuine cut-off point.

meaning, on top of soaring popularity, add to that, it's going to run out & of course that combo creates a hyped frenzy. the crazy thing is the hype hasn't subsided one bit since the product went past that "cut-off point".