Difference between 3F Kriek & 3F Oude Kriek?

The Scharbeeksee uses/used cherries from a particular variety found only in an area of Brussels that has basically been ubanized to the point the cherry orchards are almost gone. So no crop to use in Kreik. The Oude Kreik uses a different variety of tart cherries.

 

True and OP asked

one Is Oude Kriek and one is Schaerbeekse kriek, that is the difference. 3f doesnt have a beer simply called Kriek. But the 750 Schaerbeekse isnt retired, I believe it's rotation I have a 11 and 13.

 

Glad to hear we might see the Scharbeeksee again, you should get the mods to change the listing from retired.

But if the two are the same, then how do we get reviewers of the Kreik saying they had it side by side with the Scharbeeksee at the tasting room in Beersel?

Edit: btw, have you a pointer to a source for saying Kiek and Oude Kriek are the same? Might be helpful in getting the mods to merge the listings.

 

Correction. " Kriek and Scharbeeksee Kriek"

 

I'm well-aware of the difference between the Schaerbeekse Kriek and the Oude Kriek.

But for those of you contending that 3F Oude Kriek and 3F Kriek are different beers: again, what is the difference?

 

Great Topic!! This is an actual thread about beer, and very informative too. Lately I'm not seeing too many of these. Lot of bullshit threads.( "I get a Headache when I drink too much Heady"or " What should I do with OLD IPAS".) IPA this or IPA that. Frankly, I'm starting to get worried about this site.

 

Oude Kriek is a beer that can traditionally only be bottled. It is made by blending an older lambic that has had cherries added with a young lambic, to provide sugars for natural conditioning in the bottle. As far as I am aware, no kegged krieks use this method (basically krausening), thus cannot be called Oude.

 

Well, I'm trying to sort that out myself now the claim of identity has been raised. For example,as noted in another post, I don't see how a reviewer in the tasting room in Beersel can have the beer listed simply as Kriek in a side by side with the Scharbeeksee Kriek if they are two different beers.

 

The 3F website shows an Oude Kriek and a Oude Schaerbeekse Kriek...that's it. I just drove back from Brussels yesterday and stocked up, and the only thing available is Oude Kriek (and Oude Geuze). I think it is safe to say these are the only 2 krieks they make, and that the schaerbeekse is much harder to find because it is not released often due to the shortage of those particular cherries (as MetalMountainMastiff said he has the 11 and 13). My guess is the "Kriek" is simply the Oude Kriek.

 

Unless the Kriek is the unbottled one served in the tasting room in Beersel and is not called Oude because one of the HORAL requirements for Oude is, as noted by @AndrewK, that it be bottled and bottle fermentation take place. In either case it would rule out the Kriek being another name for Scharbeekse Kriek (as posted by MetalMountainMastiff).

 

So I think I'm sorting through my own confusion here and developing the following picture from what I already knew and from the additional information others have been providing.

Before HORAL, lots of stuff from lots of folks was being called Kriek. 3F leads the creation of the HORAL organization of lambic producers/blenders. They agree that Oude becomes part of the name to signify that a Kriek or Gueuze is produced using the traditional methods of refermentation with cherries and being bottling with some fermentation expected in the bottle. Other Krieks and Gueuzes are allowed with things like cherry juice and/or sweeteners used in the Krieks but the designation Oude is reserved the traditionally done beers.

3F gradually phases out bottling of its Kriek in favor of bottling Oude Kriek, but continues to use the name Kriek for beer served at their tasting room that comes from the cask and the also serve Oude Kriek from the bottle.

Once upon a time the Scharbeekse Cherries were the cherries of choice for Kriek but a growing shortage caused by urbanization of the orchards in the Brussels area where they were customarily grown has meant the Scharbeekse cherries are no longer as plentiful as they once were and so different tart Cherries are allowed in the Kriek and Oude Kriek and the Scharbeekse becomes worthy of its own label when some or enough are available to actually brew and bottle a Kriek with them.

(The website, being both a living document as an information source and a promotional/advertising tool provides current information about the basic line up of regularly produced beers and does not detail the history of what has happened. This site and its reviews being composed of different snapshots taken at different times by different people offers only partial glimpses of the whole.)

 

Thanks for the heads up. But I'd probably not have bought it in the first place without the word Oude in the name... :-)

 

:-)

Well that's one of the virtues of this site is that with enough different inputs a sensible picture might show up....

We'll see who else chimes in and if the representation might need modification or continues to fit. :-)