I saw this one at my beer shop yesterday so I picked it up. Just wanted to give everyone a heads up.... don't expect a beer similar to many Belgian Krieks. I didn't really read anything about it before opening it, but opened it and was very thrown off. Not very similar to a Belgian style Kriek lambic at all. Here's the description: "Fruits have long been incorporated in the brewing of beer, particularly in Belgium. The brewing traditions of this stylistically prolific nation are the inspiration for Brewers’ Cut Kriek, a Belgian-style Brown Ale of subtle caramel and dark malt character aged with tart cherries from the Willamette Valley. The beer finishes clean and dry, with a hint of cherry pie enticing you back for more." So effectively, it's a brown ale with some hints of cherry. Not tart at all. Long story short, it's a good beer. I think the name really screwed it up. If you go into it expecting a Kriek, you'll be very disappointed. If you go into it expecting a brown ale with some hints of cherry, you'll enjoy it. This is a great example as to why some American brewers should not use a Belgian style for it's name.
I was on the fence about ordering one from Bangers yesterday, until I read what reviews I could find. I was in the mood for something slightly sour, not a brown ale with a hint of cherry juice.
While often associated with lambics and other sours, isn't kriek simply Belgian for "cherry" and not indicative of a style?
Is it good as a brown ale with tart cherries? So many great brews have been out recently, not sure if I want to track this one down.
Interestingly enough Scots Gone Wild is probably their closest version of a Cherry Sour and doesn't taste very much like a Scotch ale at all. Amazing beer tho.
You're probably thinking about Benedictum, which had actual cherries added to it. And was a better beer. I feel like the world is always against me on this, but it's the goddamn truth.
Thanks for the PSA. Was looking forward to this and will now pass in favor of trying Independence Redbud and the Destihl wild series. I think this naming is intentionally misleading, based on well-known customs and styles in beer, and will re-think my patronage of Real Ale.
Man...if that's really how you feel then you have no patronage to rethink. Being upset over a beer's name and style is asinine. There are plenty of beers on shelves that don't taste like the style they advertise to be. See any overly hoppy pale ale or session IPA as one doesn't fall within a particular style (as you seem so upset about) and the other doesn't exist. Nowhere that I have seen has Real Ale advertised this as a sour beer. So if your presumptions are leading you to stop purchasing beer from one of the most consistent and quality breweries in the state then that really shows how childish you're being about this. I look forward to trying this beer and expecting what their website advertises this as - a Belgian style brown ale aged on sour cherries giving hints of cherry pie. I can only hope your post was facetious but being the internets and all, it's hard to tell without the smileys.
I think that was sarcasm, but really I don't know, my meter could be way off Though, I will say that Real Ale has never advertised this in any way as a lambic, so I don't know why people think it should be one. Without having tried it, I would say it sounds more similar to New Belgium Frambozed Raspberry Brown, just with Cherries instead.
In case you still care, RA has put this beer into barrels and added more cherries. When I was at the brewery on Saturday it was refermenting away and I was told it should come out on the other side as a more traditional kriek. So you now get what you want and can rethink your patronage rethinking.
This had the faintest of faint cherry hint...but I still thought the beer was great for a medium brown ale. Was unaware of it being bottled, but it's worth a try.
