F: silky; punchy with its funky tartness... every nook of the palate feels coated with a thin, gummy film... the carbonation seems a bit weak, and over its course, the body gradually becomes more viscous, rounded, and syrupy, but short of laborious

Traditionally, kriek is made by breweries in and around Brussels using lambic beer to which sour cherries (with the pits) are added. [3] A lambic is a sour and dry Belgian beer, fermented spontaneously with airborne yeast said to be native to Brussels; the presence of cherries (or raspberries) predates the almost universal use of hops as a flavoring in beer. [4] T: cherry pie filling up front with a blast of tart, tangy acidity in the finish, which continues to tingle in the aftertaste while a subtly sweetish cherry cordial smatters the palate floor... moreish, but nearly too candy-like Lambics generally contain between 5-6% alcohol by volume (ABV), but the alcohol content can vary significantly depending on the style, with some having 2% or higher and others with 10% or higher. What Makes A Beer A Lambic? Our meeting with the American beer importer and connoisseur Charles Finkel in the 1970s has turned the market segment of fruit beers upside down. Charles convinced us to export our Oude Kriek to the United States by boat. What we hadn’t thought about was that the swell of the waves would reactivate the fermentation causing the bottles to explode and the corks to pop out during the trip. A real scene from Tintin… To avoid that, we have developed an alternative production method for our kriek. We use a non-concentrated, unsweetened filtrate from freshly squeezed cherries that we macerate with lambic of at least one year before pasteurising everything.Our meeting with American importer Charles Finkel in the 1970s revolutionised the fruit beer segment. Charles convinced us to export our old kriek to the United States by boat. What we had not thought of is that the movement of the waves would reactivate the fermentation process and cause the corks to pop during the trip. It was like something out of The Adventures of Tintin. To prevent that from happening, we therefore developed an alternative production method for our kriek. We use fresh, not from concentrate, unsweetened cherry filtrate which we blend with lambic that is at least one year old before fermenting & macerating for up to 3 days and pasteurising the whole batch.So the corks don't pop. The dark-red Morello cherry is a common alternative. Do not even think about using sweet cherries. They will not give you the best flavor to weight ratio.

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.You can buy traditional Kriek from the US importers of brewers like Boon and Lindemans. One example is Merchant du Vin Corporation who imports Lindemans. Another is Global Beer Network for Boon. Prices are dictated by ingredients. If a supermarket asks a brewery to brew a beer to a cheap price point it inevitably means inferior ingredients and cheaper production processes. The beers I sell are more expensive because they cost more to make. The best and freshest ingredients that the breweries can find. We said it before, our family does everything differently! De Kriek Lindemans is a good example of this. Because of the demand for Kriek, there are not enough Schaerbeek cherry trees to cater to it. That is why other cherries are taken into consideration. What Other Cherries Can Be Used? After blending fruit and bottle conditioning, some brewers age Kriek for a few more years. This is a testament to the power of fermentation as a preservative. How Long Can You Age a Kriek?

Some brewers age Kriek for five years after all the finishing processes. Do remember that the Lambic base is already aged a year. It all depends on the flavor profile they are trying to achieve. If you want it sourer, push your aging for longer. For fresher fruitiness, aging for a few months to a year is a good duration. Do Krieks Age Well? Belgian-Style Ales recognizes and complies with all federal, state, and local laws regarding sale of alcohol to adults only. No deliveries will be made to a visibly intoxicated person. Like all Lambics, Krieks age well. Unfortunately, there are trade-offs. Aging for longer allows the yeasts to develop their associated flavors in the beer. If these flavors are not what you want to emphasize in your Kriek, brewers recommend one to two years of aging.

8 of the Best Cherry Beers

Even more important to Krieks than color, though, is authenticity in flavor. “The style hinges on the quality of the fruit,” Priest contends. “The quality of the underlying beer is important and needs to be complementary, but if it’s even a bit boring that can be a perfectly serviceable canvas for exemplary fruit. I reject any beer hoping to approximate the character with syrups or flavorings or extracts. You can’t fake cherry character… you need real cherries.” 8 of the Best Cherry Beers Kriek True beer experts describe cherry beers as Kloezak Lambics. This category of beer is sure to refresh and delight your senses. The lambic beer in Lindemans Kloek is distinguished by the addition of sour cherries juice, which adds a distinct flavor to the beer. Mort Subite is a lambic beer made with a young lambic, morello cherries, and a three-year-old lambic. Petrus Cherry Chocolate Nitro Quad is a Belgian Quadruple brewed with six different types of malt and infused with the juice of the finest cherries only, with a hint of chocolate in the finished product. A Slaapmutske is an old school brown cherry beer with a distinctive oak aftertaste due to the maturation process, which takes place in oak barrels. The Titanic Cherry Dark is a dark blonde ale with a hint of US and Slovenia hops. Cherry Beer Brands Kriek does not need to be a Lambic. You could use other sour beers as a platform for your next recipe. There is much room for creativity. However, if you did do that, it would become a style of Kriek. Kriek vs. Gueuze The cherries we use to make Kriek Boon are carefully harvested. They are cleaned immediately after harvesting: the stalks and leaves are removed and only the cherries and their pits remain. The cherries are frozen immediately and stored in our special cold store. This allows us to make beer with fresh cherries all year round. We use no less than 300 tonnes of fresh cherries every year to make all our Kriek beers . Vintage Your ratio of cherries should be at least 20% by weight to the volume of Lambic. Specifically, at least 1.6 pounds per gallon (200 grams per liter).

Of all fruity beers, Belgian kriek beers are the most renowned. Its unique and sweet taste is loved by many. Belgian kriek beer (also known as Creek or cherry beer) is a perfect beer to drink on a warm, sunny day. It’s sweet but refreshing and has an average alcohol by volume of about 5%. I'm proud to work with the best independent breweries for who making great beers is their guiding principle. I want to sell beer that the brewers have used their imagination and craft for, and chosen the best ingredients to make the best beers they can bursting with flavour and innovation. Belgian Happiness offers a rich variety of kriek beers. Belgian raspberry beer, Kriek beer or peach beer, we offer them all. Find your favorite and enjoy!Kriek beer follows the same initial process of brewing Lambics. The processes branch off once you select the age of your base Lambic. Below is the outline: When it comes to blending, Gueuze traditionally requires a three-year blend. Conversely, Kriek does not need to go beyond blending with a one-year-old Lambic. I don’t sell beers that are brewed using cheap ingredients to fit a low price strategy. For the breweries I work with it’s not about making cheap beer to sell to the masses. It’s about quality. Lindemans Cherry Beer is a Belgian fruit beer that is a deliciously sweet and tart refreshment. The beer has a pale gold color, with a light carbonation and a sweet, tart cherry aroma. The taste is a refreshing blend of tart cherries, along with a hint of sweetness, and a slightly sour finish. This beer pairs wonderfully with a variety of desserts, and is a great accompaniment to a variety of cheeses. Enjoy Lindemans Cherry Beer on a hot summer day or a chilly evening to bring a little bit of Belgian flavor to your glass. Is There Alcohol In Lambic Beer? We have been adding cherries to our lambic for generations to obtain a beer with exceptional qualities.