Popping My Cherry

Echte Kriek 6.8%

Now, I'm not a fan a fruit beers really. They're often overly sweet and a bit thin, straying as far from beer as possible, or they're made from hardcore Lambic beers. Both have their place, and the latter I really appreciate and want to like (but wild yeast is just a bit too funky for this boy) but I guess it's prevented me from delving further. So I took a deep breath and plonked one in my basket.

To increase my apprehension, I noticed the bottle cap sported the same emblem as the Duchesse de Bourgogne; that of the Verhaeghe brewery. The Duchesse was a Flemish Red Ale, matured in an old-fashioned way, allowed to mingle with lactobacilli and wild yeast (cue funkiness). The Red Ale didn't take this writer's fancy so I wasn't hopeful.

In complete contrast to age-old traditions and idiosyncratic yeast strains, Echte Kriek couldn't have looked more like Vimto if it tried. The head was as tight and frothy as fizzy pop, with a tinge of pink to it, whilst the ale itself was a vibrant red. Were things looking up? 

Yes, as it happened, they were. The aroma was gorgeous, thick with sour cherries and a lovely warm spiciness. Cherries have that interesting headiness to them on their skins; there's an Eastern, musky scent that isn't quite fruity. This beer smelled of all that loveliness, plus a bit of pep and zing.

The texture was very frothy too. There's plenty of gas in this beer, but it doesn't make it too much like fizzy pop, it gives it a Champagnesque edge. 

The taste is a balance of bittersweet and... well, bittersweet. The Lambic beer is mouth-strippingly dry and refreshing but then follows a sweet, sticky finish. It makes your mouth want another wash of the dry stuff to counterbalance the viscous tang left over. The cherries offer an initial sweetness, which then develops into a sourness. As you can see, these two elements dovetail wonderfully, offering plenty of sensation as well as taste. All the while the exotic muskiness of the cherry lingers.

What I love about this beer is that it teaches me a lesson; fruit Lambic beers exist for a reason: they make Lambics drinkable. In this instance it proves that they can be delicious too. It's not alcopoppy, as some can lean towards and it includes enough fruit to make it big on the taste front. I really want to like in-your-face Lambics, I really do. I remember getting very excited before trying a Cantillon Rose de Gambrinus (a Raspberry Lambic from a very serious brewer of these beers) and just wasn't man enough to enjoy it. I ploughed on through, 'enjoying the experience' but I wouldn't buy another. Echte Kriek, however... same again please!

Echte Kriek - 9

http://www.brouwerijverhaeghe.be/ (Flemish only)