Belgian Kriek Ale

[tyesai]

Has anyone tried the Lindemans Belgian Kriek Ale? I just bought my first bottle of it and although it is good I don't believe it really taste much like beer at all, more like a wine cooler or some fruity girly malt beverage. I was curious if this is the case with most all Lambic brews. Samething for the apricot ale, good but not like beer, more like a wine cooler.

[newportstorm]

Straight lambics, fruit lambics and gueuze are a different breed of beer. And they are beer - they're just not for everybody. Lindeman's Kriek is probably the best offering from them, imo. Their other lambics (Peche, Frramboise, Cassis) are a little on the sweet side and not as sour/tart as some other brewery's offerings - Cantillon, Drie Fonteinen, Boon, etc.

I can understand your comment about not "tasting much like beer" as I thought the same thing when I started my foray into craft beer and grabbed "new" styles for me - Scotch Ales, Robust Porters, Belgian Trippels. None tasted like the "beers" I started out with - mostly macro lagers. But never did I compare them to a Seagram's cooler. :eek:

You'll either develop a taste for lambics or swear them off completely. No worries. There are enough beer styles out there for everyone and no rule says we have to enjoy them all. Give a different lambic a chance sometime - you just might like it.

Cheers!

[Richard English]

The best fruit beer I have tried in the UK is Liefman's Kriek. It is bottle conditioned and sealed with a wired cork. The careful opening and pouring is part of the experience and the drink is excellent.

Lacking preservatives and other unnecessary adjuncts it can be drunk in quantity (though not too much quantity as it's strong!) without the hangover that lesser bottled beers can create.

[Herb Ninja]

Has anyone tried the Lindemans Belgian Kriek Ale?

Yes, its on the sweet side, just like like the rest of Lindemans lambics. The gueuze or framboise are probably my favorite from them, but they are not nearly as good as the ones newportstorm mentioned: Cantillon, Drie Fonteinen & Boon. Its a good starter lambic but your really not going to get much complexity until you get some more expensive & more rare lambics. (And if you find one, send me a bottle. ;) )

it can be drunk in quantity (though not too much quantity as it's strong!) without the hangover that lesser bottled beers can create.

Not strong in alcohol, well not in the American sense, but strong in flavor I would agree. I haven't got a hangover from lambics, but because its very acidic and can have a ph not far from vinegar its very possible you'll awake with a sore throat if you have more then say 750ml. (...I drank a little less then that once of really acidic cantillion kriek and had a sore throat the next morning.)

Peace, HN-

[Richard English]

Quote "...Not strong in alcohol, well not in the American sense, but strong in flavor ..."

The Liefman's I am speaking of is 4.5%. That's mid-range by UK bottled beer standards which range from about 3.3 up to 6.3. There are stronger beers, of course, but they are not your everyday drinking brews.

[Herb Ninja]

Ya from what I saw in London beer is typically lower in alcohol then the states (and especially Belgium), I remember adnams bitter was a common beer at a low 3.7%... Not exactly on the topic of lambic, but do you know the alcohol percentage of London Pride off the top of your head Richard? Peace, HN-

[steveh]

Originally posted by Herb Ninja
but do you know the alcohol percentage of London Pride off the top of your head Richard?

I'm not Richard, but I do a damned good impression of his accent when there are pretty girls in the bar! ;)

According to the Fuller's site, London Pride is 4.1% ABV from cask, and 4.7 in bottles.

S.

[Richard English]

English cask-conditioned beers tend to be lower in alcohol than many other countries' bottled beers. This is deliberate as we tend to drink larger quantities.

Just today I was at the Edenbridge Country Show and the Westerham brewery had four cask-conditioned beers on sale - from their weakest at just 3.8% to their strongest at 5%. Four pints (Imperial) was just the right amount to drink at lunchtime.

And Stevah, the accent I fear I have no copyright over but, as I type this while wearing my Goose Island Tee Shirt I do so clearly recall those Chicago Virgins I met and especially the one whose virginity I was glad to see disappear (her Cask-conditioned beer virginity, I mean).

[steveh]

Originally posted by Richard English
...as I type this while wearing my Goose Island Tee Shirt...

You can't begin to know the smile of delight I get trying to picture you in the Goose Island T!! Are you wearing a blazer over it? ;)

S.

[Richard English]

No blazer, I fear. But then I am at home in front of my computer. Blazers tend to be for more formal wear.

[chazwicke]

I think he wore it to the GBBF. I saw his pictures from the wordsmith board.

I do not like Lindemans they are too sweet. Liefmans is good but still not the best. Oud Beersel, Cantillon, Frank Boon, and even thought it is only a shadow of it's former self, Rodenbach are all better.

[newportstorm]

Originally posted by chazwicke
I do not like Lindemans they are too sweet.

Have you tried their Cuvee Rene? I haven't yet but I hear/read some good things about it. Doesn't seem to be as sickly sweet, like I find their Framboise (still a nice dessert). I believe my local store has them at under $10 for a 750ml. May have to check it out soon.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/rate_results/187/6104/

Cheers!

[chazwicke]

Whoa! Those reviews have me salivating. I have not tried this one yet but I'll be on the lookout. I usually shy away from Lindemans except for a dessert beer. That one sounds yummy!

[tyesai]

chazwicke


Go ahead and give it a try, someone said to look for more expensive lambics to get the complextiy out of them, I am going to give it a try if I can find some. The Lindemans is good and I get the feeling that I offended newportstorm but it really does taste like a cheap malt flavored beverage or wine cooler. I could find very little depth or complexity in it. I did do a search on the Lindemans line of lambics and someone said that it mixes nicely with Youngs Double Chocolate Stout or Guiness. I noticed that that got some protest saying that it was to good of brew to be mixing but it does sound delicous and intriguing. Maybe my pallete is still to juvenille to appreciate it but I do love fruit beers but there has to be some sort of beer flavor there. I will say it does come out a little more with a higher serving temperature, what that temp is I don't know for sure but if you let it sit in a non chilled glass for about 10 minutes or so it does have a nice sharpness to it. But then again so does Seagrams....Just picking.....Maybe......................Maybe Not..............

[newportstorm]

Originally posted by tyesai
Go ahead and give it a try, someone said to look for more expensive lambics to get the complextiy out of them, I am going to give it a try if I can find some. The Lindemans is good and I get the feeling that I offended newportstorm but it really does taste like a cheap malt flavored beverage or wine cooler. I could find very little depth or complexity in it. I did do a search on the Lindemans line of lambics and someone said that it mixes nicely with Youngs Double Chocolate Stout or Guiness. I noticed that that got some protest saying that it was to good of brew to be mixing but it does sound delicous and intriguing. Maybe my pallete is still to juvenille to appreciate it but I do love fruit beers but there has to be some sort of beer flavor there. I will say it does come out a little more with a higher serving temperature, what that temp is I don't know for sure but if you let it sit in a non chilled glass for about 10 minutes or so it does have a nice sharpness to it. But then again so does Seagrams....Just picking.....Maybe......................Maybe Not..............

No offense taken. Beer tasting and reviewing is completely subjective. If you think the Lindeman's reminds you of a B&J cooler, fine. It's your palate and no one can tell you you're "wrong". And actually, I've said many times that Lindeman's Kriek/Framboise is very tasty when topped by Young's Double Choc Stout. Definitely give it a shot. Great dessert.

No need to spend $$ to find complexity. Many expensive brews are all hype and no substance, imo. Give every brew you try, cheap or pricey, a fair and honest review and decide for yourself.

Now, I did and will take issue with not "tasting like beer". I do understand where you are coming from but that statement is vague at best. Exactly what does beer taste like? Explain it. You can't sum up "beer taste" in a neat sentence or two. There are simply too many styles and individual renditions of them out there (over 7000 in the US alone) to paint with such a broad brush. If I asked what a Vienna Lager tastes like or what a Dry Irish Stout tastes like, you can give me a general description. But no one can define "beer taste" so neatly.

Cheers!

[tyesai]

you can give me a general description. But no one can define "beer taste" so neatly.

I'll try.


This is what I think of when I think of beer taste and it mainly revolves around hops and malt. The yeast and water shape the flavor of the brew but in a much more subtle way but not nearly as much as hops and malt. Other things such as honey and other sugars, spices, grains, fruit, pine whatever crazy thing you put in there compliments the hops and malt.

O.K. O.K. your right it can't be done neatly I thought it would be simple but it is going to get deep fast. When I think of a beer flavor no matter what type I want to have the hops and malt taste. Other wise I feel like it is more of a malt bevarge rather than a beer. I really don't think of to many of the macro brews as beer just a malt beverage because there really isn't any hops or malt flavor to it. To me they are to "blended" almost like a coke or pepsi or mountain dew, you don't taste the individual ingredients just the final product. I am not a macro brew basher though because what they do in consistency is still pretty amazing.

Here is the best analogy I can come up with, I want to be able to pick it apart a little bit, kind of like when a person smells a Big Mac that is all you smell, but when your dog smell the Big Mac they smell the onions, bun, meat, sauce, lettuce, pickles, sesamee seeds. You know I have typed all this and don't know if I made a point at all but hopefully I made some sense on what I was thinking when I said "it doesn't really taste like beer" But I am going to try mixing it with some of the Youngs Double Chocolate Stout. It makes my mouth water thinking about it. LOL

[Richard English]

Quote "...This is what I think of when I think of beer taste and it mainly revolves around hops and malt. .."

Interestingly hops, now considered an essential ingredient in beer, were never used in British beers until around 300 years ago when they were added as a preservative - not as a flavouring.

It's possible to buy beers that have no hops and one of the best known is Scottish, Froach Heather Ale. You can get it in the USA and one review is here: http://www.legendslimited.com/heather.html

[Herb Ninja]

That sounds like an interesting beer Richard, one I want to try. :D Peace, HN-

[chazwicke]

Bruce Williams has several beers that use ingredients such as heather, kelp, and spruce to spice his beers. Most are widely available in the States. I have been to two tastings that he hosted and both were enjoyable. One even featured Haggis.

[Richard English]

Quote "...One even featured Haggis..."

The addition of animal protein to beer, now considered strange, was not uncommon in the past.

I have recipe for "Cock Ale" which is thus called because the carcase of a chicken (I don't know that is has to be a cock - a hen would presumably do) is added to the wort after the fermentation has started.

According to C J Berry, in whose home-brewing book it appears, the resulting beer was very good.

[chazwicke]

The Haggis was not in the beer. It was the food served at the tasting. Sorry for the confusion.

[Richard English]

I see. Haggis is traditionally served with Malt Whisky in my experience.

[steveh]

Originally posted by Richard English
Haggis is traditionally served with Malt Whisky in my experience.

I'm sure there's a joke in that, but I'm going to leave it alone for now! ;)

S.

[fretlessman71]

MAKE BEER NOT STEW! :D