Liefman's Kriek

I really like Liefman's. I've only had the Goudenband once before and I really liked it. I really like strong Flemish Sour Ales. The Panil Barriquee is one of my favorites. I think I've had Liefman's Framboise before, but never their Kriek. It's 5% abv.

I picked this bottle up at D's in Swissvale (Pittsburgh) along with a Stroudt's Triple and a Fantome. I like that store. My second time there. But it's expensive. And I should have got a sausage there. I should have known their chicken sandwich wouldn't be that good.

Very pungent nose. Vinegar, lactic acid, sharp, sour cherries. Pretty head with medium lacing. An almost red color. More brown than red.

Wow. A fabulous tasting beer. Maybe just a hair on the sweet side, but I think this beer is definately in the right range in terms of sweetness: fairly high. I think the sweetness brings out the cherry flavor, makes it much bolder and rounder and big shouldered. Lambic Krieks are so dry that the cherry isn't really cherry. But this beer nails the cherries.

This is an awesome beer. I am really in love with it. There is so much going on and it all coalesces in the beginning of the late-palate into one concentrated nucleus of flavor. There's the big, rich tart-dabbled cherry, the sharp lactic and acetic sour acid notes, the very fine prickly carbonation, the hint of nutty caramel...it's awesome. It all coalesces during the swallow and expands delicately again as the flavor tapers off to a faint whisper of cheek puckering sourness and tightness in the mouth. Maybe just a touch cloying, but not a very bad thing at all.

Really love this beer. Can't wait to get it again.