“Kriek is a blend of sour red ales aged in oak wine barrels for up to 17 months with Bing and sour pie cherries. As one of Cascade Brewing’s earliest and most recognized beers, Kriek has been a staple in our portfolio of Northwest sour ales and continues to be a flagship project that represents the soul of our craft. Kriek 2016 features complex flavors of cherries, roast malts, oak and spice.”
Glassware: Stemmed Tulip.
Appearance: Light mahogany with burnt amber hues. Not much head produced as it quickly snaps back to a collar. Healthy lace despite the lack of head.
Aroma: Showing lots of vinous characters – red berries, cigar-like earthiness, spice and macerated dark fruits. Enter those heavenly cherries with their tart and juicy tannins. More than enough funk and sweaty barnyard emphasized by the old musty oak barrels and sharp lacto sourness. Phenomenal aroma.
Flavour: She comes on with extreme sourness…almost eye-watering in fact! Red wine vinegar, tart cherry and tannic acidity makes way for savoury spice, musty oak and gently roasted malts. Tasting that artificial sherbet-like cherry flavour before it finishes tart, fruity and musty with incredible length.
Mouthfeel: Sharp, acidic…very sour…so much so she scores a full 5/5 on the pucker rating. Nice body, good CO2. The 7.4% ABV shows a little but all in all it’s fairly well concealed.
Overall: Kriek is one of our favourite styles at the moment and this one, we can say with certainty, is spectacular. Deep, well rounded and complex yet insanely sour with excellent barrel characters to boot. Too bad it’s so damn exxy or we’d fill the cellar with it!