Hanssens Scarenbecca Kriek
Lambic brewed with wild Belgian Schaerbeek sour cherries and Belgian Kelleris cherries from the Tienen area.
3.8
214 reviews
Dworp, Belgium
Community reviews
375ml bottle from Friday night share. Pours out a ruby red with scarce bubbly head. Aroma is the cherries (natch!), but real cherries not the cough syrup kind. Taste brings the fruit, jelly jar, the barrel aging and a fair amount of pucker.
Sample at the "Post Beer Week Bottle Share" on 06/06/16. The beer pours pours a cloudy ruby-purple color with a medium pinkish-white head that burns away steadily to a wispy film. Spotty lacing on the glass. Aroma of funky yeast, cherry and malt. Light to medium body with flavors of sour cherry, funky yeast and doughy malt. The finish is fruity with a tart cherry aftertaste. Pretty good overall.
Ten years ago today I married my beloved wife, her sister in law requested that I bring "one of those fruity beers" to the wedding, what she wanted was Lindemans Framboise, I decided to get "something else" assuming that Hanssens Oude Kriek was essentially just a sweet cherry beer. The sister in law immediately rejected the beer and it was passed to her husband and I. This was the genesis of my love for Lambic beer, ten years to the day after tasting my first "authentic" dry lambic beer I am happy to celebrate my marriage & this turning point in my beer "journey" by entering this as my 3,900th rating, a beer of the same style & from the same producer that started this fascination a decade ago.
Pours seemingly almost still at first with the tiniest semblance of head forming mid glass and spiderwebbing off from there. The color is a beautiful dark red & despite the lack of head some lacing does remain on the glass.
The aroma is very sour cherry forward with a bunch of lemony and some lightly nutty notes. In classic Hanssens style it’s just charmingly funky with barnyard and wet limestone.... but this is pretty focused on the cherries.
The flavor is dry and very tart with a nice lemon rind thing happening. The level of sourness in a touch under puckering and the fruit character is out in full array. There are lots of sour cherries here with some mild nutty and bitter undertones. The beer is pleasantly earthy and has some well defined oak character.
It’s a very good Kriek just tipping the scales on the more sour end of things.
Bottled. Pours hazy red with a small pinkish head. Aroma of sour cherries, almond and funky notes. Slightly sweet flavor that ends up tart. Light bodied, watery to oily texture and soft carbonation. A very nice Lambic indeed. 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Pours a pinkish reddish color. Aromas of cherries, almonds. Flavor is a subdued tart cherry taste, not a big as I expected. Medium bodied with a slight tart mouthfeel. This is a great beer.
APPEARANCE- vibrant goldenrod color, thinnest of heads and slight turbidity.
NOSE- slightly fruity, yet tart. I swear I smell something earthy like moss, but that may be the hype.
FLAVOR- I get earthiness here for sure, and a bit of sourness. Very nice balance.
NOTES- totally digging it. Super unique, and exceptionally well put together.
Refrigerated 12.7 oz. green bottle corked and capped poured into a tulip. Translucent maroon with very small off-white head. Aroma is tart cherry, medium body, very low carbonation, and very little lacing. Taste is tart cherry, vineous, and some oak. Needs carbonation.
On tap at Belmont Station. A privilege to try on tap. I was told this was one of only four kegs that made it into the US. Aroma is quite dramatic and full. Bright and fruity, lots of cherry. Taste is quite sour. Really good.
Excellent. Sour cherry and big citrus. Lots of bretta. Tangy finish. Pours this red ruby fingernail polish cover. Thick and syrupy. Great stuff. Tap at Snallygaster.
Draft pour at Snallygaster shared by solidfunk, thanks! Hazy reddish color. Aromas of cherries, berries, vinegar. Tastes of big tart acidic notes, cherries and berries, vinegar. Light body with a dry finish.
Draft at Snallygaster 2015. Thanks to solidfunk for getting the most expensive beer at the festival for all of us. Poured a cloudy, mostly deep ruby red color with a foamy pink head. Aroma was lots of tart cherry notes. Flavor was so mouth pucking it was hard to believe. Lots of tartness, wild funk notes. Almost too tart, but I’ll give it a bit of a pass, but be warned.
On draft at Snallygaster 2015. Pours a murky red with a pink head. Aroma of tart cherry. Flavors of sour cherry and red grapes.
On tap at Belmont Station. Colour...did someone pour me a cherry based fruit smoothie?! Nose...holy crap! The second I got a wiff, my salivary glands started gleeking like crazy! Palate...well...my friend Jim from Reverend Nat’s was sitting near me and said that this was so sour it’d make my "face cave in!". He’s pretty close! Incredibly sour and massively tart, this kriek is unbelievable! The cherries are definitely there but the acetic aspect is sage of the stage, with this baby! Huge tart fruit and light notes of vanilla show on the back palate. Amazing kriek!
2011 draught at OEC SourFest, 8/15/15.
Deep, bright blood red cherry body has some darker violet notes and a small pink-flecked head that recedes to a ring rather quickly. Good clarity with some minimal haziness.
Sour cherries, of course, seem nicely woven in to the lambic acids and both strong lactic and malic acids are presented. After quite a bit of breathing and warming, there’s a very distinct, poignant note of almost red wine. Tough to nail down descriptively, perhaps intense cherry pit/cherry juice? It’s absolutely lovely and charming and adds just enough sweet/tart element to the already lush sourness and juiciness. Vanilla, cherry pulp, lime, band-aids, and fairly reserved funkiness all appear in some degree and no alcohol or flaws are noted. Very, very aromatic and sniffable.
Big cherry flavor is appropriately sour, well-attenuated and shows no sign of adulteration or cheap adjunct. Black pepper, malic acids and lactic acids all build on the palate, which has a tight carbonation and champagne-like mouthfeel. Some very minimal sugars help balance and fruit flavors mixed in nicely with the lambic character linger long on the finish. Quite sour, especially given the cherry addition, but right up my alley. Not as funky as the best Cantillon Krieks I’ve had, but certainly more flavorful, if somewhat less elegant than 3F Schaerbeekse Kriek. Whatever the case, this was in great condition and was absolutely delicious regardless of comparison.
2011 vi tage on tap at oec sour fest. Murky looking ruby red pour with minimal head. Aroma is ripe sweet cherries, light balsamic, cheese, lambic funk. Taste is nicely tart with jammy cherries. One of my favorite krieks ever.
2011 Bottle from capitol beer and taproom. Pours pink red with no head. Taste is very tart with a nice cherry finish.
Poured from a 375 ml bottle with no date.
Aroma is moderately cherry forward, but neither jammy or juice-like, rather sour fruit. Medium light barnyard notes with a bit of a hay character. Light oak and acidity with a hint of citrus.
Opened with only a slight hiss. Pours a slightly murky dark red with some light brownish hues and a very thin, almost non existent, white head that recedes quickly. No lacing and faint legs.
Flavor is fairly acidic like most Hanssens lambics with a slight citrus note. Moderate cherry character, but not sweet at all. Some light barnyard notes with a hint of tropical fruit. Medium light oak character. I really like that the cherry isnt jammy or candy like.
Mouthfeel is medium bodied with medium carbonation. Low astringency and low alcohol warmth.
Overall, I really like the cherry character of the beer but I find the acidity a bit too overpowering to really bring out the finer points of the lambic. As your palate adjusts to the acidity you get more yeast characte rand oak, but its still tough.
375 ml bottle into tulip glass; no bottle dating, but was recently released locally. No pop on the cork upon opening. Pours slightly hazy dark ruby red color with no head or lacing to speak of. Some light bubbles do appear on the sides of the glass eventually. Aromas of sour cherry, lemon, green apple, raisin, plum, red wine vinegar, leather, hay, straw, musty funk, brown sugar, toasted oak, light vanilla, and yeast/oak earthiness. Very nice aromas with good balance and complexity of sour cherry, fruity/funky/acidic yeast, oak barrel, and malt notes; with good strength. Taste of big sour cherry, lemon, green apple, raisin, plum, red wine vinegar, leather, hay, straw, musty funk, brown sugar, toasted oak, light vanilla, and yeast/oak earthiness. Large amount of acidic/tannic sourness on the finish; with lingering notes of sour cherry, lemon, green apple, raisin, plum, red wine vinegar, leather, hay, straw, musty funk, brown sugar, toasted oak, and yeast/oak earthiness on the finish for a while. Damn nice complexity, robustness, and balance of sour cherry, fruity/funky/acidic yeast, oak, and malt flavors; with a good malt/acidity balance and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Zero carbonation and medium bodied; with an acidic and lightly slick/syrupy mouthfeel that is nice. Alcohol is very well hidden with minimal warming present after the finish. Overall this is a very nice kriek lambic style. All around good robustness, complexity, and balance of sour cherry, fruity/funky/acidic yeast, oak, and malt flavors; and smooth to sip on with the moderately balanced acidity. Would have liked to see some carbonation to lighten up the mouthfeel a bit; but was still a very enjoyable offering.
Bottle: Thanks Nick: Served in a Chouffe glass:
Beautiful thick pink head.
Beautiful hazy close to murky pink beer.
Aroma of Schaerbeekse cherries, no shit... What do they taste like... Like goooood cherries...
More beautiful wood, wild yeast and funk.
With loads of cherries, thick rich clean cherries...
Incredible tasty round thick rich sour cherry tone with a light acidity that turns towards a light vinegar tartness...
Low carbo, thick creamy close to silky sour/tart mouthfeel, full body.
Incredible smooth!
Earlier Rating: 11/9/2014 Total Score: 4.1
Bottle: Served in a tumbler:
Hazy red. Thin white lacing.
Aroma is tart, yoghurt, cherries, toilet, hint of raspberries, wild yeast, wood, quite nice.
Flavour is wild yeast, wood, light funk, light barnyard, some cherries, yoghurt, manure, light rubber.
Aftertaste is manure, wood, wild yeast, yoghurt and cherries.
Low to no carbo, watery tart light dry mouthfeel, good medium bodied.
Good stuff!
375 mL bottle. Cloudy purple-pink pour with a medium light pink head. Aroma of sour cherries, barnyard funk, candied sugar and yeast. Great sour puckering finish.
There are so few reviews of this beer because it runs $25 on shelves for a 375ML. I buy it when I can. Finall took notes at Fuj’s epic Gueuzapalooza fest last weekend aside other Schaerbeek cherry lambics. Dark blood red appearance. Nose is gigantic. So much fruitiness, jammy with a touch of funk. This beer stands out among the rest, even beside LP Kriek. The 3F Schaerbeek Krek wins hands down but this is a close second. Lots of cherry, oak and woody funk. wet hay with tight cherry jelly.
Deep red body. Small head. Strong sour cherry flavour. Great fruit sourness,lightly yoghurt. Extremely well balanced.
bottle thank to Norm, thin and strong cherry flavor, moderate lambic farm funk, no carb, tasty, the cherries take on different nuances throughout warming. neat but way overpriced.
New 75cl batch. Poured a deep red colour with a pink head. Aroma is bursting with sour tart cherries. Wheat, citrus, grains, tart, lemon zest, Some framboise, bit of a weak mouthfeel. Taste is less tart compared to the aroma. But enjoyable
Bottle at the brewery. Opaque garnet pour with a fkeeting pinkish/off white head. Big cherry bouquet. Tart cherries dominate with mild sour funk backbeats. A healthy dose of oak and malty sweetness. Good body and mouthfeel.
Vintage looking label. Glad I found this ( in the US )
Pours dark , unclear red , no head amazing cherry scent . Sweeter than the regular.
Taste is sharp sour . Bit wattery , but with a whole lot of cherry goodness ! Intense sour, almost like Oudbeitje . Cherry is actually in the back , while the taste itself is thin . The fact that it doesnt have any carbonation doesnt help ;)
I like the style and like this type of cherry. Only had a sample of this so hard to compare it favorably to the regular kriek I’ve had larger portions of. Quite tart and oaky. Medium sour, and body. Quite fruity.
A small pop when I pulled the cork out, it pours a very dark...very dark red that almost looks black. A bit of foam here that has a decidedly reddish tint to it.
The smell is very sour, sour cherries and vinegar mixed with some oak barreling vanilla notes but that is pushed way to the back. I’m surprised I noticed it.
Super wine like flavours going on with tannins jumping out at me. The cherry tartness is very tasty, don’t get a lot of vinegar at all, some oak vanilla, super tart in the finish.
Medium bodied with SOME carbonation, light it being.
Hey, guess what? I dig this. Another enjoyable brew from Hanssens.
38cl, new exclusive brew Anno 2010, thx alot to Pieter for bringing this over!, complex sour Kriek, sour/fruity and slightly woody, balanced, hazy, nearly no head, very good brew, yet expensive!
Bottle. Hazy red pour. Cherries, lemon peel, tart, oak, yogurt. Medium to full body. Tart and acidic. Awesomd