New Belgium Transatlantique Kriek

New Belgium Transatlantique Kriek

Winner of a gold medal at the 2018 Great American Beer Festival, Transatlantique Kriek begins its life in oaken vessels of Gert Christiaens’ Oud Beersel, a 130-year-old lambic brewery in the Zenne valley of Belgium – home of authentic Lambic beer. After time spent aging in wood, Oud Beersel’s lambic is blended with tart Polish cherries and shipped across the Atlantic to New Belgium. In concert with Oud Beersel’s cherry lambic, or Kriek, we blend an equal portion of golden sour ale matured for 1 – 3 years in our oak vessels called foeders. 50% Sour Golden Ale blended with 50% Traditional Cherry Lambic Ale leads to an intense cherry nose, a sour flash across the palate and a refreshing, mouthwatering finish.

from https://www.newbelgium.com/beer/transatlantique-kriek :

Cherry Lambic Sour Ale
A sour blend from two continents featuring an intense cherry nose and refreshing, mouthwatering finish
YEAST Lager yeast
HOPS Willamette
MALT Pale, Red Wheat, Carapils, Roasted Barley

from FoBAB dinner at dusekschicago :

Barrels
Neutral French Oak Foeders

Hop Varieties
Nugget (Bittering)

Maturation
The Lambic Kriek is matured in oak barrels for 12 months and aged on whole cherries for three months. The golden sour is matured in oak foeders for 12 months with New Belgium's house mix culture.

Special Process
The Kriek is spontaneously fermented, the golden sour is fermented with a lager strain.

Color
Brilliant, bright ruby red color with cotton candy pink foam.
3.5
693 reviews
Fort Collins, United States

Community reviews

3.8 Keg at All In Beer Fest 2017 cons 2017-11-03/04 AR: heavy kriek AP: ruby red, wee white head F: kriek, dry, cheese, sour feeling
3.6 Marmeladiger Geruch. Frische Kirschnoten, geringe Säure, zunehmend trocken. Intensiv kirschiger Mittelteil, rund fruchtig, langer Nachhall. Vollmundig, rund, lecker! 10/12/11/10/12/12
3.5 From Feb 2006 Poured from bottle a very nice ruby red witha smallish head that dissipates quickly leaving just a fine semi layer with some lacing. The smell is of cherries...sour cherries. Nice. The taste is also of sour cherries but it's mixed with a citrusy bitterness that mixes nicely with the cherries and makes the beer pretty darned drinkeable. Bottom line: I've had this quite a few times in the past and shame on me for waiting to review it *after* it was dropped from the line. This bottle says best by 15 March 2005 and it *may* have suffered a little when compared to a fresh sample but dang it, it's still a good drinker(hence, if you see it, do not be afraid to buy it) and I will miss it.
4.2 Bomber, 2017 vintage. Sweet cherry aroma with notes of tart cherry, oak and some wheat malt. Pours deep red colored with a thin white head that has little retention or lacing. Starts with sweet cherry flavors as well as some wheat malt and acidity. Finishes dry, but quite smooth with tart cherry flavors and some oak. Quite nice.
4.0 Part of a flight at Whichcraft Brews. Aroma is cherry with a nice tart finish.
3.9 Robe grenat, fine mousse. Nez sur la cerise, la griotte, note acidulée et finement boisée. Bouche à l’attaque fruitée, acidulée, fine bulle, de la fraîcheur, une finale acidulée. Bière agréable et bien faite.
3.8 Bottle; pours cloudy red brown with a slightly pink head; aroma of tart cherries with some hints of wheat and malt; taste is mostly tart but has some hints of sweetness with cherries and wheat; dry, tart cherry finish
3.5 Alarmingly red, like a pint of sparkling grape juice, with a vinous undertone to match. Crisp and full of bright cherry tartness, mostly dry with a modest sweet black cherry undertone bolstered by oak vanilla notes. Finishes a bit weak, tart but overly sparkly. Still tasty, though.
3.9 New Belgium sour ale based on traditional cherry lambic, as part of their Lips of Faith series. Bomber shared with Ster at Uncle Babe’s in Gent. Label - and the New Belgium website - mentions Oud Beersel as the supplier of the lambic involved in this one, rather than Boon as is mentioned above on this site... Thin, loose, dirty off-pinkish, lightly lacing head, hazy cherry red robe with amberish-brownish tinge. Lots of fresh cherries in the nose, fruit yoghurt, cherry pits, some stale sweat, sweet white grape, vague sherry, caramel, passion fruit and fermenting hay. Convincingly rich cherry pulp flavor in the onset, hints of purple gooseberry and very subtle passion fruit, spritzy carbonation, lean and smooth mouthfeel; sour but not puckering, rather a soft, sedate, accessible lactic tartness. This tartness continues over the middle and dries the palate in a gentle manner, at least compared with traditional cherry lambics; bit ’moelleux’ in the middle with a light caramelly malt base, sweetish underneath the tartness, fruity and juicy, dryingly tart finish with still vague traces of that soft caramelly sweetness lingering. Comes across as a hybrid between actual ’oude kriek’ lambic and cherry oud bruin, which is no surprise since it is basically a blend of Oud Beersel Oude Kriek with New Belgium’s own house sour Felix (which, if I understood correctly, is a kind of blonde counterpart of oud bruin, I guess roughly in the style of e.g. Petrus Aged Pale and the like in Belgium). Fairly clean, straightforward and perhaps lacking a bit in complexity to be internationally great, sour but in a mellow, tart, yoghurty and, as said, ’oud bruin’-like way, accessible and suitable as an introduction to sour cherry beers - a tasty introduction indeed, with still more than enough fruit acidity to be credible and authentic. Pleasant sour, in all.
3.8 Clear red with a pale head. Aroma is cherry pie, cherry candy. Light-medium bodied, tart and fruity on the palate, lightly dry and funky finish. Taste is cherry pie, cherries.
3.2 At Max Place, pours red with a small head, aroma of cherries, lemon, flavor is slightly sour with lemon, cherries, acidity, medium bodied
3.7 This beer is beautiful to look at, but it kind of lacks what I expected from it in taste and smell. It’s tart like a lambic should be, but it’s not as sweet as it looks, and it looks like the fruitest beer you can get your hands on. It’s a solid sour, but it’s not the best that New Belgium makes.
3.4 How: Draught. Where: The Bishops Arms Bellmansgatan, Stockholm. Appearance: Red colour with a pink head. Aroma: Sour, cherries, caramel, some fruit. Body: Light body, medium carbonation. Flavour: Cherries, some furit, caramel.
3.1 On tap at St. Augustine’s, pours a hazy ruby red with a small off-white head. Aroma brings out lots of sour cherries, cough drops and medium acidity. Flavour is dominated by sour and sweet cherries upfront, followed by moderate acidity. Not overly complex but pretty thorough on the tart cherries. Decent.
4.1 On tap at St. Augustine’s during New Belgium 25th anniversary celebration. Pours a clear cherry color with a slightly rose head. Aroma brings out lots of sweet and sour cherries. Taste is tart, sour cherries, slightly woody. Same character aftertaste. Excellent!
3.4 Clear ruby red pour with small pinkish head. Aroma of cherries, vinegar, citrus and grains. Taste of tart cherries, apple cider vinegar, grains, lemon zest. Light bodied, higher carbonation, tart crispy mouthfeel. Sweetens out to a ripe cherry finish.
3.5 Draft. Cherry red with thin pink head. Moderate cherry flavor with nice sour background.
3.7 Draught. Creamy white good mostly lasting head. Red colour. Light malty and hoppy powerfull sour/cherry aroma. Light bitter nice sour cherry flavor. Long finish. Creamy palate.
3.5 On draft at Liberty Craft House. Poured ruby with pink lace. Tart cherries, oak, vinegar. Mouth puckering finish.
3.5 A bit sour and vinegar like. Very amazing head and pink fluffy. Very tart a bit thin on the tongue. Lots of carbonation. Slight cherry tartness.
4.0 From the brewery, this pours a ruby red with a pinkish head that quickly diminishes, leaving no lace of which to speak. The nose is of Bing cherries and apple cider vinegar. Flavors of sour cherries, unripened Granny Smith apples, light cider vinegar notes and lemons finish very acidic, of predominant unripened Bing cherries... sour, long and lingering. The bright, juicy mouthfeel is accompanied by a medium body, semi-zesty carbonation, and refreshingly active on the palate. What a nice take on an oak-aged Kriek, reinvented by New Belgium to make a "Transatlantique" Kriek. Kudos!!
3.4 Pours ruby red with a fizzy pink head that vanishes quickly. Aroma of cherry and wood. Tart cherry flavor with wood and vinegar. Very nice.
3.8 I'm a sucker for Sours and this is no exception. The aroma is that of a cheap red wine, but the taste is not. It hits you with a nice sour and cherry and then the sour builds. The only thing I don't like is the sweetness left on the palate. It only exists for the first couple sips though.
3.2 On tap @ Ei8ht Ball / Bellevue KY --- Light cherry and malt aroma. Clear light amber with a rose tint, ivory rim head, thin lace stripes. Taste is light malt that segues easily to bing cherry. Medium fizz. Basically no bittering. Light and refreshing. On a hot day I’d welcome another.
4.1 Pours a bright red with a foamy pink head. Aroma is lacto, cherry, and wood. Flavor is tart lactic acid, sweet cherry, vanilla, and some wood. Has a lively body. Excellent.
4.0 Transatlantique Kriek was the selected starter beer for a series of Belgian Krieks. Despite being the least Belgian of the Krieks in the lineup it wasn’t any less tasty. Red pour with pink suds. Cherry aromas with some woodiness from the oak. Fruity flavor from cherry and citrus but not especially tart; very mild-mannered. Some wood notes but the earthiness is left at a minimum. Fizzy feel yet not quite acetic. A very tasty Lips of Faith offering.
3.5 Bottle. A- Cherry pie. A- Reddish pink color, dark color, pink head. T- Cherry pie filling, slightly tart, sweet. P- Medium body, average texture, average carbonation, slightly tart finish. O- Tons of cherries here. Not overly sour or tart but a nice balance. Pretty much like liquid pie filling from a can.
3.5 Draught at Bishops Arms Bellmangatan, Stockholm. Clear deep ruby beer with a nice pinkish head. Cherry aroma, caramel, grapes, sweet strawberries, some raisins. Cherry flavor, grapes, caramel notes, cherry seeds, some raisins. Bit too sweet!
3.0 Overall: Sweet, cherry lime lemonade. Note: On-tap at The Bishops Arms. (Vintage 2016) Reviewed 2016-05-28.
3.6 From 22oz bottle to snifter. Pour is a nice and bright ruby color with a very thing white quickly dissipating head. Nose is cherry, wine notes, slight wheat. Taste is slightly sour, then rounds out sweetly. Leaves a juicy mouthfeel and a pleasant aftertaste. Cool style.