effervescent refractions

Girardin has already earned much respect from me for their exceptional pair of gueuzes, so from there forward it’s all bonus points. There’s an elegance about Girardin’s balance that I genuinely appreciate and clearly emerges in this kriek as well, proving a consistency that I respect and pushing the brewery up in my top two favorites of the lambic world (Drie Fonteinen has them all beat, though). Poured, it seems darker than any kriek I’ve seen, blushing of a dense frosted Bordeaux hue and polished with an opulent faded pink cream. Whoa! My grand-mother’s clafoutis is more present than ever, the cherries shining through clearly but fused with a rich doughy sweetness and a profuse almond fragrance. White pepper, cork, grape juice, figs and brown sugar lend admirable complexity to the nose. With time, a deep richness evolves, reminding of plum and molasses to which the slightest touch of funk adheres in a combination of cranberries, goat cheese and Emmental. An avalanche of red fruit cascades upon the tongue melding cherries, raspberries, grape juice and wild strawberries. The sweetness upfront glides gradually to a dry sourness rich in brown sugar, biscuity malts and salient almonds. Full-flavored and not overly sour, this is an excellent kriek to which I can ascribe only one small flaw. The squalid Emmental and stale hops that work to great effect for Girardin’s gueuzes appear here in the aftertaste but does not match the cherries as well as I might have expected. An otherwise delicious effort, well worth seeking and drinking young.