Prunus Cerasus (Kriek) Tasting

I brewed this farmhouse beer at the end of June of 2012. A month after primary fermentation I racked 4 gallons of it onto fresh tart cherries harvested locally (for free!). The 10 lbs  were frozen to break the cell walls, no sanitation step otherwise. This gives us 2.5 lbs./gal, which I feel ended up close to perfect for this beer. Final gravity was 1.006 when racked onto fruit, giving this a dangerously drinkable 8.53% abv. The ABV was probably further boosted by the sugar from the cherries, though how much, I do not know.

Prunus Cerasus

Appearance: Fluffy, rocky head that almost looks tinted pink in the right light (I might be imagining things). Deep ruby red with orange highlights when held up to the light. Perfect amount of haze and glow for a farmhouse beer. A few centimeters of head last until the end. This is a damn attractive beer.

Smell: Complex. Mixture of bright citrus fruits from the brett and tart cherries, followed by a distinctive spiciness, maybe from the saison yeast. They all meld to give a distinct pie like aroma, over-ripe/cooked fruit.

Looks great in this Duchesse glass!

Taste: Similar to the smell. Great tart brett flavors melded with the cherries. Not as much spice as the nose, nor as much of the freshly cooked pie. Mostly tart cherry/brett up front with a slight sour/lactic finish. Unsure if this is solely from the fruit, or if there were some contributions from surviving microbes on the cherries. A definite pucker, with low tannin in the finish, fits well.

Mouthfeel: Medium light body, not thin. Medium high carbonation with a slight prickle.

Overall: Really impressed at how this turned out. The distinct pie like spice and fruitiness is a mystery to me. I think I will chalk it up to a combination of brett, saison yeast, and it being on fresh fruit for 8+ months (with possibly the latter contributing the most). It has a great balance of fruit and beer, the cherries do not over power the base, and the brett really comes through.

It will be hard to keep this one on for long, I will probably bottle most of it.