Orange Beer

[Saina Nieminen]

Yesterday after a far too hectic day at the bookshop my future ex-wife and I wanted to relax with a good beer. So we went to a pub close to our place. Surprisingly they had a beer there that is very hard to find in Finland but which is one the most awesome drinks I have tried, Cantillon Grand Cru Bruocsella Lambic Bio 2006.

5% abv; best before December 2020 it says on the back label! This is a lambic aged three years in oak, with spontaneous fermentation (no added yeasts).

It looks like orange wine and smells like it too. Wonderful earthy aromas with a bit of peach, apples and toast - if Blanc de Blancs Champagne were made as orange wine, this must be what it would smell like! But it has no bubbles. Dry and quite high in acidity and bitterness, but not austere or painfully intense. The aftertaste is eternal. Despite the lack of bubbles this is a very lively beer. Perfect. The only thing that could have made it more perfect is if there had been some fat to eat with it (cheese, prosciutto, ...).

One of the few times I have had this beer before was a slightly more aged example. It had become even more like Chardonnay bubbly with age. Fascinating beer.

 

[Kevin Roberts]

originally posted by Otto Nieminen:
Orange BeerYesterday after a far too hectic day at the bookshop my future ex-wife and I wanted to relax with a good beer. So we went to a pub close to our place. Surprisingly they had a beer there that is very hard to find in Finland but which is one the most awesome drinks I have tried, Cantillon Grand Cru Bruocsella Lambic Bio 2006.

5% abv; best before December 2020 it says on the back label! This is a lambic aged three years in oak, with spontaneous fermentation (no added yeasts).

It looks like orange wine and smells like it too. Wonderful earthy aromas with a bit of peach, apples and toast - if Blanc de Blancs Champagne were made as orange wine, this must be what it would smell like! But it has no bubbles. Dry and quite high in acidity and bitterness, but not austere or painfully intense. The aftertaste is eternal. Despite the lack of bubbles this is a very lively beer. Perfect. The only thing that could have made it more perfect is if there had been some fat to eat with it (cheese, prosciutto, ...).

One of the few times I have had this beer before was a slightly more aged example. It had become even more like Chardonnay bubbly with age. Fascinating beer.

The Cantillon Grand Cru is straight unblended lambic, while the Cantillon Vigneronne is truly analagous to orange wine in that it undergoes a secondary barrel fermentation with Italian muscat grapes. I think for 9+ months (I could be wrong about that.) I haven't had it recently enought to try to understand it in relation to orange wine.

I haven't gotten any in stock yet, (hopefully in within 2 weeks) but one of the biggest highlights on my new beer distribution gig is the opportunity to carry Cantillon and Drie Fonteinen in my corner of Iowa. A couple of my favorite all-time breweries.

Cheers,

Kevin