Creek beer is a type of Belgian lambic, a spontaneously fermented wheat ale (brewers simply leave the casks open to let “wild” yeast into the wort). The name comes from the Flemish word kriek – “cherry”.
Features
The drink is produced on the basis of unmalted wheat (up to 40% grist) and pils malt. Hops are kept to a minimum, and those are old, not bitter, just to give the beer a better preservation. A characteristic feature of the style is the addition of sour cherries.
Krik has a sour-sweet taste with a rich fruity profile. Hop bitterness is most often completely absent; most of all, kriek beer looks like a thick cherry compote with alcohol. This is a very fragrant and “fragrant” variety, the strength varies depending on the manufacturer and ranges from 3.5-8%.
Even the strongest brands are easy to drink, intoxication comes unnoticed. Fruit lambics are very drinkable, alcohol has a slight warming effect, but it never burns, does not “tear the throat”, does not manifest itself with pronounced alcohol or fusel notes.
Kriek has a beautiful garnet-ruby color, forming a dense pink foam in the glass. In the bouquet, one can feel not only the dominant cherry, but also notes of nuts (from the stone), floral aromas. The older the drink, the stronger the character of the lambic manifests itself – the nuances of old leather, barnyard, wet earth.
Historical information
The history of Belgian lambics dates back to the time of the Roman Empire. It is known that in the XNUMXst c. AD Roman legionnaires in the territory of the modern Kingdom of Belgium drank spontaneously fermented beer, however, the nuances of this historical style remain behind the scenes. In the documents of the XNUMXth century, the term “lambic” is already found, and one of the connoisseurs of this variety was the Emperor Charles V himself.
Creek style appeared in the commune of Schaarbeek, famous for autochthonous cherries: sour, fleshy, with a large stone. Now fruits suitable for Creek (mainly Morello varieties) are grown throughout Belgium and even in other countries. In addition, many producers prefer sweeter varieties.
A beautiful (but unconfirmed) legend says that beer was invented by a particularly zealous crusader who wanted to get a drink that looked like the blood of Christ.
Technology of preparation
The classic cherry beer Creek is made in the vicinity of Brussels. They take sour and dry lambic at least a year old as a basis, soak slightly cut cherries directly with stones in it (berries make up to 30% of the total volume), wait several months until all the additional sugar from cherries is fermented. The classic technology does not involve the addition of sweeteners, but the original product is so tart and sour that many manufacturers still include sugar, cherry juice or syrup in the recipe.
After many months of maceration, the cherries are removed, the beer is filtered and blended. A real cry is always a combination of several portions of different ages.
Classic lambic (including fruit lambic) is produced by spontaneous fermentation – the brewer does not add yeast to the composition, but simply opens the lid on the wort barrel and waits for the microorganisms to get inside and activate the fermentation. In conditions of commercial production, of course, masters often “help” the drink.
A similar raspberry-based beer is called Framboise, but is much less common outside of Belgium.
How to drink beer cry
Cherry beer is drunk from pot-bellied snifter glasses with a volume of 0.3 or 0.5 liters, it is also sometimes served in trapezoidal tall glasses, like a weissbier. Krik does not have to be eaten – without gastronomic accompaniment, the taste is better revealed, especially since modern sweetened varieties are quite high in calories. However, beer krik can be served with desserts, fruits, sorbets, light salads, cheesecake. Some gourmets suggest pairing Creek with goat cheese or even spicy Indian food.
Cherry beers, like other lambics, are chilled to approximately + 8 ° C before serving (a range of 4-12 degrees is acceptable). In general, Belgian fruit beer is often compared to champagne and it is recommended to adhere to the same rules when serving.
Famous brands
One of the most famous scream brands is Belle-Vue. This is a sweet beer popular among the ladies. The same category includes Lindemans, Chapeau, Timmermans, Mort Subite.
More traditional, sour calls – Boon, Cantillon, Girardin.
Some producers, in an effort to be original, are launching a scream based on Flemish brown ale instead of lambic. The brands Liefmans, Kasteel, De Ryck are distinguished by such experiments.
