Great hopes for this one after Michael Jackson calls this one "very fruity" and "great" in Gee-Bee-Oh-Bee. No need for punishing austerity tonight. No need for the beery equivalent of the strap as an educational tool. Not when one can hope for something of a repeat of that De Ranke Kriek.

This beer the deep cherry red of canned cherry pie filling with the lightest skim of pink foam. On the sniff you pick up barnyard funk as well as plenty of fruit. In the mouth gravenstien, cherry juice and what I am going to call nutmeg. That little nutmeg thing is interesting and adds an infamiliar dimension to the familiar green apple acid. Even that brisk - but not utterly debilitating - acidity has a sauvignon blanc green grassiness to it. A slight chalkiness to the yeast on the final swirl. Dare I say, I like this?

Compared to other available ventures into lambic and gueuze, I have to say this is somewhat overpriced at 10.50 USD for 375 ml - even that Cantillon Kriek was two bucks less on the same receipt. And I'd expect Hanssens Oude Kriek to be less by the same amount again - who knew that these sour beer studies would help with budgeting? Plenty of BAer love and justifiably so...but for that price.