Because only two-year-old lambic is used in the making of Cantillon?s Lou Pepe series, the end result is absent of the "fresh? young lambic notes, allowing all the funky farmhouse character to emerge from the background. Add to that the maturation in reclaimed Bordeaux barrels, and all of the Lou Pepes retain an extra vinous quality. Then comes the fruit: in the kriek, a huge amount of tart cherries create a deep ruby brew that is intense, acidic, dry and rustic.

The addition of sugar liquor to the Lou Pepes is how these beers are arbonated like traditional lambic, because it is this step that sparks fermentation in the bottle. Like the kriek, the framboise uses 50% more fruit than standard fruit lambics, dramatically increasing its intensity. Expect to pick out flavours of dry wood beneath a pronounced, sour, mouth-watering fruitiness.

This double dose of wine-inspired lambic makes use of merlot and cabernet-franc grapes aged in lambic-containing Bordeaux barrels. Like the Lou Pepe series, St. Lamvinus is not blended but rather bottle conditioned with sugar liquor to produce carbonation. Our own Stephen Beaumont calls this one "the finest lambic and one of the greatest beers I have ever tasted," and hey, that?s like getting a gold medal for being the best gold medal; where the gold medal you get is way better the gold medal that won the medal in the first place, thus producing a paradox in the fabric of space/time from which there is no escape.

Cantillon uses white muscat grapes in this beer, which allows for a much more mellow experience than some of their aggressively tart lambics. Supply of Vigneronne is incredibly limited due to lambic brewing?s reliance on the weather: The grapes must be handpicked at the very end of the growing season, giving very little time to collect fruit in time for brewing at the end of October. Demand always outstrips supply, and we?re lucky to have found a few bottles to share.