Of all the fruit lambics produced by Cantillon, this one could be the most sour, and is a true example of just how far this brewery is willing to go. That‟s because added to two-year-old lambic is a huge amount of Bergeron apricots, which lend their natural acidity to the lambic while donating their sugar content to the fermentation process. This beer implies fruit in the nose and body, but quickly folds into tart and earthy complexities that last long after the final drop is drained.

Spontaneous fermentation can be an unpredictable beast, and it takes masters like Cantillon to properly blend different vintages of lambic to create a predictable result through the season. So when those same masters throw out
the rulebook, the final product is astoundingly courageous. To two-year-old lambic, sugar liquor is added rather than younger lambic, producing a beer that is much more complex than traditional gueuze: more sour and replete with ghostly hauntings of dusky earthiness.

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.

Another example of how experts can masterfully bend the rules, Iris is not actually a lambic, in that no wheat is used; and some of the hops are fresh, rather than aged. Following a two-year barrel conditioning, Iris then undergoes a "cold hopping‟ in which more fresh hops are steeped in the beer inside what amounts to a giant teabag. The beer this unprecedented technique produces has fresh hop aromas and bitterness unlike any lambic, creating a collision of styles that simply has to be experienced.

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.