Belgian Fruit Beer

The basis for Liefmans Kriek Brut was laid in the years 1900 to 1930, when local farmers started popping in to Liefmans, to ask for a barrel of beer to use with their glut of ‘krieken’ (cherries).

But it was Pierre Van Geluwe-De Berlaere who was the first brewer at Liefmans to do the reverse – and add some ‘krieken’ directly to the beer maturing in the tanks.

A Kriek Brut is not to be confused with any other ‘kriek’. The beer is brewed only once a year, using Belgian fruit exclusively, and – to top all that – is matured for 18 months, before it is ready to leave the brewery.

The beer is also a complex blend – between 15 and 20 different batches of Goudenband and Oud Bruin are used. Red fruit aromas first appear when the beer is poured – then a hint of marzipan, mixing with the lusciously sweet fragrance of warm cherries.

You immediately get a pleasantly sour taste, which evolves into a sweet finish. This fruity beer also gives you a perfectly-dosed, robust fullness, which makes for the long-lasting enjoyment of the many different tastes you come across, as it is savoured.