{{Short description|Style of Belgian beer made with sour cherries}} {{redirect|Kriek}} {{more citations needed|date=December 2009}} thumb|right|260px|A glass of Belgian kriek beer '''Kriek lambic''' is a style of Belgian beer, made by fermenting lambic with sour Morello cherries.<ref>{{Cite book | last = Shepard | first = Robin | title = The Best Breweries and Brewpubs of Illinois: Searching for the Perfect Pint | publisher = U of Wisconsin P | date = 2003 | page = 314 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=xyF1wp70jp4C&pg=PA314 | isbn = 978-0-299-18894-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=12 February 2019 |title=What is a Kriek Beer? |url=https://www.hopculture.com/what-is-a-kriek-lambic/ |access-date=25 October 2021 |website=Hop Culture}}</ref> Traditionally "Schaarbeekse krieken" (a rare Belgian Morello variety) from the area around Brussels are used. As the Schaarbeek type cherries have become more difficult to find, some brewers have replaced these (partly or completely) with other varieties of sour cherries, sometimes imported.
==Etymology== The name is derived from the Dutch word for this type of cherry ({{wikt-lang|nl|kriek}}).
==Brewing== Traditionally, kriek is made by breweries in and around Brussels using lambic beer to which sour cherries (with the pits) are added.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Clerget |first=Michel |title=Bruxelles, baroque ou intimiste |newspaper=L'Humanité |language=fr |date=1999-11-06 |url=http://www.humanite.fr/1999-11-06_Societe_-Bruxelles-baroque-ou-intimiste |access-date=2010-01-06 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100616152856/http://www.humanite.fr/1999-11-06_Societe_-Bruxelles-baroque-ou-intimiste |archive-date=2010-06-16 }}</ref> A lambic is a sour and dry Belgian beer, fermented spontaneously with airborne yeast said to be native to Brussels; the presence of cherries (or raspberries) predates the almost universal use of hops as a flavoring in beer.<ref>{{Cite book | last = Jackson | first = Michael | title = The Simon Schuster Pocket Guide to Beer | publisher = Simon and Schuster | date = 1997 | page = 80 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=p24Ktw6BDVoC&pg=PA80| isbn = 978-0-684-84381-0}}</ref> A traditional kriek made from a lambic base beer is sour and dry as well. The cherries are left in for a period of several months, causing a refermentation of the additional sugar. Typically no sugar will be left so there will be a fruit flavour without sweetness. There will be a further maturation process after the cherries are removed.
More recently,{{When|date=November 2022}} some lambic brewers have added sugar to the final product of their fruit beers, in order to make them less intense and more approachable to a wider audience. They also use cherry juice rather than whole cherries and are matured for much shorter periods.<ref>Oliver, Garrett. (2011). ''The Oxford Companion to Beer''. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. p. 522. {{ISBN|9780199912100}}. Retrieved March 14, 2019.</ref>
Framboise is a related, less traditional Belgian beer, fermented with raspberries instead of sour cherries. Kriek is also related to gueuze, which is not a fruit beer but is also based on refermented lambic beer. Some breweries, like Liefmans, make "kriek" beers based on oud bruin beer instead of lambic.
==Commercial examples== Traditional krieks include: {{Div col|colwidth=30em}} *Lindemans Kriek Cuvée René *Boon Oude Kriek *Cantillon Kriek Lambic *3 Fonteinen Kriek *Girardin Kriek 1882 *Hanssens Kriek Lambic *Oud Beersel Oude Kriek Vieille *Timmermans Traditional Kriek Lambic *Lyons Peak Brewing Company, [https://lyonspeak.com/our-beers/ Handgeplukte Kriek] is an American lambic-style beer made with 100% Schaerbeek cherries.
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Sweetened krieks include: {{Div col|colwidth=30em}} *Belle-Vue Kriek Lambic *De Troch Chapeau Kriek Lambic *Lindemans Kriek Lambic *Boon Kriek Lambic *Mort Subite Kriek Lambic *Timmermans Kriek Lambic *Van Honsebrouck St. Louis Kriek Lambic *La Sultane Halal Kriek
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Kriek based on Oud Bruin include: {{Div col|colwidth=30em}} *De Ryck Kriek Fantastiek *Liefmans Kriek *Kasteel Kriek *Verhaeghe Echt Kriekenbier
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==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Kriek}}
{{Lambic}} {{Beer Styles}}
Category:Beer styles Category:Beer in Belgium Category:Traditional Speciality Guaranteed products from Belgium Category:Cherries