Cantillon Lou Pepe - Kriek

Description

Lou Pepe Kriek is part of Cantillon's Lou Pepe series which is bottled on a regular basis. The series also contains Lou Pepe Framboise and Lou Pepe Gueuze. Lou Pepe Kriek is made from two year old lambic that has been aged exclusively in used Bordeaux barrels. Whereas Cantillon's Kriek 100% Lambic and Rosé de Gambrinus lambics contain 200g of frozen fruit per liter, the Lou Pepe fruited beers contain about 300g of fresh fruit per liter.^[1] The cherries used for Lou Pepe Kriek are often Belgian Schaerbeekse cherries, a local sour Morello cherry, but that is not always the case if the harvest is low. In 2015, Schaerbeekse cherries were sourced from a local organic grower, Pajottenlander in Pepingen, despite a low harvest. ^[2] To carbonate the beer, a small amount of sweet liquor is added at bottling causing the refermentation in the bottle.

According to Cantillon's official website, "the particular name of these beers comes from the south-west of France, a region the Cantillon family is very fond of. In this beautiful region, the grandfather is called Lou Pepe." ^[1]

History / Other Notes

Lou Pepe Kriek, as with the other Lou Pepe bottlings, comes with two dates: a vintage date and a bottling/cork date. The dates are generally two years apart, with the vintage date shown as a sticker on the bottle above the label. The earliest known vintage of Lou Pepe Kriek is 1998.

During the Lambic Summit, 2010, Jean mentioned that because the fruit is so prevalent initially, the lambic flavors can be somewhat masked. He recommended aging it in a cellar for 2 to 3 years to allow the lambic to develop.^[3]

Label

U.S. label approval application, 2001

Bottle Log

Bottle date (mm/dd/yyyy)	Cork Date	Sticker Date	Bottle Size	Label / Notes	Image Link
N/A	2000	1998	750mL	Japanese Import
N/A	2000	1998	750mL	US Label. Back Shelton label is numbered "#xx of 120"	N/A
N/A	2001	1999	750mL	Lot L 13/02
N/A	2003	2001	750mL		N/A
N/A	N/A	2001	750mL	Imported by Shelton Bros, back label has Jean-Pierre Van Roy's name and signature printed.	N/A
N/A	?	2002	750mL	Black foil over cap.	N/A
N/A	2005	2003	750mL	Gold cap	N/A
09/08/2006	2006	2004	750mL		N/A
08/22/2007	2007	2005	750mL	U.S. label, oval sticker has description below vintage year	N/A
10/10/2007	2007	2005	750mL	Belgian label, oval sticker just has vintage year	N/A
09/21/2008	2008	2006	750mL	U.S. label, oval sticker has description below vintage year	N/A
N/A	2008	2006	750mL	U.S. label, oval sticker has description below vintage year	N/A
08/21/2009	2009	2007	750mL	Non-Shelton Brothers label	N/A
09/04/2009	2009	2007	750mL	U.S. label, oval sticker has description below vintage year	N/A
09/08/2010	2010	2008	750mL	U.S. label, oval sticker has description below vintage year	N/A
09/14/2010	2010	2008	750mL	Non-Shelton Brothers label	N/A
09/21/2010	2010	2008	750mL	Non-Shelton Brothers label	N/A
09/29/2010	2010	2008	750mL	Non-Shelton Brothers label	N/A
09/01/2011	2011	2009	750mL	Non-Shelton Brothers label	N/A
09/01/2011	2011	2009	750mL	U.S. label, oval sticker has description below vintage year	N/A
08/29/2012	2012	2010	750mL	U.S. label, oval sticker has description below vintage year	N/A
09/05/2013	2013	2011	750mL	Non-Shelton Brothers label	N/A
08/28/2014	2014	2012	750mL	Non-Shelton Brothers label	N/A
09/10/2015	2015	2013	375mL	Euro label, available or on-site consumption only. Likely similar bottling date to the 75cl bottling.	N/A
09/10/2015	2015	2013	750mL	Euro label, released in very small quantities at the brewery only	N/A
09/10/2015	2015	2013	1.5L	Euro label, served on occasion but not for sale	N/A
xx/xx/2016	Season 16/17	2014	750mL	Euro label, available for on-site consumption only.	N/A
09/18/2017	Season 17/18	2015	750mL	Euro label, available for on-site consumption only. Some bottles sold during Quintessence 2017
09/18/2018	Season 18/19	2016	750mL	Euro label, available for on-site consumption.
09/23/2019	Season 19/20	2017	750mL	Euro label, available for on-site consumption. Some sold to go
09/14/2020	Season 20/21	2018	750mL	Euro label, available for on-site consumption. Some sold to to.