Cantillon Iris

Description

Iris is a spontaneously fermented beer made yearly by Cantillon outside of the realm of traditional lambic. Instead of using a traditional 35% wheat base the beer is brewed entirely with pale malt. It is dry-hopped with a 50/50 blend of both aged and fresh Hallertau hops and is then barreled for approximately two years. After the maturation period, Iris is "cold hopped" with fresh Saaz hops one more time before bottling to give it a fresh-hop bitterness and aroma.^[1] Though the brewery states that Iris is available only in 75cl bottles, many vintages have been bottled and distributed in 37.5cl bottles as well as in 20L kegs.

History / Other Notes

Iris was first brewed and released to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Musée bruxellois de la gueuze in 1998 after having been brewed in 1996. It was bottled again in 2000 and became a part of the core lineup soon after. The name Iris, as well as the label artwork, recognizes the marsh irish that grew in and around the swampy Brussels city center. The labels has remained generally unchanged since the first batch with only minor adjustments to its size and age-statements. Iris has been labeled both with a vintage date that is two years prior to the cork date, and without a vintage date. It is generally bottled during the first four months of the year.

Bottle Log

Bottle date (mm/dd/yyyy)	Cork Date	Vintage	Bottle Size	Label / Notes	Image Link
N/A	1998	1996	750mL	("Iris" is offset on label, vintage 1996)	N/A
N/A	2000	N/A	375mL	Label is centered with "Iris 2000". Black foil. Lost the cork date.	N/A
N/A	N/A	2004	750mL		N/A
N/A	2003	2005	375mL		N/A
N/A	2003	2005	750mL	Some also have 2004 corks	N/A
N/A	2004	2006	750mL		N/A
N/A	2005	2007	750mL		N/A
N/A	2005	2007	375mL		N/A
N/A	2006	2008	750mL		N/A
01/09/2008	2006	2008	750mL		N/A
01/29/2009	N/A	2011	750mL	Bottled on year and cork year are different	N/A
04/02/2009	2006	2009	750mL		N/A
04/02/2009	2007	2009	375mL		N/A
02/12/2010	2007	2010	750mL		N/A
02/17/2010	2007	2010	750mL		N/A
12/15/2010	2007	2010	750mL		N/A
01/26/2011	2007	2011	750mL		N/A
01/27/2011	2009	2011	750mL	No year on label	N/A
03/03/2011	2009	2011	375mL	No year on label	N/A
03/08/2011	2009	2011	375mL	No year on label, brewed January 13, 2009	N/A
12/15/2011	N/A	2011	75 mL	No year on label	N/A
02/20/2012	N/A	2012	750mL		N/A
11/22/2012	N/A	2012	750mL	No year on label	N/A
01/28/2013	N/A	2013	750mL	No year on label	N/A
03/19/2013	N/A	2013	375mL	No year on label	N/A
12/23/2013	N/A	2013	750mL	No year on label	N/A
12/24/2013	N/A	2013	750mL	No year on label	N/A