Cantillon Cuvée Des Champions

Description

Cantillon Cuvée des Champions is a two year old lambic that is dry-hopped with Styrian Golding hops^[1] and bottled with a small amount of liquor to begin refermentation in the bottle. It was bottled yearly between 2004 and 2010 in 75cl bottles, but has been available in 37.5cl on at least one occasion in 2009 and on tap in various locations. It is the predecessor to the current-market beer Cuvée Saint Gilloise.

History / Other Notes

Cuvée des Champions was initially bottled to honor the Royale Union Saint-Gilloise's 2003-2004 championship season in the Belgian Third Division B. The name and color scheme for the labeling is derived from the Royale Union Saint-Gilloise's team colors. The team was originally located in the municipality of Saint-Gilles in Brussels near Cantillon but has since moved to the neighboring municipality of Forest. In 2010, both Cuvée Des Champions and Cuvée Saint Gilloise overlapped in the Cantillon lineup. The labeling for the bottles is the same for U.S verion and received approval on July 22, 2004. A neck label was also approved, but never used.^[2]

Unsubstantiated Stories

Cantillon Cuvée Des Champions eventually evolved into Cuvée Saint Gilloise after the USG team was no longer consistently winning, at which time the hop variety was changed from Styrian Golding to Hallertau.

Bottle Log

Bottle date (mm/dd/yyyy)	Cork Date	Bottle Size	Label / Notes	Image Link
August/September 2004	N/A	750ml		N/A
01/xx/2008	2008	750ml	Also has a brewed date of November 2005	N/A
05/19/2009	2009	750ml	Also has a brewed date of January 2007 on back label	N/A
05/19/2009	2009	375ml	Same bottling as 750ml from same date	N/A
N/A	2010	750ml	Last known bottling under Cuvée Des Champions label	N/A