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]
Cantillon Cuvée Des Champions eventually evolved into Cuvée Saint Gilloise after the USG team was no longer consistently winning. Rumors have said that Cantillon changed hops at that time from Styrian Golding to Hallertau, however Jean Van Roy confirmed that this is not the case. The hop varieties have changed at various times based on availability and as they have sourced hops from different providers, but there was no hop change specifically tied to the beer name change. [3]
Bottle Log
| Bottle date
(mm/dd/yyyy) |
Cork Date | Bottle Size | Label / Notes | Image Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August/September 2004 | N/A | 750ml | N/A | |
| 01/10/2006 | 2006 | 750ml | N/A | |
| 01/xx/2008 | 2008 | 750ml | Also has a brewed date of November 2005 | N/A |
| 02/21/2008 | 2008 | 750ml | Also has a brewed date of March 23, 2006, shared at Cantillon by Jean in 2016. | 
|
| 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 | N/A | |
| 03/10/2021 | 2021 | 750ml | 
|
Label Log
Cantillon Cuvée Des Champions, front label
Cantillon Cuvée Des Champions, neck label (never used commercially)
Cantillon Cuvée Des Champions, rear label
References
- ↑ Monk's Cafe Mad Monday Event, August 8, 2011
- ↑ TTB Label Approval, Cantillon Cuvée Des Champions, 2004
- ↑ Lambic.Info Interview with Jean Van Roy and Jean Pierre Van Roy, May 2015
