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. |
|
References