Getting Fruity

Jim Lundstrom

Oh, no! It’s happened again…I’ve fallen for another fruity beer.
This time it’s a Belgian called Ter Dolen Kriek. The label reads “Made with 100% real Kriek juice” (that’s Cherry juice in American). On the back label is a beery stained glass image surrounded by the words “Erkend Belgisch Abdijibier” (Certified Belgian Abbey Beer). The brewer is KasteelBrouwerij Ter Dolen of Helchteren, Belgium.
Oh, my! I just took another sip and tears of joy are running down my cheeks at the rich, deep, sweet, mellow, fruity beauty of this uber-delicious beer. I don’t believe I have ever tasted anything as utterly sensual as this spicy cherry beer.
I looked it up online and discovered the brewery believes this beer has a lemony taste. I wonder if “lemon” means something else in Belgium?
Melon perhaps? I got no lemon. None!
 If I were a doctor, I would prescribe this Kriek for the world, because if this doesn’t cure what ails you, you, sir, are incurable.
I say “sir” because I cannot imagine a woman who would not love this lovely beer, and I know some Paleo men still think fruit beers are for girls and fruits.
I say just three words to those Flintstones of beer and anyone else who does not understand the amazing chemistry that cherries and beer have – Ter Dolen Kriek.
It might change your life, but don’t blame me if it doesn’t.
I’ve got a thing about drinking beers with unappealing names – Moose Drool and Buffalo Sweat will never pass my lips.

For a long time I felt the same way about an entire brewery called Horny Goat. Yuk, just typing it brings a rank odor to my sensitive nose.
But I recently ran across a sixer of Horny Goat Saison Song. It was the name and the art deco-ish design of the label that made me stop and look at the bottle, and then in red type I saw that it has “a hint of strawberry.”
You just don’t see a lot of strawberry beers, and being an equal opportunity fruit beer fan, I had to give it a shot, despite the brewery’s dumb name. I’m glad I overcame my moral and physical revulsion and opened my palate to this limited edition beer.
It’s a really nice drinking beer. It comes on like a saison, which, if I had to explain what that means, I would say it plays mostly on the back reaches of the palate with a soft, bright explosion of flavor. In this case, the bright explosion is followed by a soft, sweet-tart implosion of strawberry.
Horny Goat is a Milwaukee craft brewpub, and this particular bottled version of their beer was contract brewed by the Stevens Point Brewery.

Good job!