Kriek

Kriek. (kgheek)

A beer produced in Belgium by steeping Shaarbeek cherries in young lambic or gueuze to induce a new fermentation.  The red cherries (called kersen) and the black cherries (called krieken), harvested in late July and early August, are added at a rate of  100 kilos per 500 liters of lambic and macerated for 4-8 months.  The beer is then filtered, clarified, and bottled and is aged for another year.  When kriek is kept over five years it gains alcoholic strength but loses in cherry flavor.  It is cherry red, has a fine creamy foam, a bittersweet flavor, and a strength of about 4.8 percent alcohol by weight (6 percent by volume).  Most of the cherries now come from the Senne River valley or from the north of France (Morello cherries).

Syn: kriek(en)-lambic; kriekenlambic; cherry beer

See also: framboise; gueuze; kriekenbier; lambic