Ingredients
What to buy
- Oude Kriek or Vieille Kriek
- the words oude or vieille matter
- see the note
- Cantillon Kriek, Boon Oude Kriek, 3 Fonteinen
- or a sweetened commercial kriek
- which is a different drink
- see the note on why no method is given
To serve
- at 8 to 12 degrees
- in a tumbler or a wine glass
- opened carefully, see the safety note
- poured leaving the sediment behind
To eat with
- duck or game
- pâté and terrines
- aged cheese
- dark chocolate
- cherry desserts
- roast pork
Directions
- Stone fruit kernels contain amygdalin. Do not crush or grind cherry stones.
- Chill it first.
- Let corks out with a hiss rather than a bang.
- Stand the bottle upright for a day.
- Pour slowly in one motion.
- Leave the last centimetre. Cold mutes the fruit entirely.
- Add it late and let it warm through. If you cook with a traditional kriek, you may need to add sugar.
Technique
- Kriek is made from lambic and lambic cannot be made outside its valley, so kriek cannot be made either. Steeping cherries in a bought gueuze would give a sweet cherry beer rather than kriek — the real thing ferments a second time on the fruit for months until the yeast has eaten the cherry sugars entirely, and traditional kriek is not a sweet drink at all.
- That is the whole character of it: it smells sweet and tastes dry, and the contradiction is the point.
- The stones are left in deliberately, for the faint bitter almond note that benzaldehyde gives. Stone fruit kernels contain amygdalin, which can release hydrogen cyanide when broken down — but whole intact stones release very little, the kernel sits inside a hard shell, and the practice is centuries old and not associated with harm. What does follow is that you should never crush or grind cherry stones, since crushing the kernel is what releases the compound; bitter apricot kernels sold as a supplement have caused documented poisonings. The atlas records the chemistry accurately and does not suggest a bottle of kriek is a hazard.
- Look for oude or vieille on the label. Oude Kriek is a legally protected traditional designation and cannot be sweetened. A plain kriek may be young lambic with cherry syrup added, sweetened, filtered and pasteurised — bright red and sweet, a pleasant drink but not the same product, and some use no real cherries at all. Read the ingredients: a traditional kriek lists cherries.
- Traditional kriek is pink to amber-red rather than bright cherry red. The colour comes from real fruit skins fermented for months, and bright red usually means added colour or juice. The head is pink.
- The traditional cherry is the small dark sour Schaarbeekse, grown around Schaarbeek in Brussels until the city grew over the orchards. Most kriek now uses other sour varieties, some brewers have replanted Schaarbeek trees, and some bottlings say which they used.
- Bottle-conditioned kriek is under pressure. Chill it, open it over a sink, point it away from your face and anyone else, and let corks out with a hiss rather than a bang. The gueuze entry carries the fuller account.
- Stand it upright for a day, pour slowly in one motion and leave the last centimetre.
- Serve it at eight to twelve degrees. Cold mutes the fruit entirely; too warm and the acidity dominates.
- Cherry with duck predates the beer, and the acidity does exactly what a cherry sauce does.
- Do not reduce it hard when cooking — sourness concentrates and turns harsh. Add it late and let it warm through, and expect to add sugar, since a traditional kriek brings none.
- It ages for years: the fresh fruit fades, the colour turns from pink toward amber and it becomes drier and more wine-like. Some prefer it fresh for the fruit and some aged for the complexity, and there is no correct answer.
- Sweetened fruit beers taste like soft drinks and still contain alcohol. That catches people out, and it catches children out.
- Do not drink alcohol if you are pregnant or driving.
Substitutions
- Framboise or frambozen is the raspberry version of the same beer.
- Oude Geuze is the unfruited blend.
- A sweetened commercial kriek is the gentler introduction.
- Any sour cherry beer from elsewhere approximates the style.
- Sour cherry juice with sparkling water is the non-alcoholic parallel.
- Duchesse de Bourgogne brings a similar sweet-sour red character.
Variations
- Oude Kriek is the traditional protected designation.
- Framboise uses raspberries; druiven versions use grapes.
- Kriek made specifically with Schaarbeek cherries is bottled by some houses.
- Sweetened commercial kriek is bright red and mild.
- Kriek made from a brown ale base rather than lambic exists in Flanders.
- Gueuze is the same lambic blended without fruit.
History
Made with Schaarbeek cherries once grown around Brussels; the fruit was added to lambic casks in summer and refermented into the beer.
Frequently asked questions
What is Kriek?
Kriek is a wine & spirit from Belgium: lambic steeped with sour cherries until pink, tart and fruity. Made with Schaarbeek cherries once grown around Brussels; the fruit was added to lambic casks in summer and refermented into the beer.
How long does Kriek take to make?
Kriek takes 5 minutes of preparation and none of cooking. The recipe makes buy by the bottle. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Kriek?
Yes, within limits. Framboise or frambozen is the raspberry version of the same beer. Oude Geuze is the unfruited blend. A sweetened commercial kriek is the gentler introduction. Any sour cherry beer from elsewhere approximates the style. Sour cherry juice with sparkling water is the non-alcoholic parallel. Duchesse de Bourgogne brings a similar sweet-sour red character.
What is the most important thing to get right in Kriek?
Stone fruit kernels contain amygdalin. Do not crush or grind cherry stones.
