cantillon fou’ foune
I am a huge fan of Cantillon beers. ever since AP and I visited them in Brussels last year, toured the facility and shot it with Jean-Pierre Van Roy (review and pictures soon!), I have had a soft spot for their brews. it doesn’t hurt that they put out some of the most consistently awesome geuzes and lambics on the planet.
- therefore, when AP and I were in Portland in February, visiting my (now-favorite) restaurant, Higgins, we ordered up this unknown apricot lambic, Fou’ Foune, on a hunch based on brewery reputation alone (an despite the doubts of our waiter, who I believe was just a partisan pacific northwest hop-head).
- the lambic was great – very sour with a fantastic aroma. I managed to grab a shot of the label with my phone before we left just in case I forgot its name (which I promptly did).
- fast forward a few months, where I am performing my weekly ritual of perusing Healthy Spirits’ blog. Dave mentions they got some new cantillon in. I cross my fingers. Fou’ Foune is on the list. I go over that week and score the last bottle on the shelf.
- what I didn’t expect was for CB to crack open one of these guys during his brew session – it was definitely a most-appreciated surprise.
- the beer was as I remembered. on a clean palate, the first sip is mouth-puckeringly sour, but after a few more everything settles in and pure bliss follows.
- a little trivia – according to the distributor, Jean-Pierre’s daughter, Julie Van Roy, did the painting for the label (which is one of my all-time favorites as well).
- more interesting history of the beer, including the story of its inception and naming, can be found at the cantillon link here.
