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Kriek 2023
Viktor B., Jesper K. and Laurits S.
Our Rating: 3.25 / 5
Pitched as an oak-matured Scottish cherry kriek with depth and character, but plays it safe. Technically clean, visually appealing, and easy to drink, just not what it claims to be.
Oak stays quiet while cherries and blackberries take the lead. Enjoyable enough, but not memorable.
Beer Name: Kriek 2023 – Oak Matured with Ripe Scottish Cherries
Brewery: Innis & Gunn
Beer Style: Kriek
Alcohol: 5.1%
Taste notes: Cherry, blackberry, vanilla,
Serving: Bottle
Serving Size: 330ml (11.16 fl. oz.)
Three Bottles, One Orchard
A rare moment of logistical ease — three tasters, three tulip glasses, and three bottles of Innis & Gunn’s Kriek 2023, oak matured with Scottish ripe cherries, lined up in a row. The brewery’s pitch is straightforward: a local take on a Belgian fruit beer; the ever classic Kriek – a Lambic with sour cherries, with Innis & Gunn letting the cherry do the heavy lifting with a nod to oak refinement. No IBU listed, no chatter about malt bill, no detail on the oak itself. A clean, short promise, the sort of thing that either speaks for itself in the glass or quietly fades.
At 7 °C, poured slowly into tulips, the beer shows well in the glass: a saturated red with semi-transparent depth, like the inside of a ripe cherry, almost more reminiscent of a Brachetto red wine cracked open on a hot summer day. A modest but persistent head sits low, holding a faint halo more than a cap. Carbonation is active, fine, quick-moving bubbles threading upward, giving the beer an almost sparkling-wine tension. Lacing is minimal, slipping away without much trace.
First aroma pulls exactly where you’d expect: cherries and vanilla, immediate and uncomplicated. Step closer, and the cherries take a back seat to blackberries, deeper, darker, more layered. But it’s fleeting; lift your head and much of it is gone. That volatility gives it an intriguing push–pull: an inviting glass if you’re engaged, easy to lose if you’re distracted.
Not Oaky? Okay
The first sip opens with cherries in the lead, blackberries just a step behind, and vanilla laid across the middle like a soft backing track. It’s fresh, sweet without being sticky, and the fruit feels more natural than candy-like. There’s a gentle acidity in play, enough to keep things lively but far from the sharper edges of a traditional lambic-style kriek. If there’s bitterness here, it’s minimal, not really a player in the balance, just a quiet nudge at the finish.
The “oak matured” claim is harder to pin down. Vanilla is present, yes, but it reads as a general softening rather than a true barrel signature. No tannic grip, no wood spice, no toasted edges. Whatever oak contact there was, it’s left more of a suggestion than a stamp. The result is clean but narrow: the beer has freshness, but not much in the way of structural complexity. It definitely lends itself to a heated outdoor sitting, easy going and easy sipping. And while the push-pull sensation remains, there’s not much to speak of in terms of engagement once you’ve let yourself get pulled in.
Mouthfeel sits in that slightly awkward space, thin in weight, yet with a creaminess from the carbonation texture – and maybe the sweetness plays a role here as well. The small, intense bubbles do good work lifting the fruit, but without more body or acidity to counter the sweetness, the beer doesn’t really shift gears across the glass. Temperature rise pulls more blackberry and vanilla into view, with cherries retreating further into the background. It stays composed from start to finish, but it’s a straight line, no mid-glass surprise, no deepening of character. And while a true Kriek is made traditionally on a Lambic base fermented with sour Morello cherries, those blackberry notes found in the Kriek 2023 might come from those acclaimed ripe Scottish cherries being more ripe than tart. And it is not unpleasant at all; Innis & Gunn have just made a kriek that reads more like a cherry, blackberry and vanilla sour than an actual Kriek.
By the last sip, the verdict is consistent across the board here: a polished, easy-drinking fruit beer that knows exactly what it’s doing but never reaches beyond it. For some, that’s exactly the point: refreshing, friendly, and without the funk, acid, or barrel intensity that can make krieks a more acquired taste. For us, the style cues on the label suggested something more layered. A little more oak, a little more tartness, and this could have been genuinely memorable.
All three glasses finished clean, no off-notes, no faults. And yet, at the table, we agreed on a respectable score of 3.25/5. Not far from the 3.51/5 on UnTappd. The Innis & Gunn Kriek 2023 is enjoyable in the moment, but unlikely to be something we’d go out of our way to revisit.
Rating: 3.25 / 5
