Skip to content

Timmermans Lambicus Kriek Black Pepper: tasting note

Tasted 2026-10-31 · pass

Not isolating

A tulip glass of deep red beer with a thin pinkish head beside a brown 33 cl bottle of Timmermans Lambicus Kriek Black Pepper with an orange and cream label showing a cherry and peppercorns Lambicus Kriek Black Pepper in the glass.

Impression

Deep pinkish red, with the kriek signature aroma. It does feel a bit mass produced and slightly artificial, but this is a beer I would not mind drinking often. The pepper is a nice addition, though it kicks in a bit too late, warming up the throat, when I was expecting more of the cracked black pepper aroma and flavour.

The beer

Researched 2026-10-31 from published sources (numbered below), not the author's own observations.

Item Finding
Brewing Barley malt and wheat [4]; the lambic uses unmalted wheat, a turbid mash and aged hops [1]. 11 °P, 0 IBU per one retailer [4]
Organisms Lambic part spontaneous, cooled overnight in a coolship [1][2]; no species published
Fermentation and ageing Port pipes (650 L) and foeders; lambics in the brewery's beers generally 18 to 36 months old [2]
Fruit "100% natural cherries" in the producer's text [5]; the UK label reads "concentrated cherry juice (EU, 0.55%)", about 5.5 g/L [6], and one list adds cherry flavouring [4]. The Kriek with black pepper added, launched in 2023 [3]
Pepper "Delicately spiced with black pepper" [5]; listed as a flavouring [4]. Form not public
Packaging Crown-capped 33 cl, 4.0% ABV [3][6]. Sugar is on the ingredient list [4]. Filtration and pasteurisation not public

What it means for the bugs:

  • Sweetened with sugar and not refermented: very likely pasteurised or sterile-filtered, so little is alive in the bottle [Med].
  • A pepper flavouring carrying mostly the pungent compounds would explain heat late in the throat with little cracked-pepper aroma [Low].

Sources: 1. Timmermans and the magical mystery tour that creates the ancient style of lambic beer, Protz on Beer, 2014. 2. Brouwerij Timmermans: The World's Oldest Lambic Brewery, Celebrator Beer News, 2018. 3. Fruit & Spice Lambicus launch and portfolio change, Lambicland News, 2023 (Dutch). 4. Kriek Black Pepper Lambicus, Bierothek (retailer). 5. Kriek Black Pepper Lambicus, Artisanal Imports (importer). 6. Timmermans Kriek & Black Pepper Lambicus 330ml, Morrisons (retailer), 2026.

The bugs

Dregs not examined. They are likely to be the same as in the Lambicus Blanche, from the same brewery and range.

Decision

Pass, as for the Lambicus Blanche.