I paid a visit to the nice beer shop in Southamptonⁱ (Bitter Virtue in Portswood) last Saturday (& met every flamin' idiot in their car on the journey, reminding me how much I don't like driving) and picked up a good selection of beers. Amongst them were:

Cantillon Gueuze
Girardin Gueuze
Cantillon Kriek
Girardin Kriek
Cantillon Rose de Gambrinous
Girardin Framboise

You can see what's coming next: As Harry Hill would say "Which one's best? There's only one way to find out - FIGHT!"

The Cantillons are old favourites and one of those special breweries in which everything they brew turns to gold. The Girardins I've tried before but not remembered and certainly not compared directly with another brew.

The Cantillon Gueuze was wonderfully sour, but there was a smell of urine that kinda put me off a little. The Girardin version was still very sour, but much fresher with a more lemony smell and taste - certainly none of the smell from the Cantillon. Girardin wins

The Cantillon Kriek was far superior to the Girardin with good sourness from the lambic fermentation and the cherries and just a little sweetness from the fruit. The Girardin had only a little sourness which was overcompensated for by a syrupy sweetness from the fruit. Cantillon wins

The Cantillon Rose de Gambrinous is my favourite of all. Incredibly sour, so you have to sip it slowly, The raspberry flavour just taking a little of the sourness off with the fruit sweetness. The Girardin was only a little sour with the sweetness from the fruit making it too easy to drink - like squash. Not as much flavour as the Cantillon. Cantillon wins