Mirabella (Plum Lambic)
Fegley's Bethlehem Brew Works

Beer Geek Stats
From:
Fegley's Bethlehem Brew Works
 
Pennsylvania, United States
Style:
Wild Ale
ABV:
6%
Score:
Needs more ratings
Avg:
4.34 | pDev: 5.99%
Reviews:
7
Ratings:
7
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Mar 01, 2009
Added:
Jun 25, 2004
Wants:
  2
Gots:
  0
This is accomplished by using very “young” (partially fermented) Steelgaarden Wit. A Wit bier uses similar raw materials as a lambic. This makes a suitable and convenient replacement for the lambic we removed from the wine barrels. The “funk” or good bacteria left in the wine barrel is the catalyst to start the souring process. The brewers further inoculate the new beer with a culture grown in the “Mother”.
Recent ratings and reviews.
Ratings by dmarch:
Photo of dmarch
Reviewed by dmarch from Pennsylvania

4.69/5  rDev +8.1%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5
Ok, imagine you have no idea where you are and somebody hands you this beer. Then they ask you "Where is this beer from?" Most likely, you would say the Senne Valley. The appearance is a murky peach color served in a goblet that looks as though it could survive a nuclear explosion. Seriously, the glass on this is thick. Horse blanket aroma. Taste is very tart, a little bit of plum. Ok, I cheated. I wouldn't have tasted plum if they didn't say it was a plum lambic. The plum flavor is so light and delicate, it compliments the funkyness of the lambic style rather than overpowering it as other fruits could do. Bah to all you critics who say America can't brew a decent lambic. Taste this and then get back to me.
Jul 13, 2004
More User Ratings:
Photo of tempest
Reviewed by tempest from New York

4.15/5  rDev -4.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
On-tap at the brewpub, served in a 12 oz goblet for $6.50. Not a bad deal for a 5-year-old lambic. I've had issues with occasional Brew Works beer, but this could have come straight from Belgium. Probably because of the age, this beer drinks similar to gueze, with its more rounded sour flavors. The fruit sweetens the drink, but only adds a very slight plum note in the middle of the profile. For the most part, it's just a nice tangy sour ale without much barnyard funk going on.
Mar 01, 2009
Photo of claytri
Reviewed by claytri from Maryland

4/5  rDev -7.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
It seems they have changed the beer offered as Mirabella. The menu listed it as an old bruin. The color and taste didn't match that. It was much more like a fuit/wheat. It came out a cloudy gold with a white head. It had a lot of fruit flavor to it with a strong apricot finish. It had a bit of body to it and a nice sweet finish. This was an interesting offering and one I would definately try again.
Aug 09, 2004
Photo of tavernjef
Reviewed by tavernjef from Minnesota

4.35/5  rDev +0.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Growler it Forward 2: Thickly clouded pale yellow color with a fairly tall and bright white fizzy foamed head. Singes down quickly to a firm frothy collar and mininal webs of lacing.

Aroma is quite sweet without any real sugar accents, mostly citric in a way, fruity for sure but undistinguishable by trait. Tropical and sour; plum I guess could be evident but doesn't seem like any plum I know of. A bit more like a wine or even a cider type drink. Lightly bready and some yeasty factors help wrinkle the fabric of fruityness.

Taste is nice, kinda crisp and sharp but not so much so that its taking away from the feel and/or character. Which is also quite nice, with a light fluffy almost creamed fizzy texture. Again, a bit cider-like. Tart-like, flowery, bready, the plum is just a hinting factor over the malty fruits and wheaty structure. Smooth overall and fluffy, a smallish hint of yeasty souring mixes with the fruity tinge quite well. There's nothing to over the top with this lambic. Its very moderate with its juices and tame in its approach of tart and sour. Nice calming dryness fades off the end with touches of yeast funk. A nice little treat to enjoy with friends and neighbors. Thanks to francisweizen for the hook up and the GIF2 group!
Aug 04, 2004
Photo of erica
Reviewed by erica from California

4.5/5  rDev +3.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
A good beer from BBW, definitely. I sat alone at the bar with a glass of it and then took a growler home after waiting for months and months to try it. It was cloudy, a peachy yellowish colour, almost like the inside of a yellow plum, with a light, foamy white head. It smelled a bit fruity, but mostly real sour and funky like a Cantillon, which is quite commendable for a non-belgium brewery. I'm not the biggest fan of "funk" but for what this is supposed to be, it's very good. It didn't taste much like it smelled. It was more fruity, the plums came out to play. Not too sour, more just tart I would say. Still some of that funkiness of a lambic though, which it should have. No trace of the alcohol. Mouthfeel was good I thought, maybe a bit thick for a lambic, but still good. Drinkability is pretty good too, very tasty but I can only drink so much lambic before I start to get bad heartburn, so I would not drink this all night, however, I would like to have it again if I get the chance!
Jul 06, 2004
Photo of francisweizen
Reviewed by francisweizen from Washington

4.62/5  rDev +6.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
This was tapped on Friday 6/25/2004, although it was brewed quite some time ago. I sampled it @ the brewpub and took home a fresh growler of it on 6/27/2004. Here is my initial review. This superb beer is cloudy apricot in appearance with a small pure white head that quickly turns into a small white ring of foam that leaves some minute lace on my beer glass. The aroma is classic traditional belgian lambic funk. In all seriousness this smells like Cantillon fou foune and Cantillon gueuze blended together! It's instantly clearing out my sinuses and wreaking havoc on my nasal hairs! I smell some classic belgian wild yeast notes in the aroma. The aroma is very gueuze like, with some plums in the mix as well as some barnyard aromas of hay, horse blanket, and the like. Unfortunately the taste does not live up the hype. The taste is slightly funky and acidic up front with a definate "orval" type of character to it. Unfortuntely the flavor just isn't funky enough for this BA. Since I am a lover of Cantillon lambics and stuff like that this is a little on the tame side for me. However, this is still damn good. In the middle I taste some dead hops, and some lovely plum flavors, with a slight neutral sweetness that prevents this beauty from being the acidic monster that it could be! The finish is dry and funky, but uneventful. The mouthfeel is a bit thin, but it is creamy and smooth like a good fruit lambic should be. This is a bit yeasty, and full for a fruit lambic though. Although this brew definately retains the refreshing qualities that are usually attached to this style of beer. The drinkability is very good as well. For a 6%abv belgian lambic style brew this stuff goes down like water!

Thoughts: Well, the appearance and aroma of this brew were absolutely awesome! But the taste was not as great as I expected it to be. Still, this is a damn fine beer that Fegley should be very proud of. I have not had the Storm cherry lambic yet, but this is definately the most authentic "non-belgian" lambic, that I have ever tried. Wow!, everyone should try this awesome creation from BBW! I'll definately kill this growler tonight!

PS: This was a good choice for review 1,000 as well.
Jun 28, 2004
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Reviewed by yen157 from New Jersey

4.05/5  rDev -6.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5
I have been waiting for this one to come out for some time. For two months it has been aging in the tanks. Finally, it’s here.

Poured into a heavy chalice. Hazy (opaque actually) peach color in appearance, a little bit of a frothy collar at first, but that quickly melted away. The color was tinged pink, kinda like the plums that are light inside. Sweet plum notes in the nose, but not sugary sweet, something like sugar-free fruit candy. Very, faint bready note, too, along with a measure of perfumy tropical fruit.

First sip made me think “yup, lambic”. The sides of my mount started to pucker slightly and the back of my throat tightened up. Lambic qualities were more like a true lambic than an American interpretation, the most recent I’ve had is Festina Lente. The pucker in this beer is from a tartness rather from being sour. Subtle difference, but important (to me, at least!). After swallowing a fuzzy feeling is left in the mouth, almost like licking peach skin. Pretty simple fruit flavor, followed by moderate funk (remember, only aged TWO months)! Carbonation is pretty darn high, but it is so fine and tight it unobtrusive and actually compliments the flavors.

Beer was transferred to the serving tank less than 24 hours before my glasses, so it will clear up a little bit over time (I was told by the brewer). This baby isn’t going to knock your socks off like a Cantillon or Hanssens, but this is only two months old. I was told they have plans to sock some of this stuff away right next to the framboise and kriek from a few years ago. Really good stuff. This will be fantastic on its first birthday.
Jun 25, 2004
Mirabella (Plum Lambic) from Fegley's Bethlehem Brew Works
Beer rating: 4.34 out of 5 with 7 ratings