Plum Lambic
Brasserie Saint James

 

One of the best beers made in all of Nevada. Revision certainly clouded that designation with their awesome ipas, but if you're looking on the wild side, there really isn't much competition (and what is, is from the same brewery, with their 1904 ale).

I dig the color on this one. The mixture of pink and purple from the plums is pretty to look at. Small lighter pinkish head, 1/4". Aroma was plum and sour. Plum is unique, other than maybe Tilquin, I haven't really had much in the way of plum, and certainly not stateside.
The acidity exists, but isn't shocking. There is a relative cleanness to it, but without being simplistic. Throughout the mouth feel, there is repeated juicy plum, dry plum skin, wood, a staple barley base, good carbonation and hides alcohol well.

A very good beer. Only downside is the price, it continually creeps up. What I was getting for $14 is now $20 everywhere at least.

Sat in my beer cellar for about a year. It's subtle and relatively easy drinking at this point. The aroma is mild barnyard with a hint of the fruit, the same's true of the flavor. The finish is balanced for a lambic, lightly tart with a sweetness to it.

plum is one of those fruit flavors in beer that always ends up being more of a generic fruitiness than being true to what it is. i can think of very few examples where the flavor is positively plum. thats why i was so impressed with this one, about as plumy as can be, and it really works in the sour base beer, its somewhere between pink and purple in the pour, not real alive, but hazy and thick and unique in its color. the smell is awesome, with acidic lacto right there up front with the tart plum, like the skins instead of the flesh or something, pretty neat, but its ripe and juicy in the flavor too, and all on the front end. the plum flavor is absolutely enhanced by the wild yeasts in here, bringing out its own tart properties and letting the sweetness of the plum be a counterpoint to it. fuller bodied grain base for the style too. im not sure this is traditional lambic from a process standpoint, but im also not sure i care. its got the right tartness levels, and really has some funk in there with the sour. best use of plums i can think of in a beer, i really want to try some more stuff from these guys after the killer first impression these few beers have made on me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Funk, Plums, Tart, Vinous

I'm always skeptical when a US brewer uses the term "Lambic," but Brasserie Saint James added 32 pounds of Italian plums per wine barrel post-spontaneous fermentation and aged it for 18 months. Pours a cloudy, dirty peach color with a thin creamy lace that never ends. Soft funk, medicinal phenols, floral and fruity in the nose. Fizzy, creamy carbonation. Tart plum skins and a soft plum flesh fruitiness. Acidic, but not harsh. Vinous, with some faint oakiness. A bit musty and yeasty. Balanced, for the style, which I dig. And I love the use of plums here. A must try for sour fans.

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As reviewed in BeerAdvocate magazine #101 (June 2015).