Samuel Adams Cranberry Lambic
Boston Beer Company (Samuel Adams)

Appears a semi-transparent, slightly hazed amber with a gigantic head of fluffy, white foam that slowly fades out into a mild cap and hearty collar. Plenty of streaky, webbed lacing is left all around the glass.
Smell is of doughy bread, honey, cran-raspberry cocktail, splashed in a hefeweizen containing notes of orange, cloves, and perhaps a touch of cheesyness from the lambic strain.
The taste is mainly of the mentioned aromas with some tart notes of cranberry juice mixed with a hearty helping of wheat and spices. There's something about this beer that makes me think I'm chewing on fruit loops and following it up with fun stripes bubble gum.
Mouthfeel is medium bodied, sweet & tart up front, mostly smooth, with a decent chewiness via the heavy wheat malt that keeps things interesting.
Overall, this is an interesting one. This is one of the ones that made me cross over to craft beer many years ago. I would be harping if I carried on that this is certainly not a true lambic. I think if they changed the name to Cranberry Wheat, they would sell a lot more during the season albeit through seasonal mixed cases. The typical Sam drinker doesn't know what the hell a lambic is and probably doesn't care. I guess I'm just not sure what target market they're shooting for. It's not dulled down enough to be a "foo-foo" drink that college women would be attracted to ala Redbach. It's certainly not shouting out to beer geekdom either, as it's a far cry from the some of the geeky releases like the Imperial Pils, or the Chocolate Bock.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reviewed from notes. This is one of the worst beers I have ever had. It has no resemblance to a traditional lambic and can't be construed as "stretching" the style boundaries.

Looks are decent enough - a slightly reddish, golden color. Lively carbonation to the eye.

The aroma is a muddle of wheat bread, vague fruit notes, medicinal, a little yeasty. It is not fresh or inviting in the smell.

The taste falls far short of expectation. The base beer seemed off somehow, and the cranberry flavor seems artificial and medicinal. Some sweetness, some tart from the cranberry, but it is pretty much a muddle of indistinguishable and unremarkable flavors.

The feel - this looked pleasantly carbonated, but it is quite bloating and very harsh on the tongue. Some of the sting is cranberry, but it seems to be carbonated with very small bubbles that become uncomfortable.

Overall, this is a poor representation of a lambic and is generally a poorly constructed beer against what sounds like a good concept - good idea, bad execution?

 

 

 

 

Quite the abomination to what could be considered a lambic. Right up there with some super failed homebrew attempts at lambic.

Did you want a cranberry vodka? Because thats you get when you order a cranberry lambic. The aroma is wheat-esque.

Taste is nothing like a lambic. This is a bad beer by any standard, but damn if you didn't call it a lambic. They just dumped a bunch of cranberry juice into a wheat beer. Homebrew surprise all over this one. good for nothing. Acidic, I'd rather drink juice.