Balbec
The Referend Bier Blendery

Beer Geek Stats
From:
The Referend Bier Blendery
 
Pennsylvania, United States
Style:
Belgian Fruit Lambic
ABV:
6%
Score:
+6 ratings needed
Avg:
4.59 | pDev: 2.18%
Ratings:
4 | reviews: 1
Status:
Active
Rated:
Nov 30, 2025
Added:
Apr 13, 2019
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  0
Balbec is a new bottle that is only available on-site at the blendery.
After racking The Blue Book off of 500 lbs of NJ blueberries in a single red wine puncheon, we hand-destemmed 225 lbs of Malbec grapes and added the whole, uncrushed grapes to the puncheon to spontaneously referment and macerate on one-year-old spontaneously fermented golden ale for an additional eight months. Balbec technically contains trace amounts of local trifoliate citrus and chamomile from Wittgenstein’s prior transformative residency, but the Malbec and blueberries are dominant. The grapes are from California, so if we are ever to make this again we need to source (or plant) some local Malbec.
Recent ratings and reviews.
Ratings by SadMachine:
Photo of SadMachine
Rated by SadMachine from New Jersey

4.6/5  rDev +0.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75

Apr 13, 2019
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 4.5 by PhineasMcClintock from Massachusetts

Nov 30, 2025
Photo of edthehead
Reviewed by edthehead from Maryland

4.75/5  rDev +3.5%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75
Dark red with a loose light pink head that recedes quickly with very little lacing. Dominant berry, red wine, grape skin, mildly tart. Medium body, mild carbonation.
Feb 25, 2024
 
Rated: 4.5 by cp45 from New Jersey

Dec 07, 2019