Can someone explain Lambic beers to me?

Discussion in 'Beer Talk' started by Melvintrude, May 1, 2015.

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  1. Melvintrude

    Melvintrude Initiate (0) Feb 13, 2015 England

    I started the "1001 Beers to try before you die" odyssey a while back with a friend based here in the UK. All was going well, plenty of variation and the only drawback seemed to be a lessening tolerance for 'ordinary' beer'

    All was going well until my birthday in early April, when my fellow aficionado came round with a mixed case of exotica, including two Cantillon Lambics. The first, Rosé de Gambrinus was unexpected; hugely tart but refreshing, if ultimately bizarre.

    However after a couple of others we tried the Gueuze 100% Lambic. Tasting notes went out the window; the best I could manage was "try licking truck battery terminals".

    Did I get a dodgy bottle, or am I completely missing the point?
     
  2. StoutSnob40

    StoutSnob40 Grand Pooh-Bah (4,611) Jan 4, 2013 California
    Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Well, I mean, they are fermented from wild yeast and whatever the hell else is floating in the air of downtown Brussels.. There is bound to be some interesting flavors. You picked a big one for your first.. You get used to them and they are amazing.

    Had a 2010 Classic Gueuze last night and it was wonderful.
     
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  3. Melvintrude

    Melvintrude Initiate (0) Feb 13, 2015 England

    Strangely the Rose made much more sense. I'm not a fan of the krieks, but the intense dry fruit in that Lambic certainly worked.

    As for the atmosphere in Bruxelles I'd say particles of flattened pedestrians make up a good part of it. Worst drivers in Europe :grimacing:
     
  4. cookiequiz

    cookiequiz Savant (1,119) Apr 15, 2013 California

    Do you have a taste for other sour foods? E.g., yoghurt? If you don't like sour flavours, no need to push yourself into drinking sour beers.

    edit: On the other hand, if you do but didn't like that beer, simplest thing is to just try a different one.
     
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  5. Melvintrude

    Melvintrude Initiate (0) Feb 13, 2015 England

    I do like sour flavours, even to the extent of seeking them out, and they make sense in a beer contect, but this was on a whole other level
     
  6. J-Rye

    J-Rye Initiate (0) Aug 12, 2014 New Jersey

    Give Jolly Pumpkin beers a try. They are a good balance between the malt, the sour, and the oak flavors. If you don't like these, then perhaps you don't like sours.
     
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  7. Melvintrude

    Melvintrude Initiate (0) Feb 13, 2015 England

    Any one in particular? I can get them online in the UK (at a cost, as ever!)
     
  8. PatrickInAustinTx

    PatrickInAustinTx Savant (1,088) Nov 16, 2013 Texas
    Trader

    You should give AWA's a shot. Especially ones like Jester King's Atrial, MvB and Aurelian Lure. Or even some fruited Berliner's from Degarde :wink:

    Not sure if you have access to those but they are worth seeking out. I much prefer AWA and Berliner's to Lambics.
     
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  9. Davepoolesque

    Davepoolesque Pooh-Bah (2,686) Aug 25, 2012 Massachusetts
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    OP, I don't think you got a bad bottle. Some gueuzes taste like how burnt plastic smells to me. Some much more subdued(Boon Oude Geuze).
     
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  10. pat61

    pat61 Initiate (0) Dec 29, 2010 Minnesota

    Lambics are an acquired taste like uni and Eppoisse. Some do very well with some age on them. It kind of mellows out some of the flavors. Cantillon - especially the Gueuze Lambic - can be notoriously, mouth puckeringly tart and is not to everyone's taste. A few years in the cellar will smooth that out a bit. That said you could have had a bad bottle - there are a 1001 ways to abuse the beer between Brussels and the UK.
     
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  11. TonyLema1

    TonyLema1 Pooh-Bah (2,890) Nov 19, 2008 South Carolina
    Pooh-Bah

    That doesn't sound good to me at all..other descriptions like, barnyard, horseblanket, cat urine (or any other critter for that matter) really turn me off...at least people are being honest
     
  12. mlhyatt

    mlhyatt Initiate (0) Jul 27, 2013 Georgia

    I'd go to your local bottle shop and pick up a few bottles of some shelf gueuze and kriek. Boon, tilquin, de cam, etc and try those out. After a couple bottles I think you'll see what all the hype is about. I wasn't at first and now I can't get enough. You have to go into it understanding that it isn't like anything you have tried before and that it's a funky tartness in every bottle.
     
  13. johnjohnbeer

    johnjohnbeer Initiate (0) Oct 27, 2012 Ohio

    Listen, if you dont like sours, your wallet is going to love you.
     
  14. drtth

    drtth Initiate (0) Nov 25, 2007 Pennsylvania
    In Memoriam

    Could be you needed a bit more background knowledge as to what to expect

    Here's a reasonable starting place about Gueuze and Lambic:

    https://glassandbottle.wordpress.com/2011/10/08/beer-101-lambic/

    although it won't necessarily answer the specific questions you raise.

    For those particular questions try digging into the reviews. Go to the beer's home page on here and sort by top reviewers. Those are often the reviewers on here with the broadest range of experience, etc.. That may help you find an answer to whether it was the bottle or you. For me personally from my first bottle of the Cantillon Gueuze it was "love at first taste," but then I'd visited the brewery and tried a couple of their beers, including a 1 year old lambic direct from the cask where it was aging.
     
  15. drtth

    drtth Initiate (0) Nov 25, 2007 Pennsylvania
    In Memoriam

    Might be, but chemical analyses over time indicate that suff like ecoli and other human related particles get killed of the fermentation process taking place in the barrels.
     
  16. bowzer4birdie

    bowzer4birdie Grand Pooh-Bah (3,796) Aug 16, 2012 Illinois
    Pooh-Bah

    Try here as well. You'll see two links on lambics to peek at.

    http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/style/
     
  17. spicoli00

    spicoli00 Pooh-Bah (2,305) Jul 6, 2005 Indiana
    Pooh-Bah

    the maracaibo especial and Madrugada Obscura are good. if you like saisons, the I/O saison is fantastic though not very sour.
     
  18. 4ingredients

    4ingredients Initiate (0) May 22, 2009 Massachusetts

    Bam Noire, La Roja and Bière de Mars.
     
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  19. UrbanCaveman

    UrbanCaveman Pooh-Bah (1,866) Sep 30, 2014 Ohio
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Gueuze is one of the uber-beers of the sour world. If you're not a fan of sours, they're not a place to start.

    Jolly Pumpkin and Crooked Stave make more accessible sours, especially if you haven't even dipped into the gose / Berliner weisse end of that pool. Surette Provision Saison, Vielle, Fuego del Otono, and Oro de Calabaza are readily accessible, at least in my experience, as far as going down the sour path.

    Either you decide you hate them, or you get to the point where you find Duchesse de Bourgnogne to be almost cola-sweet with mild tones of vinegar and tartness...
     
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  20. gopens44

    gopens44 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,560) Aug 9, 2010 Virginia
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    I gave a few sours a try and somehow missed out on using your very accurate (in my case at least) "tasting" note. I felt as if I could achieve the same result by drinking straight from a bottle of Balsamic vinegar.

    As a side note, I am working on developing a Duchesse De Bourgogne salad dressing recipe.
     
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