Nowadays, Lambic on draught is hard to find. Only in a few pubs in and around Brussels you still can taste the curious sherry-like flavoured beer. Nevertheless, since 1880, Lambic was bottled to simplify transport but also for conservation properties. This method was the birth of Gueuze: Before the bottling of the Gueuze, a blend is made of 2/3 young Lambic and 1/3 old Lambic. The right ratio young/old is depending on the maturation degree (end attenuation) of each of them. The bottles, with the wild-spontaneous yeast flora, are refermented in the cellar (Method Champenoise).
After 6 months the Gueuze obtains a golden color and a cidery, winey palate; reminiscent, perhaps, of dry vermouth with a more complex and natural flavour.
It is often served as an happy hour drink in Brussels. It is the traditional beer for carbonade, as well as a beautifully based beverage with seafood or other salty meals. It's also delicious with cream sauces
Beer Ratings and Reviews:
[1] Review by Sap from Tucson, AZ, USA who has tried this beer once. (6/20/2008 10:41:02 PM)
"A sweet, sour apple note greets my nose as I pour this beer into my 25cl tulip glass. The head starts out a finger and a half thick, despite a reasonable pour and is a pale, off-white color. The beer is an amber, slightly copper tinged color that shows a lightly hazy, copper color when held up to the light. A deeper inspection of the nose yields a candy sweetness, that for some reason I wasn't expecting from even a Lindemans product. Green apple candies really is an apt descriptor for the aroma as that is the most noticed part. There is a touch of lactic character if you really dig for it and perhaps a touch of dusty malt.
Quite sweet tasting, but has a bit of tartness to it and it does not seem to be quite as sweet as the standard fruit beers from Lindemans, though it is still quite sweet. This finishes with a touch of musty, damp earthiness, which, with the sweetness, is about all that ties this to traditional Lambic. This tastes mostly like green apple syrup (jolly rancher in liquid form). This has a viscousness and heft that in combination with the sweetness makes me thing of syrup.
In the end I can't get past the candied apple character, it drowns out everything else and is overly sweet. This doesn't taste horrible, it doesn't have serious flavor flaws, it just is overly simplistic in its sweetness and not very good. This just isn't my cup of tea."
Aroma:
6/10
Appearance:
6/10
Mouthfeel:
6/10
Flavor:
6/10
Overall:
5/10
Final Rating, by Style:
(2.9)
Sampled: Bottle Sample Size: 375ml @ $0 Unit Cost: $0 per Pint
[2] Review by bluesandbarbq from Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA who has tried this beer once. (4/22/2008 8:55:53 PM)
"Pours a clear light amber yellow with a thick white head and lots of lacing. Very good carbonation. Aromas of sour honey with a sweet tartness and slight maltiness. Taste is exquisite with a great balance between the sour/tartness and sweetness. Somewhat fruity and yet mild. Loved this and will try again. "
Aroma:
8/10
Appearance:
9/10
Mouthfeel:
9/10
Flavor:
9/10
Overall:
9/10
Final Rating, by Style:
(4.4)
Sampled: Bottle Sample Size: 12oz @ $5.5 Unit Cost: $7.33 per Pint
[3] Review by BeerHunter from Green Bay, WI, USA who has tried this beer once. (2/1/2008 12:15:00 AM)
"I am new to this style, so take this review with a grain of salt. I didn't like it that much because of its super sour character. It poured a nice amber color with a decent head. It had a super sour aroma with a crisp sour flavor. Not much else to it. Kind of disappointed since I expected better from a Belgian beer."
Aroma:
5/10
Appearance:
8/10
Mouthfeel:
7/10
Flavor:
5/10
Overall:
6/10
Final Rating, by Style:
(3.1)
Sampled: Bottle Sample Size: 12oz @ $4.5 Unit Cost: $6 per Pint
[4] Review by Stoutlover72 from Northern, California, USA who has tried this beer once. (11/11/2007 11:17:05 PM)
"Aside from Lindeman's Cuvee Renee, they really make soda like lambic drinks and this, unfortunately, is no different. The aroma on it had some promise. Light sour/tartacidic notes started it off nicely but it began and ended on those notes. It was barely even there. Perhaps those who haven't had "traditional" lambics might find this aroma intriguing, but I found it to be a let down. Appearance was a golden honey yellow, small champagne like bubbles with a minimal frothy head. Mouthfeel was missing that mouth stripping feel that I've come to love with top notch gueuze's like Girardin and 3F. Little to no action on the palate left me wondering what the hell happened, but I remembered it was a Lindeman's product. So what came next was no suprise...sweetness!! A sweet gueuze....what a f'n shame. And to top it off, it was a saccharine-like sweetness. Give me the dry as a bone, mouth puckering, nut-shot, punch in the mouth sourness instead of this mess. If you really want to try a good product from Lindemans, there's really only one worth a damn and that's the aforementioned Cuvee Renee. The rest of this stuff is just crap."
Aroma:
6/10
Appearance:
6/10
Mouthfeel:
5/10
Flavor:
3/10
Overall:
4/10
Final Rating, by Style:
(2.4)
Sampled: Bottle Sample Size: 375ml @ $4.5 Unit Cost: $5.68 per Pint
[5] Review by Phishpond417 from Madtown, Wisc, USA who has tried this beer once. (10/22/2007 6:16:47 PM)
"What a tastey beer! Clear, translucent orange colour with a scattered crinkley white head. Aromas of fermented apples and gin. A very well carbonated mouthfeel with light, sweet refreshing flavors. Finishes clean and crisp."
Aroma:
7/10
Appearance:
7/10
Mouthfeel:
8/10
Flavor:
8/10
Overall:
8/10
Final Rating, by Style:
(3.8)
Sampled: Bottle Sample Size: 355ml @ $5.39 Unit Cost: $7.18 per Pint
Do you want to see the rest of the reviews? Sign In or Register FREE! = BeerPals Only
Review this Beer:
You must be a member to write a review. Please sign up or log in.
(2.9)
