Upland Strawberry Lambic

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Light red tint to a golden body, almost a fair pink color, medium sized off white head and solid lacing. Sweet aroma with some musty fruits, strawberry forward. Medium to light, sour and acidic. Tart and refreshing. Mixed fruit flavors, dark with some tropical notes. Yeasty and fairly wild with a strong musty quality. Very good.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Bottle courtesy of Radiomg: Poured a cloudy dirty beige color beer with a small bubbly head with almost no retention and no lacing. Aroma of light strawberries with some oak and some funky barnyard notes – this is quite close to the real thing. Taste is also a quite complex mix between some tart notes with oak and some sour strawberries with some funky barnyard notes with a lactic acid finish. Full body with very limited filtration and minimal carbonation. A bit acidic for my taste but very well done nonetheless.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

2008 Release; Sampled December 2008
Served at about 60°F / 15°C, the beer pours with a frothy, fairly quickly disappearing, initially one finger thick head into my large Tripel Karmeliet tulip. The beer has a murky, gold tinged, amber color to it that shows a fairly hazy, honey gold color when held up to the light. The aroma has an up front, signature Brettanomyces note to it, but finishes with a soft, yet distinct, strawberry aroma. A light tartness permeates the aroma, but musky, sweaty, cured leather notes, barnyard mustiness, plastic-like yet spicy phenolics; this really has quite a bit of funky fermentation character to it in the nose, definitely an enjoyable smell. A lactic sourness, along with some esters creates aromas of grapefruit with perhaps a touch of Meyer lemon. The strawberry ends up being pretty subtle, it was most noticeable during the first smell of the aroma, but does peak through just a touch during some other draughts of the aroma.

The tasted is tart up front, but actually has quite a bit of strawberry flavor to it that adds an almost sweetness to this beer. The strawberry, while not strong, definitely plays a much bigger role in the flavor than it did in the aroma. That characteristic strawberry character plays a role from the beginning through to the end of each sip. I think this does still have some fruit sweetness to it, it is just enough to be noticed over the soft, lactic tartness and it is this that seems to boost the strawberry flavors just a bit more. Pretty light bodied, though it does have some body to it that almost seems a product of a lactic viscousness and perhaps a touch of tannins. Speaking of tannins, the oak character here was unnoticed by me until I thought of the tannins; the oak does play a role here, not only by providing some tannic structure and bite, but also with a touch of spicy oak in the finish and perhaps a hint of butterscotch. This has a light, but persistent carbonation to it that really helps add to the character of this beer (flat fruit Lambics just don't do it for me).

My second pour had quite a bit of sediment mixed in by the carbonation as it sat in the bottle. This adds a touch of a yeasty bite to the flavor and a raw, yeasted dough not to the aroma, both of which are not a major player, but contribute to the overall effect of both the nose and flavor. The funkiness of the aroma is much reduced in the flavor (the tartness is much more noticeable in the flavor), but there are some light notes of phenolics, some cotton mouthed mustiness and just a hint of musk. The strawberry character is much more enjoyable than I expected it to be. I am not a big strawberry person, but it definitely adds a nice touch here, especially since it has a fairly soft influence overall.