Beers to try

Post by **Badfellow** » Thu Sep 27, 2007 9:16 pm

Lambic is fascinating stuff, and in the wide world of beer, certainly an acquired taste. It still stands as being the only spontaniously fermented style of beer made. This means that no yeast are introduced or "pitched" in the brewing process. Rather, Lambic brewers rely on the unique profile of wild, airborn microbes found in the Senne valley of Belgium. In short, the beer is fermented by nature, guided by the hand of the brewer, and as such is truly unique.

One should not confuse a traditional product with a commercial product. The latter is the more popular specimen in North America, a sweet, fruit dominated type of beer fermented by artificially introduced blends of yeast and desirable bacteria. Outfits like Lindemans definately nail the flavors of peach, raspberry and cherry. But in the process, much of the funky profile is masked and lost, reduced to a sadly low-alcohol dessert beer purchased mainly for girlfriends.

The traditional Lambic is highly analagous to blue cheese. You either acquire a craving for the complex funkiness or wrinkle your nose in offense. Bizzare layers of bitter, sour and sweet intermingle with oak and whatever else found it's way into the batch. And that's your basic Lambic aged out to 3-4 years, not taking into account the full arsenal of fruits and roots that the Belgians employ in their brewing.

A Few Picks

*Cantillon: this is a shabby little hole in central Brussels where cobwebs are king and a dog sleeps next to the mash tun (a vessel for cooking malt into the liquid that becomes beer). Brewers are anal retentive as a whole about cleanliness and sanitation within their brewing sanctums, but traditional Lambic brewers are a converse exception to that rule. In fact, they take pain not to clean, leaving the environment in it's undisturbed state so that the wild, funky beer remains consistant in character and that the blessed microbes might continue their biochemical waltz.

They produce 750's that range up to $40-50. A more modest vintage can be had for around $15, equally enjoyable. Their Kriek is an envigorating walk through the cherry glen. The Vigneronne, as the name implies, is a sour cruise over parts of your taste buds you never knew existed. We sampled them all at the brewery in '99 for roughly $5, the price of a self guided tour and extensive tasting.

This subliminal message is paid for by the certified purveyors of the High Life

Hansen's Artisnals: I don't know if this place even exists, but I've recently been getting rediculously discounted 350's ($3.49 per bottle) at the xxx CENSORED BY THE MINISTRY OF TRUTH. PM FOR DETAILS. Their kriek is right up mine, and the Meade de Gueuze kicks Dom "I can see the stars" Perignon in the celebate jewels. Fizzy frickin' bliss without the religeous commitment.

I'd now like to open the floor for discussion.

Lambic away, dear Drunkards.

steved2112 · Post by **steved2112** » Thu Sep 27, 2007 9:42 pm

I always thought Lambec was Beernglish for "Fruit Flavored"

Great post. I'm inspired to seek out a true Lambec.

TravisBickle · Post by **TravisBickle** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 5:26 pm

steved2112 wrote: Great post. I'm inspired to seek out a true Lambec.

Same here.

biggreen · Post by **biggreen** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 1:28 pm

Cantillon is the shit. I love that stuff. I doens't matter which one, there all good. If you can't get it where you live, like me, there are a few places online you can order from. liquid solutions is one I've used. On the same sour note, try some "flanders" beers. Not the same wild process but interesting flavors you've likely never had in a beer. I have a 13 year old gueze i'm opening sunday. Can't wait.
later, biggreen

hoverdog · Post by **hoverdog** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 5:12 am

I recently had unblended young lambic (I think it was Cantillon's, not sure), which was interesting, but gueuze has so much more character it seems little more than a curiosity. Still need to get a taste of the Grand Cru.

The fun thing about lambic is that there's a lot of variety, two bottles of Gueuze can taste very different. Those wacky wild yeasts.

The fruit flavored ones can be a refreshing change of pace, but the only times I've ordered them is when there was no Gueuze available...

MethFront · Post by **MethFront** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 2:48 pm

Evidently they use fresh, wet hops to make this 6.7% ale. It's got an IBU rating that would have to be rendered in exponents.

This is the hoppiest thing I've ever tasted (not counting mother's roast rabbit), even beating out Mishawaka's Old Hophead. I sort of wish my liquor store had stocked the other ten versions of this treat. However, I should mention that it's certainly not for everyone. Even some connoisseurs might find it a bit gruesome if they're not into insanely bitter beverages.

Frankennietzsche · Post by **Frankennietzsche** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 3:41 pm

Their Anniversary Ale is about as hoppy as I like it. But I'm not a hop-head. How many times of hoppiness is this compared to it would you guesstimate?

MethFront · Post by **MethFront** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 4:34 pm

FNZ wrote:Their Anniversary Ale is about as hoppy as I like it. But I'm not a hop-head. How many times of hoppiness is this compared to it would you guesstimate?

Like I said, man, exponential IBU. I vaguely recall the Anniversary ale and it was not even close. You should probably try just for the sake of curiosity though :-)

Post by **Badfellow** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 6:42 pm

IBU's. International Butt-flavored Units.

Back in the 90's, American micro brewers met in secret at a Super 8 motel outside of Toledo, OH, establishing a massive and far reaching conspiracy to see exactly how many IBU's they could cram into a beer before it made the drinker's head explode like a firecracker inside of a rotten tomato.

Jaime · Post by **Jaime** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 9:26 pm

Honors to the "Drink of the week" threads, I present the beer of the week:

Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale

I have been drinking this seasonal since '95 and this year's tastes better than any in recent memory with a good kick (6.8% ABV).

Rip Rufus · Post by **Rip Rufus** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 10:06 pm

I forgot that stuff came out this time of year! Looks like I'm going to the candy store tomorrow night.

Chimneyfish · Post by **Chimneyfish** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 5:04 am

I like it. Nutty tasting dry hops.

hoverdog · Post by **hoverdog** » Fri Nov 23, 2007 12:51 pm

I've had this 2 times, last year (I think). Great beer, good for celebrating!

Cowboy Joe · Post by **Cowboy Joe** » Sun Nov 25, 2007 6:05 pm

I just picked some of this up....it was on sale. Pretty good....I'm usually ambivalent about beers.....I tend to view drinking it as something to do to make the commercials go faster when watching football. But this is alright....took me by surprise for a moment, but very drinkable none the less..

BuriedBlues · Post by **BuriedBlues** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 7:54 pm

abita is now making an ipa! and it's not bad. it's no dogfish head, but i can't get that stuff around here, so i will make do. now i have to find out if it's on tap anywhere...this means i have to start going to bars again. bars with people. ick.

anyhoo, if anybody's interested, it's called Jockamo, after the mardi gras indians. which makes me worry it's just a seasonal for mardi gras...we'll see about that.

-Maria

Beers to try

Beer Talk: The Odd Lambic

Sierra Nevada Harvest Fresh Hop Ale (11th edition)

Beer of the Week 11/19/07

be still my heart!!