First Lambic Ever

I drank my first ever Lambic last night. Actually I drank my first 4 Lambics last night. WOW! I had 2 Lindemans Kriek, 1 Peach and 1 Framboise. I can only say "WOW!" once again. Why has it taken me so long to find the goodness of Lambics????? I must make one of these now. I have seen several recipes on here for a Kriek, but if anyone has one they are especially fond of, please post a link to it so I can check it out. Other than that I plan to search the site for a good one. And if you can recomend another commercial brand I would be interested in trying more!

Cheers

Jason_Merritt said:

I drank my first ever Lambic last night. Actually I drank my first 4 Lambics last night. WOW! I had 2 Lindemans Kriek, 1 Peach and 1 Framboise. I can only say "WOW!" once again. Why has it taken me so long to find the goodness of Lambics????? I must make one of these now. I have seen several recipes on here for a Kriek, but if anyone has one they are especially fond of, please post a link to it so I can check it out. Other than that I plan to search the site for a good one. And if you can recomend another commercial brand I would be interested in trying more!

Cheers

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Like every belgian beers, lambics are awesome.

I suggest Cantillon - Rosé de Gambrinus

I drank one with the friend who brought it this week-end. Awesome evening!

Beware their are some elitist lindeman's basher's on here, who claim that's not a "real" lambic. Don't let them rain on your parade. My girlfriend is NOT a beer drinker, but she loves Lindeman's peche, and will drink the other's if she can find them. So it makes her happy.

If you have some of the cherry, a great desert is to pour some over good vanilla ice cream, and then stick some almond cookies (thinner the better) in it. YUM!!!

Revvy said:

Beware their are some elitist lindeman's basher's on here, who claim that's not a "real" lambic. Don't let them rain on your parade. My girlfriend is NOT a beer drinker, but she loves Lindeman's peche, and will drink the other's if she can find them. So it makes her happy.

If you have some of the cherry, a great desert is to pour some over good vanilla ice cream, and then stick some almond cookies (thinner the better) in it. YUM!!!

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That sounds awesome! I may try that too. If someone wants to bag on me for liking the Lindemans, that's fine. Just like the troll baggin' on folks for liking fruit beer. I'm secure enough in my masculinity to handle it! haha

Erythro, interestingly enough, I don't like Belgian beers. Don't care for the "zesty, citrus" flavors. I'll drink the occasional Wit but don't care fot most of them...Go figure.

Lindeman's is alright (and great over vanilla ice cream). Just know that if you want to make something similar, you'll need to kill the bugs / slow them down, and then backsweeten before consumption. Most wild beers are extremely well attenuated (as opposed to the Lindeman's which are sweet) and can feature a lot more funky flavors and aromas.

There's another peach lambic that is easily available that to us isn't that good. Can't think of the name right now, but it tastes chemically or artifically peachy.

I'm thinking of reducing the kriek by boiling it, to make it a thicker icecream coating.

One time I was on a business trip to LA and I was staying at one of the big hotel airports. Turns out it had one of the most extensive beer lists I had seen up to that point (hundreds of selections, many rare and old), and I spied a bottle of old, vintage Cantillon. The bottle was $75. My daily food expense allowance was $75. So, my employer bought me the best lambic I have ever had, and I bought myself french fries for dinner

Lambics rock, just be warned that many are quite challenging.

I'm thinking with my limited brewing experience, this is probably not something I'm going to do soon. I'll over analyze everything and read everything I can get my hands and then I'll try it in 6 or 8 minths.

Hey Revvy, some friends of mine would reduce several bottles of Duchesse de Bourgogne precisely for ice cream. Expensive desert, but delish.

Jason_Merritt said:

I'm thinking with my limited brewing experience, this is probably not something I'm going to do soon.

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Yeah I had to explain to my girlfriend about wild beers and infections and how that it's not something that I would be doing anytime soon. I have been trying to do a basic belgian blonde with a really sweet peach taste that she would like. I tried racking over peaches and adding lactose along with the priming solution, and it's not something she'll like I am certain. SO I am considering trying an extract next time.

japhroaig said:

Hey Revvy, some friends of mine would reduce several bottles of Duchesse de Bourgogne precisely for ice cream. Expensive desert, but delish.

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That sounds insanely awesome.

I just returned from my honeymoon in Belgium. I never had a lambic till I made this trip and now I'm an addict. The best beer I had there was Boon Kriek. According to Tim Webb's "Beer Guide to Belgium" Boon is reviving Krieks after they almost disappeared from the brewers repertoire.

Cantillon is very good as well. I had it side-by-side with a Boon and thought Boon better. But that's just my opinion and probably would not have noticed so much if I didn't have them side-by-side.

Just bought a New Belgium Transatlantique Kriek. It is made with Boon Kriek and New Belgium golden lager. I can not wait to try it!

Revvy said:

Beware their are some elitist lindeman's basher's on here, who claim that's not a "real" lambic. Don't let them rain on your parade. My girlfriend is NOT a beer drinker, but she loves Lindeman's peche, and will drink the other's if she can find them. So it makes her happy.

If you have some of the cherry, a great desert is to pour some over good vanilla ice cream, and then stick some almond cookies (thinner the better) in it. YUM!!!

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http://www.saveur.com/article/Wine-and-Drink/A-Beer-Called-Lambic

Good article on lambics. Lindemans is not a traditional lambic. It isn't about bashing a product, it is about history and fact. I won't trash a person for liking it, and I understand it is sort of a gateway for people who end up finding a whole new and interesting world of beer, but there's nothing wrong with saying it isn't a lambic.

That said, I do enjoy an occasional bottle of Lindeman's Cuvee Rene. Affordable and very drinkable. And the only lambic they make. I prefer Cantillon, Boon, and 3 Fonteinen (or I did... At least they're still blending...)

Welcome to the Dark Side, Lambics and sours are the best, but they are very hard to make at home. The problem is they take the a long time to make. We are talking years here so start now and put them away.

I tried to get some cantillion on monday night at a belgian restaurant with a very respectable beer list. However it was a tasting night and the cantillion was sold out already due to low supply and so was all the saisons I wanted. Oh well I'll just have to go back I guess.

smokinghole said:

I tried to get some cantillion on monday night at a belgian restaurant with a very respectable beer list. However it was a tasting night and the cantillion was sold out already due to low supply and so was all the saisons I wanted. Oh well I'll just have to go back I guess.

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Best beer I had in Belgium was IV Saison. If you find it, try it.

However, I did find it when I returned to San Diego and it was not as good as the fresh one I had in Belgium. But still, try it as it was the best beer I had in Belgium.

I've made a very good peach cobbler with some peche. Well actually it was decent but surprisingly good since I used canned peaches.

Hmm... may have to pick some peaches and get some Festina Peche soon...

cchotz said:

Best beer I had in Belgium was IV Saison. If you find it, try it.

However, I did find it when I returned to San Diego and it was not as good as the fresh one I had in Belgium. But still, try it as it was the best beer I had in Belgium.

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Lots of beer does not travel well to the states. Getting a good bottle of Fantome can be tricky here with the green glass and all.

Revvy said:

Yeah I had to explain to my girlfriend about wild beers and infections and how that it's not something that I would be doing anytime soon. I have been trying to do a basic belgian blonde with a really sweet peach taste that she would like. I tried racking over peaches and adding lactose along with the priming solution, and it's not something she'll like I am certain. SO I am considering trying an extract next time.

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I'm pretty interested in this. It sounds like something that my fiance and I would both enjoy. Does it taste anything like the Lindeman's Peche (the only peche that I've had)? Also, do you have a recipe for this creation?

I love Lindeman's peche. I am not going to try to make a Lambic though, looks a bit too challenging for me. I'm going to go with a light ale with some sour mashing and secondary fermentation on peaches and hope I get a similar taste.