Lambic Discussion Thread

[blue_bleeder]

Back to the Fou' Foune discussion a few pages back- I've had 2013 twice so far; at about 3 months (think it was in October or November) and now 8 months as of last Saturday.

The 3 month Fou' Foune was very apricot forward, tart in a fruity sense and appropriately funky. Best smelling Fou' Foune I've had, it's permasmiles for me. I missed some of the sour flavors that I've had in older Fou' Founes, though. It was more fruit than lambic.. amazing but made me realize I probably prefer it to develop for a few months first.

The 8 month was a revelation in that it was still very apricot forward but the funk and sour had racheted up to stand up to the fruit which I think made a huge difference. I also felt that the base lambic exhibited geueze-like qualities very well in this one- peppery, lemon zesty, moldy hay, etc. even more than the past Fou' Founes I've had. Those characteristics reminded me of Zomer, which was an incredible geuze. So drinking this 8 month Fou' Foune tasted like Zomer + apricots.. really rustled my jimmies.

I'm going to say that my personal window of drinking Fou' Foune is at 8-12 months now but I'm sure that'll continue to evolve. Will probably open my last '13 in August at the 1 year mark. I do kind of want to try a 3+ year old bottle for the sake of science though..

I had my first and only one (it was a '13) at the beginning of the month from the trade I did with HenrikO and although it was good, it had barely any apricot flavor to it. Really tart and dry. I actually liked the 3F OG Golden Blend I had that night quite a bit more but I am new to the lambic game. :shrug:

 

[eyesonsaison]

Yeah, I don't think the bottle I had was a case of the fruit 'falling off', sounds like there are just a bunch of bottles that never had much apricot presence.

 

[dontdrinkbeer]

One of those reviews is mine...

Not sure what info you are looking for exactly. The bottle I had was similar: unlabeled and dusty, the only identification was a DN 91 someone had written on the cork, although I have no idea at what point in it's history that happened. It seems likely to me that this is one of those beers where a couple cases surfaced out of someone's cellar and have been trickling out, given the dominance of the 1991 vintage in reviews.

Of the really old gueuze I've had, it was certainly the best, although I can't claim to be particularly experienced in this arena.

Finally, I leave you with these two reviews, which I find oddly more similar in style than I would have expected:

http://dontdrinkbeer.com/2013/02/11...eer-that-is-older-than-your-girlfriend-sicko/

http://www.beerhunter.com/documents/19133-000015.html

that article hit print before I could even ejaculate.

TRICK STATEMENT: STILL CANNOT EJACULATE.

 

[Der Fuchs]

Yeah, I don't think the bottle I had was a case of the fruit 'falling off', sounds like there are just a bunch of bottles that never had much apricot presence.

I would agree. Of all the bottles I've drank of fou over the years (~150) I find that fou has the most bottle variations even within the same year. Some years tend to be better than others as a group, but just because you have a good year doesn't mean you have a good beer...

Wait. ****. Fou is always good. I just meant the level of apricot doesn't ever seem consistent - within or between years. I always suspected (solely based on personal brewing-with-fruit experience) that the bottom of the barrels had more fruit flavor. I'm sure there is more to it than that though.

 

[stupac2]

I would agree. Of all the bottles I've drank of fou over the years (~150) I find that fou has the most bottle variations even within the same year. Some years tend to be better than others as a group, but just because you have a good year doesn't mean you have a good beer...

Wait. ****. Fou is always good. I just meant the level of apricot doesn't ever seem consistent - within or between years. I always suspected (solely based on personal brewing-with-fruit experience) that the bottom of the barrels had more fruit flavor. I'm sure there is more to it than that though.

I do think that this year was softer on the apricot than previous, on average. I'm not sure how many bottles I've had so far, but it's been a decent number and the apricot has always been super mellow. I liked 2012 better.

 

[mjohnson171]

I have quite the conundrum that 5 minutes a Googling couldn't solve, so obviously I come here rather than researching any further (does anyone even click past page 2 of a Google search?)

I recently acquired a Mort Subite Oude Kriek bottle with a "best by" date of April 2011. Any idea what the bottle date could be?

I couldn't find anything specific to Brouwerji Mort Subite's bottle dates but I know some breweries label their Framboise or krieks to have a 3 year life, some a 5, etc.

Any input would be helpful

 

[Rowingbrewer1]

I have quite the conundrum that 5 minutes a Googling couldn't solve, so obviously I come here rather than researching any further (does anyone even click past page 2 of a Google search?)

google has multiple pages of search results?

 

[mjohnson171]

google has multiple pages of search results?

I know right!

They say you learn something new every day.

 

[LukeAleTime]

I have quite the conundrum that 5 minutes a Googling couldn't solve, so obviously I come here rather than researching any further (does anyone even click past page 2 of a Google search?)

I recently acquired a Mort Subite Oude Kriek bottle with a "best by" date of April 2011. Any idea what the bottle date could be?

I couldn't find anything specific to Brouwerji Mort Subite's bottle dates but I know some breweries label their Framboise or krieks to have a 3 year life, some a 5, etc.

Any input would be helpful

Got this third result down:

http://belgiuminabox.com/blog/2014/02/mort-subite-oude-kriek-2005/

 

[mjohnson171]

Got this third result down:

http://belgiuminabox.com/blog/2014/02/mort-subite-oude-kriek-2005/

So it's an 05. Thanks. Apparently my Googling needs improvement.

 

[eyesonsaison]

I just got extra'd one of those by Kurt at BIAB, will probably crack it tonight and report back.

 

[mjohnson171]

I just got extra'd one of those by Kurt at BIAB, will probably crack it tonight and report back.

Samesies

I'm curious to hear what you think.

 

[KeKeKumba]

On the topic of Fou, I've had four '13 bottles so far (with two more in the cellar) and all but one has been full of apricot. The only outlier (unlabeled bottle at the brewery) was super, super sour with little to no apricot present.

The '12 forever changed my perspective on lambic so it's hard to compare. I'd say it's mostly on par with the '13, perhaps a bit more apricot.

How is '13 St Lam? I've only ever had an '08, thinking about opening one of my '13's. I'm not a whole lot familiar with the beer.

 

[buzzword]

I would agree. Of all the bottles I've drank of fou over the years (~150) I find that fou has the most bottle variations even within the same year.

 

[Stevedore1]

Totally with you on that. Crikey!

Another Cantillon discussion question... 50N4E batch 2. Anyone have experience with how batch 1 is drinking and how it's evolved over time? My understanding is that fresh 50N4E is not particularly distinguishable compared to Classic Geueze so if you could only drink it once and get a more interesting & relatively unique evolution of the beer, when do you think that age would be?

 

[Rowingbrewer1]

Totally with you on that. Crikey!

Another Cantillon discussion question... 50N4E batch 2. Anyone have experience with how batch 1 is drinking and how it's evolved over time? My understanding is that fresh 50N4E is not particularly distinguishable compared to Classic Geueze so if you could only drink it once and get a more interesting & relatively unique evolution of the beer, when do you think that age would be?

I had b1 next to b2 3 weeks ago, and the b1 was far better. It was a bit more sour and had bright flavors, whle batch 2 was just kind of muted in comparison, I wish i had better notes, but that is what I saw, thought I never had b1 fresh

 

[Der Fuchs]

what can i say? i come from the era/land when/where you couldn't give away cantillion. (i was actually rejected 2 separate times) before 2 years ago i was able to score 3-6 bottles of fou a year without ever having to order from belgium or trade for any. In fact, i used to trade most of my cantillon away! there used to be only 5-6 people in this whole city who were remotely interested in lambic. Now that there are so many other folks out there looking to buy it to drink i usually only buy what i want to consume/cellar. also, about 1-2X a year the avenue pub gets a keg of fou and another 1-2 times a year they will put up bottles for sale, so i can continue to get my fix there. i still throw bottles to a few regular trading partners every few months depending on sheltons shipments. but oh how the times have changed.

the american craft beer scene here lagged behind the rest of the country for years, but we always killed everyone (and still do just to a lesser extent) when it comes to european imports

 

[GoozySosa]

How is '13 St Lam? I've only ever had an '08, thinking about opening one of my '13's. I'm not a whole lot familiar with the beer.

drinking one now. its good but I'd just cellar it for a while unless you got multiples.

edit: I can't read

 

[buzzword]

I had b1 next to b2 3 weeks ago, and the b1 was far better. It was a bit more sour and had bright flavors, whle batch 2 was just kind of muted in comparison, I wish i had better notes, but that is what I saw, thought I never had b1 fresh

so when should I open this b2? 2021?

 

[Michigan1]

Totally with you on that. Crikey!

Another Cantillon discussion question... 50N4E batch 2. Anyone have experience with how batch 1 is drinking and how it's evolved over time? My understanding is that fresh 50N4E is not particularly distinguishable compared to Classic Geueze so if you could only drink it once and get a more interesting & relatively unique evolution of the beer, when do you think that age would be?

I had B2 fresh and thought it tasted kinda plastic-y...

 

[loeyjarko]

Spontaneity

 

[Michigan1]

Spontaneity

I only see one lambic. 2/3 of this picture belongs in the American Wild thread! Reported.

 

[Rowingbrewer1]

so when should I open this b2? 2021?

I would personally give it 3-4 years and it should have changed quite a bit, but I'm no expert

 

[evilhead]

When's the next round of FF s'posed to hit?

 

[Rowingbrewer1]

When's the next round of FF s'posed to hit?

Foufoune will hit the us in late November or early december

 

[Stevedore1]

They usually bottle it around August. At least they did the last 2 years

 

[SeaWatchman]

Foufoune will hit the us in late November or early december

Fou'Foune 2013 already came and went in the US.

 

[stupac2]

Fou'Foune 2013 already came and went in the US.

I wouldn't be shocked to see it again. I got some 2012 Fou Foune after the 2013 was released in Belgium. I thought it got here fast, but it was just really slow.

(That said, I think that's fairly atypical, but WHO KNOWS with Shelton.)

 

[Rowingbrewer1]

Fou'Foune 2013 already came and went in the US.

I know, I am referring to 2014

 

[matedog]

First night in the new home with the lady friend and we popped this (bottled November 2012). The last bottle of this I'll get my hands on for awhile. Subtle merlot grapes, classic Cantillon grassiness, initial vinegary smell that dissipated. Not sure why the smell seemed to change, but when I took a whiff out of the bottle when I first opened it, it smelled so much like a red wine with the lambic funk much more muted. Later on, it was much more classic Cantillon fruited sour (albeit with more subtle fruit than framboise or kriek). Great on its own and then nicely with the cheesecake we had for dessert.