Lambic Discussion Thread

[ridglens]

Yeah man, time is/was an issue and it took a lot of it. Could have been super fast to build if I would have put a lot of consecutive hours but you know, priorities...

for sure... i finished the other side of my basement into a bar, complete with in-bar-kegorator, re-wiring everything, building walls, etc.... aaaaaaand as a result have kind of fallen behind on regular house chores, hence the trying to save time.

did you build your racking or get a kit type thing? may raid your brain if you built it from scratch, the lumber i'm finding around here is probably going to necessitate me ripping the horizontal supports from another board (not a terrible deal, but more time!).

 

[LukeAleTime]

**** man it would cost me $647 to mail it to you...

come to IN and i will absolutely pour you one, regardless of the shelf situation

Geez... that doesn't seem right?

(not that I was serious ofc)

 

[oldp0rt]

for sure... i finished the other side of my basement into a bar, complete with in-bar-kegorator, re-wiring everything, building walls, etc.... aaaaaaand as a result have kind of fallen behind on regular house chores, hence the trying to save time.

did you build your racking or get a kit type thing? may raid your brain if you built it from scratch, the lumber i'm finding around here is probably going to necessitate me ripping the horizontal supports from another board (not a terrible deal, but more time!).

It was a kit type thing. It's already time consuming, I didn't want to have to start making those too.

 

[tehzachatak]

Anybody been able to find cheap-ish bulk horizontal storage shelves for lambic?

Depends on what cheap-ish means. I use these from IKEA, but probably not tenable for you, you said 100-200 bottles so that's over $100 in shelving per 100 bottles. They aren't ideal, either, as they don't attach to each other horizontally, just vertically (would be trivial to attach them yourself, but it's more work), and euro 375 bottles juuuust slip through unless you you either alternate rows of 750s and 375s or build some inserts.

For my modest (under 50) bottle lambic cellar, though, they're pretty darn good.

 

[jbeezification1]

y u no drink lambic with me? Do you hate mammals?

I live minutes from him, his wife has hung out with my girlfriend without us before, my daughter has crawled around his floor, I've peed in his backyard even and I dont think I've drank with him this year.

 

[errantnight]

Hopefully it is Yahtzee with my one bottle. If not, I will just tell myself it is the best beer I have ever had. Power of suggestion I guess.

Few bottles I drank at the Shelton Brothers were great, maybe because Armand has that magic touch when he pours.

I think an under-commented on aspect is people's personal thresholds. I've never liked Hommage, any of the times I've had it, because of the Band-Aid flavors. It was pouring at The Festival in LA this past fall and it was more of the same for me. I had it both sessions on Sunday, and it was ok, but nothing particularly special on the fruit flavor side and with a very strong, off-phenolic character that I really didn't like. People were raving about the beer at the festival, people who's tastes I otherwise admire were going: yeah, but it doesn't put me off the beer. *shrug*

 

[Rowingbrewer1]

ridglens northern brewer sells a 120 bottle rack for 129.99 and they have 7.99 flat rate shipping. 2 of those should do ya fine.

 

[ridglens]

ridglens northern brewer sells a 120 bottle rack for 129.99 and they have 7.99 flat rate shipping. 2 of those should do ya fine.

Thanks, i will definitely check those out if i can't salvage the others...

I like that design anyway, just looks like a bunch of 2ish inch holes, i could do that on some 1x2s with a whole saw in no-time, whip up some shelves no problem.
I was really trying to avoid ripping 400+ 1x1/2 inch supports and tacking them all on a rack haha, this setup doesn't look complicated at all, could do it in a day.

 

[stupac2]

I think an under-commented on aspect is people's personal thresholds. I've never liked Hommage, any of the times I've had it, because of the Band-Aid flavors. It was pouring at The Festival in LA this past fall and it was more of the same for me. I had it both sessions on Sunday, and it was ok, but nothing particularly special on the fruit flavor side and with a very strong, off-phenolic character that I really didn't like. People were raving about the beer at the festival, people who's tastes I otherwise admire were going: yeah, but it doesn't put me off the beer. *shrug*

I think personal thresholds are under-appreciated in general. For instance, I'm particularly sensitive to acetone, it turns out. I can't drink a Ballast Point BA beer without it tasting like acetone, and I've never met anyone else who thinks this. My perception threshold must be quite low for just that one flavor, so I'm a terrible barometer for how most people will sense it.

Thanks, i will definitely check those out if i can't salvage the others...

I like that design anyway, just looks like a bunch of 2ish inch holes, i could do that on some 1x2s with a whole saw in no-time, whip up some shelves no problem.
I was really trying to avoid ripping 400+ 1x1/2 inch supports and tacking them all on a rack haha, this setup doesn't look complicated at all, could do it in a day.

I think it's worth mentioning that, in all my research on this, storage costs ~$1/bottle and refrigeration costs something like $3-5/bottle for new setups. You can beat that used, but generally that's the best you'll find for new systems. So if you're short on time and find something you like for ~$1/bottle, just go for it, it won't get much better.

 

[tehzachatak]

I think personal thresholds are under-appreciated in general. For instance, I'm particularly sensitive to acetone, it turns out. I can't drink a Ballast Point BA beer without it tasting like acetone, and I've never met anyone else who thinks this. My perception threshold must be quite low for just that one flavor, so I'm a terrible barometer for how most people will sense it.

I totally agree with this, and I think it's a serious point of confusion among a lot of beer drinkers that just gets written off as a general "palate" thing, where in reality it's a specific sensitivity/blind spot.

I am horrifically sensitive to diacetyl, to the point that I can find a beer basically undrinkable that others don't even detect diacetyl in. If the general population of people find a beer to be a"diacetyl bomb," e.g. the 375 mL Persicas fresh, it literally tastes like popcorn butter to me, I am almost unable to detect any beer characteristics.

On the other hand, I can barely perceive acetone in even an acetone-heavy beer, which can be nice - I sometimes find myself seriously enjoying a beer that someone else might reject due to acetone level.

 

[ASUBeer]

re: Lambic Racks

I've had luck searching for wine racks on Craigslist before. I've never pulled the trigger because I already have a seperate fridge and some boxes and my wife might murder me if I built a wall of lambic.

 

[ridglens]

re: Lambic Racks

I've had luck searching for wine racks on Craigslist before. I've never pulled the trigger because I already have a seperate fridge and some boxes and my wife might murder me if I built a wall of lambic.

yeah i almost had a 200 bottle legit rack the other day (part of a 900 rack set), but they sold the whole thing to someone else. close though!

i'll keep looking, this is probably going to be a race between "buy something cheap and functional", "craigslist racking", and "build something cool".

 

[buzzword]

I wouldn't bother. It doesn't age well. LPK and LPG do way, way better with time.

I had an 03 LPF at Brouwer's in Seattle last week that was sublime. it was a pricy exploit for a solo excursion, but I'd do it again if given the chance.

 

[drgarage1]

I totally agree with this, and I think it's a serious point of confusion among a lot of beer drinkers that just gets written off as a general "palate" thing, where in reality it's a specific sensitivity/blind spot.

I am horrifically sensitive to diacetyl, to the point that I can find a beer basically undrinkable that others don't even detect diacetyl in. If the general population of people find a beer to be a"diacetyl bomb," e.g. the 375 mL Persicas fresh, it literally tastes like popcorn butter to me, I am almost unable to detect any beer characteristics.

On the other hand, I can barely perceive acetone in even an acetone-heavy beer, which can be nice - I sometimes find myself seriously enjoying a beer that someone else might reject due to acetone level.

This is very true. Weirdly, I have the same diacetyl sensitivity you do in sours, but it bothers me less in clean beers. My brewing partner is the opposite. Together, we're a QC team.

 

[stupac2]

I had an 03 LPF at Brouwer's in Seattle last week that was sublime. it was a pricy exploit for a solo excursion, but I'd do it again if given the chance.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[buzzword]

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

¯\_( ˘͡ ˘̯)_/¯

 

[errantnight]

I think personal thresholds are under-appreciated in general. For instance, I'm particularly sensitive to acetone, it turns out. I can't drink a Ballast Point BA beer without it tasting like acetone, and I've never met anyone else who thinks this. My perception threshold must be quite low for just that one flavor, so I'm a terrible barometer for how most people will sense it.

To go further down the personal perception anecdotal rabbit hole:

I've had numerous Speedway Kopi Luwak acetylaldehyde bombs; enough that there's no way it's not a big proportion of the bottles (and in other Speedways, but that one in bottles in particular). Based on reviews, this is obviously not an off flavor that a lot of people detect, or if they detect, doesn't put them off the beer.

Alpine bottles for YEARS were a crapshoot of whether you were getting something horribly diacetyl-laden, but they really only started getting **** in any sort of major way when they started having carbonation issues.

I generally don't find metallic flavors off-putting in beers; I know plenty of people for whom that's a death knell for a beer.

 

[errantnight]

It's hard to allow for personal perception differences when what's really important is one's personal opinion being absolutely factually correct, and any question towards that perception being interpreted as a personal affront. If you're not angrily dismissing other's opinions and flavor thresholds as inherently wrong, then what the hell are you doing drinking beer? This isn't some soda-sharing game, this is Real Important Stuff.

 

[Rowingbrewer1]

Back to the matter at hand

Has anyone used lambic or awa instead of citrus in making ceviche?

 

[justforrazors]

Back to the matter at hand

Has anyone used lambic or awa instead of citrus in making ceviche?

Wasn't meant to be ceviche, because it was with Chicken and all, but a bottle of upland Kiwi effectively cooked a piece of chicken I was marinating for fajitas. Close enough?

 

[deuce92591]

So my local shop has about 3 bottles of Tilquin left. Plum and squared went rather fast. But does anyone know if these make it stateside on a frequent basis? Also, is $18 or 19 per 750 worth it to pick the last few up to cellar? What is a good age for these? For what it's worth I think they are 11-12 or 12-13. Newer to the lambic game...pls halp.

 

[bahnfire]

So my local shop has about 3 bottles of Tilquin left. Plum and squared went rather fast. But does anyone know if these make it stateside on a frequent basis? Also, is $18 or 19 per 750 worth it to pick the last few up to cellar? What is a good age for these? For what it's worth I think they are 11-12 or 12-13. Newer to the lambic game...pls halp.

It seems like only once or twice a year tilquin pops up in VT, but I know it sees fairly regular distro in many places. Regardless, $18.99 is the best price I've seen so I would snatch them up...and while you're welcome to age them I'd just drink them now as they are delicious.

 

[ridglens]

So my local shop has about 3 bottles of Tilquin left. Plum and squared went rather fast. But does anyone know if these make it stateside on a frequent basis? Also, is $18 or 19 per 750 worth it to pick the last few up to cellar? What is a good age for these? For what it's worth I think they are 11-12 or 12-13. Newer to the lambic game...pls halp.

buy them (if you like geuze!)
Depending on the year/bottle/what mood i'm in, I think tilquin is right up there with 3F and cantillon... and usually <$20 is an ok price for good geuze (especially with no shipping risk!).

 

[Dsal891]

So my local shop has about 3 bottles of Tilquin left. Plum and squared went rather fast. But does anyone know if these make it stateside on a frequent basis? Also, is $18 or 19 per 750 worth it to pick the last few up to cellar? What is a good age for these? For what it's worth I think they are 11-12 or 12-13. Newer to the lambic game...pls halp.

I did 10/11-13/14 like 6 months ago or so and the 11/12 bottle was my person favorite of the 4 with 10/11 a close second

 

[drbenzo1]

Drank a 2011 Golden Blend last night and it was fantastic! Thanks kmartin1331

Lots of fungus on the outside of the cork. There was a very pleasant mustiness to this bottle.
I NEED MOAR!

 

[owlsandcrows]

Drank a 2011 Golden Blend last night and it was fantastic! Thanks kmartin1331

Lots of fungus on the outside of the cork. There was a very pleasant mustiness to this bottle.
I NEED MOAR!

Opened one the other night, it was fantastic. And I've got 3 more hitting my porch today

 

[drbenzo1]

Opened one the other night, it was fantastic. And I've got 3 more hitting my porch today

Yeah... Im tempted to ISO

 

[arren]

While we're on the subject of Tilquin, there's about half a case of Tilquin Squared chillin on a local bottleshop shelf, $34 for 750. Worth it?

 

[wyatt1]

i love tilquin squared, but i am in the minority of TB.

 

[tehzachatak]

While we're on the subject of Tilquin, there's about half a case of Tilquin Squared chillin on a local bottleshop shelf, $34 for 750. Worth it?

That's not a bad price.. I think I paid roughly $20 per 375 in Boston. I mean, I'd certainly grab one and try it, it's noticeably different and cool. I would rather drink regular Tilquin and chose not to buy more after my first 2 squared, though I think there is a real possibility it evolves a lot in the bottle, so I dunno!