Lambic Discussion Thread

[Saind]

If I saw Oude Beersel Kriek in Belgium at $6 for a 750 I'd buy the hell out of it.

I think the closest Prik & Tik to me sells them for €7. $6 is just cray cray cheap

 

[Saind]

The price from the distributor in the Netherlands comes out to €7,52 with tax.
Somebody is losing money on that $6 price

 

[matedog]

Correction $7

I ended up buying four of the five they had out. Total was $30 w/tax. If they had six or more out, I'd buy to get that sweet $0.70 discount.

If anyone is interested, the Nob Hill in Redwood City has at least one bottle left.

 

[andrewdrinks]

Hehehe. Nob Hill.

 

[tosh1]

Correction $7

I ended up buying four of the five they had out. Total was $30 w/tax. If they had six or more out, I'd buy to get that sweet $0.70 discount.

If anyone is interested, the Nob Hill in Redwood City has at least one bottle left.

Hitting up the 2 local Nob Hills soon

 

[matedog]

Hitting up the 2 local Nob Hills soon

Let me know if they have similar deals. This RWC one was just remodeled and they are trying to push this craft section. It's mostly Almanac at like $10/pop and tons of Jardinier.

 

[Snarf1]

Hitting up the 2 local Nob Hills soon

Same as always on the way home from work, right?

 

[Abitker]

The Oud Beersel Oude Kriek is the best Oude Kriek for me, better than 3F, Cantillon, and Mariage Parfait - even better than LPK and Hanssens Schaerbeekse Kriek if you ask me (probably not better than 3F Schaerbeekse, but I've only had that once in my life, and it was a vintage bottle). And that price is even a little below the brewery price, which is 6 Euros, so: buy the hell out of that store.

Guess I need to revisit this one. I was saying this recently about De Cam's Oude Kriek, although I definitely prefer LPK by a decent margin.

 

[caninhand]

Looking at this hurts my brain. Triples next to Lambic, next to strong ales, above IPAs. I want to break into this store and merchandise their shelves.

 

[LukeAleTime]

Drinking a Timmermans Oude gueuze 2013. Had one last year that was good but not amazing. Now it's picked up some lovely sourness, and acetic bite. Really damned good.

 

[caninhand]

How probable or improbable would it be to have a keg of lambic from, say someone like Boon or Lindemans imported to the US? Thinking about doing some home blending experiments. Thought about ordering a bunch of "bag in box" lambic online, but was wondering if there was a more cost effective option. Any advice would be helpful.

 

[reverseapachemaster1]

How probable or improbable would it be to have a keg of lambic from, say someone like Boon or Lindemans imported to the US? Thinking about doing some home blending experiments. Thought about ordering a bunch of "bag in box" lambic online, but was wondering if there was a more cost effective option. Any advice would be helpful.

You would almost certainly have to order it through a distributor stateside. Some of the products come here in kegs but not sure if you're going to find unblended lambic in kegs here.

For the right price you might be able to find somebody in Belgium who can fill kegs and ship it to you.

 

[SeaWatchman]

How probable or improbable would it be to have a keg of lambic from, say someone like Boon or Lindemans imported to the US? Thinking about doing some home blending experiments. Thought about ordering a bunch of "bag in box" lambic online, but was wondering if there was a more cost effective option. Any advice would be helpful.

From my experience it's not impossible, but definitely not easy. More often than not these things go to bars and restaurants, and any distributor who knows how to get one probably also knows that they're not usually designated for private sale. That coupled with the fact that not many come across as straight lambic. Lindemans sends some to the Publican in Chicago from time to time for their house lambic, Beersel and Hanssens have shown up at bars on occasion, and Boon also puts their Oude Lambiek into key kegs, but again I've only known them to be at bars/events.

 

[stakem1]

So, ive had the pleasure to drink more girardin fond geuze bierpallieters than the average joe throughout the years.

Ive had it fairly young where it tasted strongly of green bell peppers like some batches of mamouche seem to be.
Ive also had some bottles that were still and just weird.
Then, some years passed and I had 3 bottles in a row that I would describe as absolute geuze perfection.
Today I opened another and while it was flat, it was still pretty tasty but it lacked the jaw-dropping holy **** factor that the last 3 bottles had.

The bottle variation in this beer is killing me... all bottles were stored side by side and still tasted that drastically different. Something ive noticed though is that the amount of yeasty trub sitting on the bottom of the bottle seems to have a direct correlation to how carbonated/awesome the experience is.

Im gonna have to do a science project with my theory.

No pics but I opened a bierpallieters over the weekend. Bottle number was 118 or something low like that.

My prior thesis/theory/assumption/whatever was that the amount of sediment in the bottom might be an indicator of how carbonated/awesome the bottle will be. There was a decent layer of sediment in this one and it was another amazing experience. The friend I shared it with immediately commented that it smelled just like blauw. Which made me laugh because thats the same thing Dunt and the DC lambic nerds said when I opened a bottle with them. I never had blauw so I cant comment in that regard but this bottle was a little less tropical and more assertive with herbal/mineral character.

Also drank a 375ml 10/29/15 bottling of 3F OG and **** if that stuff isnt prime. Im so jealous of all you shitheads who ordered the bulk boxes from BIAB just to get a single A&G... id be happier than a pig in **** if I had all those OG's regardless of the A&G being included.

 

[matedog]

Did a side by side this weekend:

2015 vintages for both. Regular was scaldingly sour like Hanssens can be. Schaerbeekse was a bit more balanced in that department and the fruit pleasantly reminded me of LPK fruit. A good bit more expensive than the regular kriek and unfortunately a good bit better. Both had mild carb.

 

[skrip]

De Cam Nectarine is back up on Etre

 

[Maakun]

Did a side by side this weekend:
2015 vintages for both. Regular was scaldingly sour like Hanssens can be. Schaerbeekse was a bit more balanced in that department and the fruit pleasantly reminded me of LPK fruit. A good bit more expensive than the regular kriek and unfortunately a good bit better. Both had mild carb.

The last 2015 Schaerbeekse I opened had quite some glue notes in it, not very good really. Maybe I should try it again but for that price I'd rather buy something else to be honest.

 

[matedog]

The last 2015 Schaerbeekse I opened had quite some glue notes in it, not very good really. Maybe I should try it again but for that price I'd rather buy something else to be honest.

Hmm, didn't notice any "glue" notes. I'll look out for it next time.

 

[stupac2]

Hmm, didn't notice any "glue" notes. I'll look out for it next time.

Don't. If you look for it you'll find it, whether it's there or not. The power of suggestion is ridiculously strong, you should go into a beer with as few expectations as you can if you want to taste it as it actually is.

 

[user 308679]

Don't. If you look for it you'll find it, whether it's there or not. The power of suggestion is ridiculously strong, you should go into a beer with as few expectations as you can if you want to taste it as it actually is.

 

[caninhand]

The last 2015 Schaerbeekse I opened had quite some glue notes in it, not very good really. Maybe I should try it again but for that price I'd rather buy something else to be honest.

I usually huff glue before I drink every lambic, so I always get glue notes. I'm doing it wrong?

 

[reverseapachemaster1]

The last 2015 Schaerbeekse I opened had quite some glue notes in it, not very good really. Maybe I should try it again but for that price I'd rather buy something else to be honest.

All the aromatics of huffing glue but none of the fun or brain damage? WTF.

 

[buzzword]

I usually huff glue before I drink every lambic, so I always get glue notes. I'm doing it wrong?

I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue.

 

[Marc2]

So I did a quick search on here and didn't really find what I was looking for. Lambic.info site has Cantillon 50N under old lambics and the bottle says it's a Gueuze. Anyone know what actually goes in to the cognac barrels? Blended lambic (Gueuze of a particular year) or old lambic?

Cross posting to #properthread

 

[koplamp]

So I did a quick search on here and didn't really find what I was looking for. Lambic.info site has Cantillon 50N under old lambics and the bottle says it's a Gueuze. Anyone know what actually goes in to the cognac barrels? Blended lambic (Gueuze of a particular year) or old lambic?

Cross posting to #properthread

It's a young, freshly brewed lambic aged in Cognac barrels for 2 years

 

[Marc2]

It's a young, freshly brewed lambic aged in Cognac barrels for 2 years

Gotcha, the fact they call it a Gueuze on the label was confusing to me

 

[SeaWatchman]

So I did a quick search on here and didn't really find what I was looking for. Lambic.info site has Cantillon 50N under old lambics and the bottle says it's a Gueuze. Anyone know what actually goes in to the cognac barrels? Blended lambic (Gueuze of a particular year) or old lambic?

Cross posting to #properthread

Jean plays loose with the term gueuze sometimes. I'm not sure if he blends any younger lambic back into the cognac aged lambic before bottling, but that could be one reason he calls it a gueuze. He also calls St. Gilloise a gueuze. Then there's LPG which definitely doesn't have any younger lambic blended back into it.

 

[vonnegut21]

A local distributor (who carries the Shelton Brothers portfolio in my area) has been advertising a local beer event which will be serving Drie Fonteinen beers by claiming that "Drie Fonteinen is the only remaining traditional geuze blender in Belgium, using only 100 percent spontaneously fermented lambik beer, aged in oak casks, with no artificial sweeteners or other additives." I am trying to get them to stop using this claim, as it is dismissive of the beers produced by other gueuze brewers and blenders (a few of which will have beer at this event). This quote appears to come from the Drie Fonteinen page on the Shelton Brothers website:

http://www.sheltonbrothers.com/breweries/drie-fonteinen/

Implying that Drie Fonteinen is the only traditional gueuze blender operating today is pretty obviously false, no? Was this ever the case or was this claim never accurate? Why would this be on the Shelton Brothers website, especially considering that they import several other traditional gueuzes from other breweries?

EDIT: I have already directed them to educate themselves by reading Lambic.info, but have not received a response.

 

[andrewdrinks]

Jean plays loose with the term gueuze sometimes.

SCENE
INT: Rue Gheude 56. It is a busy Saturday, and a group of recent lambic converts are loudly discussing which is better, Oceanside Daliesque or Grand Cru Bruocsella

[Jean emerges from the toilet clutching a ceramic jug full of lightly steaming liquid, his flies at a lazy half mast, and strolls to the tasting area. He pours a glass]
Loud, Annoying Tourist [sipping]: Wow, what is this?
Jean: ...Gueuze.

 

[SeaWatchman]

A local distributor (who carries the Shelton Brothers portfolio in my area) has been advertising a local beer event which will be serving Drie Fonteinen beers by claiming that "Drie Fonteinen is the only remaining traditional geuze blender in Belgium, using only 100 percent spontaneously fermented lambik beer, aged in oak casks, with no artificial sweeteners or other additives." I am trying to get them to stop using this claim, as it is dismissive of the beers produced by other gueuze brewers and blenders (a few of which will have beer at this event). This quote appears to come from the Drie Fonteinen page on the Shelton Brothers website:

http://www.sheltonbrothers.com/breweries/drie-fonteinen/

Implying that Drie Fonteinen is the only traditional gueuze blender operating today is pretty obviously false, no? Was this ever the case or was this claim never accurate? Why would this be on the Shelton Brothers website, especially considering that they import several other traditional gueuzes from other breweries?

EDIT: I have already directed them to educate themselves by reading Lambic.info, but have not received a response.

That quote is unequivocally false. Marketers going to market I guess.