Spontaneous enhancement

Today it's one of the regular check-ins with what they're up to at Oud Beersel. While it's a fine blender of good lambic, it seems to be becoming best known for the creation of draught versions with out-of-the-ordinary ingredients. They've mostly worked quite well, relying on the solid foundation of Boon-brewed lambic to guarantee quality. Three more passed my way recently.

"Semi-fermented and oxidised". Yum yum. That's the description with which Oud Beersel is hoping to lure punters to its Oolong Roasted Tea Lambic. Of course, it refers to the tea ingredient, not the beer. It's an opaque bright amber colour, headless even from the keg, and smelling of Boon/Beersel's typical oaky spice. For 6.8% ABV it's startlingly thin, not helped by minimal carbonation. The flavour is rather plain as well. Usually with these, the added ingredient is not subtle in its contribution, though at the same time I realise I don't actually know what oolong tastes like. Other than that, there's little to complain about. It's just that you may as well be drinking a straightforward lambic. If that's your preference, why did you order one with a weird ingredient in it? I'm disappointed in you, and in this very tasty beer.

I found something very similar with Witte Lambiek which has had witbier's orange peel and coriander added to it. What happens when you do that to a lambic? You get something which tastes much like a standard young lambic. Woody complexity is missing, and the typical nitric spice is muted, though not absent. I looked hard for the orange and coriander but really couldn't find any trace of either. A harmless experiment, then, but not really a worthwhile one.

That had me a little on edge when I came to Rabarberlambiek. Other brewers, and Ireland's Land & Labour in particular, have given rhubarb lambic a go and largely succeeded at it. Is there a risk of a proper lambic brewery trying it and messing up? Not a chance. Oud Beersel nails it, sticking closely to the basics of sharply tart sourness, but adding a beautifully smooth maturity, suggesting a base beer which is older and stronger than the 5% ABV on offer here. The rhubarb arrives late in the flavour, but is distinct, highlighting the sweeter, dessertish side of the fruit over its acidic harshness. The end result is extremely well integrated and balanced, making full use of the fruit while still staying true to the fundamentals. If anything, the core lambic pinch is a little missing here. I suppose balanced sour beer is broadly acceptable, but it's not really what I want from the Pajottenland guys.

I expected to have a stronger reaction to these, be it joy or outrage. As-is, they're quite delicious, but don't offer much by way of education in flavour. It could be that all the good lambic ideas have been done already. Even so, with several new producers coming on stream in recent years and needing to make a name for themselves, I reckon there'll be more "enhanced" lambics of this sort available in the near future.