Boon Faro Pertotale

Formerly brewed at Brouwerij F. Boon
Style: Lambic - Faro
Lembeek, Belgium

25 cl bottle, ’bbe’ July 07. Oxidised copper colour. Light cloudy with tiny sediment particles; unstable head. The overall sweetish aroma begins with lactic acid and flows to nuts to blunt metallic notes. Sweet-sourish taste, lactic acid, walnuts; a gentle hop bitter aftertaste. A hint of orange juice. Fizzy palate; a bit oily texture with an abrupt finish.

Bottle. Brown color with no head. Sweet lambic aroma with cider like qualities. Rather middling. Rating from 2004 notes.

My 1st encounter with this style. Pours into a goblet an uncarbonated, murky medium brown. No head, no lacing. Interesting aroma of apple cider vinegar, musty wet oak, and a hint of cherries. Light body is essentially flat. Taste is tart and tannic, imbued with vague bittering hops, unripe grapes, wet barnyard and musty basement. Very oaky throughout, and wood tones are very prominent. Finishes clean and dry with a slight berry aftertaste. Nicely drinkable and certainly interesting, but it wouldn’t be one of my top choices for a Lambic.

Pours a thin sepia with a thin, whit halo. Tart, acidic aroma with light caramel notes. Dead mouthfeel with a dry finish. White wine flavor with a defined sugary presence. I could session this if it weren’t so hard to come by.

<font size=-4>Sampled at Delilah’s <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/events-detail.asp?eve Annual Lambic Beer Festival.</font>

Dark amber colored, little white head. Slightly cloudy appearance. Sweet aroma with berries, mild raspberries and of course sour lambic touch. Medium bodied, crispy palate. Flavor has more obvious sourness, good berry tones with raspberry and sweetness, sourness lasts in aftertaste with berries.

(Bottle) Pours a deep ruby body with a spare white head. Aroma of dark fruit and light tart. Flavor is fruity (apples, citrus, and hint of berries) with light tartiness.

"There’s no such thing as a bottled faro" Jean-Pierre Van Roy poignantly pointed out during my recent visit to Cantillon, and while that is a reasonable claim from a traditional standpoint, the reality of sweetened lambic is simply unquestionable. While "authentic" brewers continue to eschew those who have shifted towards increasingly marketable toothsome beers, can we blame the consumer? The question can be argued both ways, but that debate is for another time. In my case, Boon’s Faro is simply matter of curiosity and education - giving both sides a chance, as it were. That said, Pertotale pours a deep cloudy red-brown, likely the darkest lambic I’ve tried, and glowing of a malicious crimson. Its off-white foam quickly retreats to a halo revealing an opened disc from which emanates luscious scents. Brown sugar leads the quiet overture that gradually unfurls, one by one, a suite of fruits and spices: cinnamon, apple, vanilla, tomato, cherries, sablé biscuits and blueberries. A decidedly complex arrangement but its character could use volatility and presence. Moving to the tongue, brown sugar continues to impose its ubiquity, reinforced this time by oak, apple pie and cardamom. The swallow finishes with a quenching burst of dry coffee and raspberries, before disappearing altogether. Some sourness is noticeable throughout but bears little effect on the soft sweet combination that is promoted. After all, not the "total loss" the name presumes.

250ml bottle at the <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Place/sweden/s target=blank>Akkurat in Stockholm, Sweden. Best Before 03/07/07. Clear caramel in colour, long lasting off-white coloured head, excellent lacing. The aroma is sweet, caramely, gingery, some dark fruits, raspberries. The flavour is of sweet fruits (raspberries, blood oranges), lightly hopped, some herbs, sugary, caramel. Dry mouthfeel, light body, medium carbonation.. Finishes with a caramel sweetness, moderate length, dry. Only slightly tart. A bit sweeter then the Girardin Faro I just had but equally enjoyable.