Upland Blueberry Lambic

Brewed by Upland Brewing Company
Style: Lambic - Fruit
Bloomington, Indiana USA

Bottle from Upland, sent my way thanks to the great StFun. Thanks, Josh. A lovely pour with a color of slightly cloudy reddish purple, not unlike the actual juice of the berry. It has the appetizingly musty nose of a solid lambic with ever so subtle notes of fruit. The beer is not especially tart to me, which seems appropriate when compared to a more aggressive and acidic fruit like strawberry, for example. In other words, the funky and yeasty qualities here are integrated well with the fruit used, to the point where the flavors complement each other quite well. The oak is more present than I expected, which also works well in terms of the depth of favor. The beer is, however, completely flat. I agree with others that the beer suffers from this, even if only slightly. Still, a very enjoyable brew.

Bottle, batch 1. Has the most beautiful red/brown pour, though it has no head. Aroma is rich, grapey, super tart/unripe plum, cherry pits. Though I can’t smell blueberry outright, the fruit influence is very clear. As blueberry is such a sweet fruit, the lack of a direct "blueberry" aroma is not surprising. Flavor is puckering up front, sweet in the middle, and dry and sour in the finish. A nice mellow lambic fruitiness retains through. Horsey and funky and probably the most sour of any American beer I’ve had, save La Folie. This actually reminds me quite a bit of La Folie, with a little bit of fruit. This is a fantastic beer. Hopefully batch 2 will carbonate and reach the heights this has.

Bottle… Murky burnt orange/ruby ale. No head. The aroma is of sour, underripe fruit… a hint of blueberry. Watery with all-but-dead carbonation. Tart, fruity flavor, but nothing of note really stands out. Thin, watery, tart, and then dry finish. I don’t think this one is ever going to fully carbonate. I hope I’m wrong.

Bottle thanks to StFun, thanks a lot man. Poured a deep reddish-purple color with a thin white head that eventually disappeared. Aroma of sweet blueberry pie, some barnyard funk, a moderate yeastiness, and some oak. Smooth, lightly tart entry leads into a light toasted maltiness that leads into a moderately sweet, lightly tart blueberry hit that finishes with some drying oak. Low to no carbonation, smooth and light on the palate. Undercarbonated as others have pointed out, but I wanted to try it rather than sit on it. Overall, a solid lambic, but it needed that carbonation to bring out some of the flavors.

Dark magenta color with no head. Terrific aroma displays the purity and glory of freshly picked and crushed blueberry, along with a light hint of oak and funk. Flavor is initially dominated by the essence of real blueberry, followed by a light hint of pie and then some nice tartness on the finish. While not Blabeur, this is a very nice blueberry sour.

Bottle shared by Unclejedi. pour is light reddish with no head at all. Aroma is nice- Bluberrys, wood and a bunch of funk. Flavor is not great though. Lightly sweet with lite sourness. Zero carbonation. Maybe this need more time in the bottle...not sure.

Murky pink with no head. Well oaked aroma with earthy blueberry and mild funk. Medium body and barely carbonated. Good taste is fruity blueberries with earthy wet wood and a hint of funkiness. This one was only mildly sour front to back. This batch might do well with some time in the bottle. Still a very tasty treat.

Murky purple in colour with a thin redish coloured head, very light to no lacing. The aroma is sour, fruity, very light sweetness, grape skins, some wood. The flavour is tart and sour, some sweetness peaks through, noticable blueberries, dry, berries. Sweet and dry mouthfeel, medium/light body, medium/high carbonation. Finishes dry, lingering, tart and fruity.

This is another fantastic Upland lambic. The fruit in this is more pronounced then in the Strawberry. Very good balance in this. There is a bright future in Upland if they continue to make lambics.

750ml bottle obtained in a trade with Optigon, thanks Gary.
Opened on March 29, 2008.
Vintage 2007.