Upland Blueberry Lambic

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

750, corked and capped. Thanks, Riverside! Pours a murky dark amber with garnet highlights. No real head or lace. Big, peppery, aggressively bretty nose. Watery, flat body. Very vacant flavor profile. Neutral finish. Disappointing.

2008 Release; Sampled December 2008
This has a very slight carbonation and in order to preserve carbonation I poured pretty softly. I only saw a couple of lonely bubbles on top of the beer that quickly disappeared. The beer is actually quite dark, almost the color of a Merlot, it is quite clear and shows a bright, cranberry red hue when held up to the light. The aroma has notes of red-wine like fruit to it as well, but notes of oak and a light tartness are a bit more noticeable. The fruit aromatics are quite interesting though, there is almost a spiciness to the nose that seems to be contributed by the fruit as well as from the oak. Bright, blueberry fruit notes interweave seamlessly with spicy & buttery oak, a light mustiness, a definite dustiness, and perhaps a touch of musky Brettanomyces character. Spicy notes of woody black pepper, some leather and even a bit of tobacco contribute, along with the soft but striking fruit character, a definite vinous character to the nose. I really like the nose of this beer, I wouldn’t have guessed that blueberries could do this (the spicy fruitiness is just so interesting).

Very lightly carbonated, really almost flat except for a slight prickle as it crosses the tongue. The beer retains just a touch of sweetness that creates a jammy, berry character reminiscent to a fruit red wine. The beer finishes with a spicy oak character, a bit of woody astringency and a soft tannic structure that keeps the beer lingering a bit on the tongue. The beer only has a light tartness to it, you can tell there is some other source of acid besides the fruit, but it is really fairly weakly acidic for a Lambic. That spicy character from the fruitiness is also here in the flavor, I want to say it is a spicy blueberry-skin character. This is almost pepper like in some ways, though definitely has a blueberry edge to it; it is sort of woody with an almost pine / rosemary character (though the oak certainly contributes to this as well); it almost has an artificial, blueberry-soda quality to it at times that is not objectionable at all. This has a nice body to it, both the oak and the residual fruit notes contribute. This is still quite quaffable, but it has some texture to it, that doesn’t make the lack of carbonation overwhelmingly apparent.

If this were carbonated and had more of the traditional Lambic notes (acidity and funkiness) then it would be absolutely outstandingly awesome (runaway best from this years Upland Lambic release in all likelihood). The fruit adds such an interesting character to this brew, but without the CO2 and other traditional Lambic notes this is merely interestingly good. I am really digging the similarities to a fruity red wine. Definitely an experience and it is quite easy to polish of the bottle of this.

Vintage 2008 Pours murky ruby with a purple hue and zero head. A few minute bubbles at best. Aromatics lead off with tart blueberries, baryard funk, and a lemon twang. Hints of red wine vinegar, horseblanket, cherries, and wine follow through. Undertones of fruit-laden cheese, dried pineapple, and oak finish the nose. Light bodied, a bit thin with an almost flat mouthfeel. Ripe blueberries, red wine, light acid, and mild oak start the pallet. A peppery warmth follows through along with red fruit and lemon pith. Mildly tart and barely sour, with a trace of residuals that counterpoint the acid. Finishes with ripe, red fruits, light acid, oaky tannins, and a peppery warmth. Tasting quite young, and similar to a Flanders Red. Hopefully this will develope much more acid in the cellar to bring it more in the realm of an authentic lambic. Mad props goes out to BA HRKing for the hookup. Thanks Bob!

Bottle thanks to Gabe. Poured a red color with small head. Aroma was blueberry, some funk and a little sour note. Flavor was similar and it was not too sour, finished smooth with a nice clean feel. I enjoyed this lambic very much.

A nice lambic, despite some detractors. Pours a reddish color with a small fizzy head, and some swirling lacing. Aroma is sweet and tart, with just a touch of blueberries. Flavor has a nice sour (but not too sour), with some cheesecloth and funk going on as well. Some seeTarts in here as well. Little bit of funk as well. Hint of blueberry, but this is the least fruity of the lambics. I liked it, and hopefully it gets better with age.

2008 Batch 2 bottle shared by emacgee. What a fucking disappointment. Pours flat as all hell (as I expected), but there was just no flavor at all in this beer. Not much blueberry and no sour at all. This makes me a sad panda.

2008 750mL bottle courtesy of SirSketch. Story of two pours on this one. First pour is a deep, clearish red with some big bubbles on the top that fade quickly leaving the thinnest of rings and leaves spotty lacing. The second pour was a cloudy, almost milky purplish color with no carbonation at all. Smell is slightly acidic and tart with only the faintest hint of blueberries. Some funk presence in the nose as well. The taste was subtle but I definitely got a little more blueberry bitterness, especially in the finish, where I can definitely get some blueberry presence. After the small initial barnyard funk tang on the tongue, there wasn’t a lot of sour to it. The mouthfeel is very slick and oily with almost no carbonation at all, which is odd considering the sour and funk presence is very understated. Because it’s less funky than many lambics, it’s also very drinkable and finishing off the bottle was no problem at all, which I can’t honestly say about some lambics. A decent effort but would benefit from more carbonation and/or funk.

’08 bottle...pour was a clearish purple-blue with no head and immediately it looked flat. Nose is very nice with notes of oak, blueberries, wheat and some barnyard funk. Body is such a letdown, absolutely zero carbonation. Of all the Uplands this one seems to have the most upfront flavor of the actual fruit that they used but like some of the others is lacking from the absence of any carbonation. Some other flavors included light citrus zest, wheat and a nice lactic sour finish. High hopes on this one that didn’t quite live up to the hype.