Upland Cherry Lambic

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

2008 Release; Sampled December 2008
A fairly solid pour into my large Tripel Karmeliet tulip produces three fingers of pale, tan tinged froth. The beer is a pale red tinged, light amber color that shows a lightly hazed, pink tinged copper / gold color when held up to the light. The aroma is fairly tart, with a soft backdrop of funkiness that has notes of faint phenolic plastic, moldy cotton, and musty curing leather. Some oak notes become noticeable to me after a bit (not so much that they were not there before, but more that I just now noticed them), with aromas of tannic, spicy wood and damp almost sweet oak along with a touch of vanillin. The vanillin character gets mixed in with a light, cherry fruitiness that can just be noticed under that more dominant oak and funk. This is definitely Brettanomyces influenced with that unmistakable, musky Brett scent.

The taste has a fair amount of tartness to it, though not a strong presence for a Lambic. The acidity is fairly soft and definitely more lactic than anything. Towards the finish is a lingering hint of cherry candy; though this is not sweet at all, it just has a hint, almost an aroma impression on the palate of artificial cherry. The beer sort of implies some other cherry influences with a touch of cherry skin tannins and fruit, as well as a seeming contribution to the overall tartness here. Actually the more I work my way through my first glass the more I start to notice the cherry flavors; these notes are soft, but unmistakable with a cherry pie like piquancy. I definitely like that this particular bottle is carbonated fairly well, perhaps not as aggressively so (like I prefer), but it is definitely does not leave the beer limp (like some of the other Upland Lambics). Exceedingly drinkable, the beer is nice and light without being watery; the texture, between the carbonation and the touch of residual body is just right.

This beer started out pretty decently, even if a bit short on cherry character, but as it warms up the cherry, while still soft, becomes distinctly noticeable in both the nose and flavor. Really quite nice and my favorite of the Upland Lambics so far.

Pours murky pink with a mostly receding wispy off-white head. Aroma of brett, cherries, lactic acid and the funk. Mouthfeel is medium bodied and tart, with lively carbonation.

25 oz bottle, shared by somebody at my place. Pours a very murky and almost milky looking yellow body with a small off-white head. There’s a nice cherry quality to the nose with just the beginnings of some type of cheesy and smelly feet funkiness. Smells more like a fruit roll-up than a Lambic. There’s not a whole lot of cherry flavor, just lots of yogurty funkiness and yeastiness. A little bit of tartness, but I could go for a lot more. It’s pretty muddled tasting. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with a moderate fizzy carbonation level. Overall, I just didn’t think that this one was all that good. More of a murky mess than the others that I tried.

Bottle from xmarcnolanx. Thanks! Pours a reddish orange color with a light white head. Smell is light funk, cherry and buttery oak and a light vinegar component, but its quite soft. Taste is dryish with a cherry flavor, oaky and lightly vinegary and tart. Medium body and good, normal carbonation level. Pretty good but a bit mild flavor.

Hazy reddish pink pour with a great lasting foamy head. The aroma is tart and funky with barnyard, wet wool, lemon, nice fresh cherry. Flavor is very acidic initially, tartness is followed by funk, oak, and soft fresh cherries. Nice battle in the finish between oak tartness and cherry flavors. Quenching like lemonade or something. Nice lively carbonation. I really liked this a lot. Hype or no hype. It tasted really good.

Pure cherry and tart aroma, sort of what sour cherry with a splash of high grade vinegar would smell like,the taste is what you would expect to find in Belgium , wonderful pure cherry and oak and funk,little or no sweetness, a pure joy to sip. Top grade stuff

750mL bottle cap and cork. Bottle got shook up in transit, so it pours like a yeast starter, completely thick, murky, pale milkiness. Aroma is tart, fresh, fruity cherries. The lambic aspects are basically just very tart cherries. Taste follows suit but less fruity all together and basically a very tart and spritz-y beer. Again, not sour but tart. At first there is a quick burst of tart that quickly turns into sour cherry flavor and fades into a dry finish. A strong carbonation followed by a dry finish. Its alright, so far this has been the least impressive of the Upland lambics. I may need to revisit this. 8/3/7/3/15

As mentioned above I really wanted to give this beer another spin and I was really happy and surprised that this was available at the Gutter. This bottle pours with a beautiful glowing and thick red color. Aroma is sour cherry juice then some earthy and fuzzy tropical fruit skins. All of that is mixing with an overall musk and funk. I really like the earthiness and naturalistic feel to it. Taste starts with fruit (mainly peach actually) and very faint vinegar. Then it goes into a funky cherry juice and finishes very dry. There are some sour tingles on the sides of my tongue. But that is partially due to the stronger carbonation (even though the carbonation did not show up in a good head). And then everything evaporates in my mouth a leaves an essence of tart fruit skins. Much better then the previous bottle, definitely need to not drink this without letting the bottle settle, I will keep this as the real rating. 8/4/8/3/16.

Poured from a 750ml corked bottle and served in a tulip. This beer poured a reddish amber with a thin head of off-white fizz that lasted throughout most of the glass. Not much lacing. The aroma included sour cherry skins, oak, a hint of wheat, and cobwebs. The flavor consisted of a big burst of dry, sour cherries on top of a delicate wheat base. Mildly funky and tart. The mouthfeel was light-bodied and had crisp, aggressive carbonation. A pretty nice beer, but I would have prefered a little more funkiness.