Brigadier (1217), Chagrin Falls, Ohio, USA Sep 23, 2009 750ml bottle
The carbonated body and pinkish hue made this an ideal candidate for a relaxing evening. If only it had not shown signs of infection I would have given it a higher score. As it is this shows plenty of promise - if you can get a bottle that does not have problems then enjoy a well balanced American take on a classic Belgian style.
Aroma / Appearance - Carbonated with a flat head as you would except the nose was trat and dry. If this was sour fresh it has only gotten stronger over the last year or so.
Flavor / Palate - Flat but tart the mouthfeel has a potent punch. My issue is that it tastes more like a tart sour brown than a raspberry lambic. Perhaps my bottles was off; I’d love to give this a second chance because all the other ones have been excellent. Somewhere between a Lindeman and a Cantillon in terms of sourness I can see why Upland has built up a following for these special releases. Sammy (3934), Toronto, Ontario, Canada Aug 13, 2009 My bottle thanks to Jon. I do not know horizontally if better than strawberry but still decent drinker. Sour aroma. Aggressive carbonation, but mouthfeel overall still good. Sour in taste, some raspberry and other berries there including strawberry. SuzyGreenberg (1318), Seattle, Washington, USA Aug 13, 2009 750 ml bottle - thanks riverside!! pours cloudy light red with no head; huge raspberry nose, kind of like the oud beersel framboise; fuzzy, slightly tart finish; perfectly fine and enjoyable, just not that interesting GAManiac (1123), Atlanta, Georgia, USA Aug 8, 2009 750mL cork and capped bottle poured into a tulip.
The cork opened with hardly a sound, but I was pleasantly surprised that there was a bubbly inch-thick head that doesn’t stick around very long, but it’s definitely carbonated. The body is a hazy orange with hints of reddish pink in there.
The aroma is dominated by the sweet raspberries with some sugary sweetness on top. There is only a hint of light funk in the nose and its sweeter than I was expecting overall.
The taste has a lot more things going on. It’s got a tart zing up front in combination with the sugar-coated raspberries. The finish is dry, slightly acidic and shows much more funk than the aroma. It’s not a lot of funk for a beer of this style but the aroma just had none to speak of.
The mouthfeel is dry and lightly carbonated with a medium body and a dry in the finish.
This is a very good lambic and the best I’ve tasted from Upland by some margin. The funk is started to show itself in the taste and I think this one might actually get even better with another year on it. danielcurtis81 (879), San Diego, California, USA Jul 25, 2009 Real nice crisp raspberry, medium tartness, not overly sweet other berries come through too. Mouth is nicely carbonated and refreshing. fredandboboflo (1395), East Setauket, New York, USA Jul 22, 2009 Bottle. Aroma loaded with ripe, seemingly oozing, juicy raspberry, with smaller doses of yogurty funk. Flavor is moderately acidic, solidly tart, and again the focus seems to be on showcasing the fruit, which for me is quite alright. Lovely stuff. HonkeyBra (1265), Lemont, Illinois, USA Jul 7, 2009 Orange hazy pour with faint impression of a head. Aroma is of raspberry seltzer, light lemony tartness, more sourness and some funk come out as it warms. Nice, strong raspberry flavor with light sourness, some acidity, a bit of funk. Light and slick on the palate with a tart finish. Would have prefered it to be more sour like the cherry and strawberry, but this is still a nice beer to drink. MesandSim (5790), London, Greater London, England Jul 7, 2009 A Mes rate: bottle at J’s huge thanks to our Grant. Amazing orange pink colour with a thin bright white collar. Aroma. Hmmm... this is the real deal. Excellent fresh and tart raspberry. The fruit is done just right. Really good lemony acidity but possibly just a little too restrained to be really great. The flavour is a little too perfumed at first and is lacking a touch more balls in the middle but hell this one is all about the finish for me. Absolutely fantastic. In the mouth it does very little but as soon as you swallow there is a huge burst of proper lambic citric tartiness along with an amazing puckery fruit hit. The length is superb. Great sourness followed by an incredibly lengthy raspberry aftertaste. I’ve had a fair few U.S. sours and most can’t hold a candle to the might of Belgium. This however is the closest I’ve had to the real deal. Proper stuff. Very good beer.
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