Upstream Gueuze Lambic

Brewed by Upstream Brewing Company
Style: Lambic - Gueuze
Omaha, Nebraska USA

I believe that iowaherkeye was the one that shared this at a tasting. I was not expecting much, but was pleasantly surprised. The bottle was from the ’05 vintage. This poured hazy gold with a bright white head. The aroma was lemon juice with some horseblanket. There was also some sweet hard candy, the type that I could never indentify the fruit, raspberry maybe. The taste had some light lemon juice with some funky cheese rind. The sourness was tame compared to what I was expecting. This was decent and fairly subtle. I do not think that they dumbed down the style and should be applauded for having the guts to try this on a commercial scale.

This site logs me out like a dirty jew when it comes to ratings. I rated this one live and I am not going through that again. Summary: Good classic lambic aroma with a dissapointing taste compared to the promise of the aroma. Fuck this dirty site and its ways.

(750ml bottle # 260/308, Aug 2005 vintage) Pours a cloudy golden body with a small white head. Aroma of barnyard funkiness, wood, vanilla, and light lemon. Flavor of woodiness, vanilla, very subtle sourness, earthy, and light apple with a dry finish.

Bottle... Hazy, light golden ale with a small, fizzy, white head. Grainy, acidic nose with notes of lemon, oak and stale, earthy hops. The flavor is grainy sweetness balanced by moderate bitterness and low-key acidity. Boozier than the 6.5% ABV suggests. Medium-bodied and creamy with moderate carbonation. Lengthy, watery, lightly bitter finish. Kudos to bu11zeye for providing the bottle!

2005. The appearance is spot-on for this style. A cloudy, lemon-yellow and golden body emerges from the bottle. A small, fat-bubbled white head is slowly diminishing, not fully. Pretty clusters of microscopic bubbles form intricate patterns, like starfish, atop the golden liquid canvas. Lemon, toasted grains, a great though mild farmhouse aroma and brettanomyces begin the aromatic dispension. Leather and earthiness follow, with light hints of squash and apricot. Wet hay with a glimpse of must round out this great nose. What this beer lacks in intensity it makes up for in authenticity, a worthy tribute to the genre. Wheated malt is at bay under the fruity curtain. Oakiness is moderate and lightly scorched, light vanilla swimming among the woodgrain. Oak is foremost in the flavor, eventually superceded by fruit notes that run the gamut from apricot and orange to boysenberry and plum(soft, but it’s there). Wood flavors are buttery and tannic, sharp and exploitative of the brewing process. Yeast is heavy and has (undefined)berry esters. Sweetness is subdued, bitterness low, acidity moderate, acetic tones undeveloped, mellow in all aspects. Sourness is low to mild, tartness just a hair more notable. Finishes oaky and sweet, then dry, then back to sweet again. Hay and wheated malt linger a short while. Lemony acidity is eventually left alone in the dark corners of the mouth and in the small crevasses of the throat. The mouthfeel is soft, mildly carbonated, lightly grainy and accomodating, though there’s nothing remotely exciting about it either. This is not a tremendous interpretation, but it is very good beer that’s quite easy to drink. Were this much funkier it would leap far ahead of many similar but less than memorable and comparable gueuzes. This brewery is great.

Bright golden color, reminds me of the flesh of a mango. Aroma is typically wet blanket, barnyard symphony. Woody aromas on the finish. Flavor is a touch raw and unbalanced, decent.

Sampled from 750ml bottle shared by kramer17801. Thanks Jason!
Brewed Aug 2005, bottled July 2006, and consumed Aug 2007
Appearance is cloudy, opaque golden yellow with only a thin, white film of a head to be seen, which is pretty much what you want to see with gueuze. First impression of the nose is surprise, as in it actually smells like true gueuze. There’s some soft, sweaty hay, faint-to-moderate horseblanket notes, some lemon, some rather prominent wheat character, but it lacks any sort of cheese funkiness, which is fine, certainly not a negative, just something to note. The sourness and pungency is at a lower level than Belgian gueuze, but it’s still fairly noticeable, with a sour, prickly bite of dried hay, light to moderate white grapes and lemon tasted and then a resounding, resinous layer of oak that coats the mouth. Bubbly and effervescent, lightly puckery, and lightly prickly on the tongue as well. Mellow, subtle, soft, with some light wheat and brett-like yeast flavors lingering in the finish. I even get some toast and faint char in this one as well, but maybe it’s more of a hearty oak note that I’m misinterpreting. Over time and at a slightly warmer temperature, some green vegetable notes are found, something like olive and celery, but it’s not offensive or even a bother at all. This isn’t going to rival a true Belgian gueuze, but it’s surprisingly on-style, well-made and really enjoyable to drink.

25 oz bottle, #170 of 308. Brewed 08/05, bottled 07/06. Shared with mj and lilannie. Pours a mostly clear yellow gold body under a one finger fizzy white head that faded to a thin ring. Slightly more cloudy on second pour, but still pretty clear. Aroma is on par with many of the true Belgian Gueuzes that I’ve had. Some musty cellar funk, citrus rinds, yeast, acidic wheat, and quite a bit of raw oak. Not as funky as the top tier Gueuzes though. The flavor leans more toward a lightly acidic nature more that being tart. Lemon rind citrusy notes over a fairly crisp wheat and green apple base. A fairly aggressive oakiness permeated throughout. The finish is light lingering mustiness but overall a fairly mild level of funk that wouldn’t overwhelm those who find gueuze offensive. Mouthfeel is light to medium bodied with a spritzy pinpoint carbonation level that was quite engaging. Overall, this was a fine example of a Gueuze. Maybe in the middle of the pack, which is still saying quite a bit for a Gueuze from Nebraska! Great effort Upstream!