Upstream Gueuze Lambic

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

750ml bottle shared by jjpm74. Poured extremely pale but murky enough to make for medium clarity. Aroma is acidic and sour but there seems to be a weird lactose aspect getting in the way of making this rightly gueuze sour. Taste is similar with just slightly underwhelming sourness and acidity and again this "in the way" other aspect that does not belong there. However, it really seemed like this beer had lots of potential and may overcome this weird thing and complete its sour potential.

Bottle 308 of 308 shared with puzzl and IMtheOptimator. Pours gold with a white head. Smells of horseblanket, sweat and apple juice. Tastes a bit watery and sweet with very little lambicy hints. Bland and watery palate with a slightly bitter finish.

Bottle shared with jjpm and IMtheOptimator. Aroma was very mild, thin, slightly tart, grassy. Pale yellow pour holds little interest. Mildly spicy flavor with only a touch of funk, this beer is really brought down by a severe lack of body. Practically just slightly soured up water, I got little out of this beer.

Bottle shared by jjpm74 and puzzl. Poured a hazy golden with a fizzy white head. Aroma has some lambic funk with a bit of citrus, not overly sour. Flavor is quite dry with notes of pear and apple, perhaps a bit of lambic funkiness but not much. Also not exceptionally tart. Has decent complexity but not enough punch to make it memorable to me.

In the 750 mL bottle from Beertopia. Pours a light orange yellow with a thin white head. This has a seriously pronounced oak aroma. Light and smooth body with a fantastic long oak flavor. Seriously deep honey flavor throughout. A really delicious beer.

750mL Bottled in July 2006. Pours a clear honey straw with a half finger bone white head. Aroma has some nice strawberry sour funk with some light buttery something. There is also some lemon zest. Flavor has some funky acidity up front, the same odd buttery notes with some tart cherry and berry--can’t tell which--with a semidry finish. With the gueuzes I’ve had have never had a buttery flavor, and are usually pretty darn dry, so I figure these are uncharacteristic of the style, but don’t really detract or make it seem all over the place. Mod-high carbonation with a medium body. No alcohol present at all. Pretty good representation, esp. considering coming from good ol’ Omaha.

Multiple samples, GABF 2006. Body is medium yellow. Aroma is lightly malty (toasted grain), moderately yeasty (barnyard, horseblanket), with notes of wood, lemon, sour apple. Flavor is lightly to moderately sweet, lightly to moderately acidic. Finish is lightly sweet, lightly to moderately acidic. Light to medium body, watery texture, lively carbonation. They haven’t produced a sourness level that is authentic, but the nose does show some promise. If this is a first try, it’s a respectable one, but it’s not on the level of, say, Left Hand’s anomalous rendition.

GABF 2006. This was one of the main beers I was gunning for at the festival. Pale gold with a fizzy white head. Nose is suitably tart with lemon, sour fruit notes, light wet leather and some barnyardy funk. Taste is more sour fruits, damp leather, wet earth, sweat, and more barnyard. Body is light and spritzy with lots of acidity and dryness around the edges. Finishes with more sour fruits, that tart twang that I love in gueuze, leather, and sweat.