Beer Primer Lambics

Among the more exotic and distinctive Belgian-style beers out there are the fruit-filled lambics. Like Flemish red ales, lambics are made with wild yeast strains that float in the air (yep, you're breathing them right now) and settle into the beer mixture. The wild yeast gives lambics a sour and tangy edge. While they can be made without added fruit, the most popular lambics sport whole fruit or fruit juice that brewers add during the beer-making process. Raspberry, cherry, apple, black currant, and peach are among the most common. A true lambic comes from a particular region of Belgium that’s said to have its own distinctive mix of wild yeasts in the air. Whether that part about distinctive yeasts is true or not, lambics aren’t to be confused with the fruit-infused beers that some American brewers have experimented with in recent years. Those beers are made with carefully grown yeast strains, so they aren’t sour. Add in some sugary fruit-flavored syrup, and they can be blindingly sweet.

Unlike previous beers covered here, you’re not going to get many subtle aromas or flavors here, and you won’t even be able to smell or taste the floral hops, because lambics are made with older hops that have lost much of their flavor (brewers use the hops in lambics to control the multiplying yeast, not to add bitter flavors). This stuff is raspberry through and through, no mistaking it. What saves it from being an overpriced version of Smirnoff Ice is that Lindemans lambic is made with real raspberries, not artificially flavored corn syrup. The first few sips can feel like liquid jam because the raspberry flavors are so prominent, but it’s not hard to pick out the tangy and sour flavors imparted by the yeast, which gives this beer the balance it needs. Because it’s so flavorful and sweet, you’re probably not going to want to load up on these over the course of the night.

Where to find it: Palm Tavern.