Collaboration between Mikkeller, who have ventured in the lambic world before with their Spontanale and its derivatives, and Lindemans, the ’house style’ of which is recognisable in the attractive print on the bottle, clearly inspired by the Cuvée René label but with basil leaves and Mikkeller’s mascots added. Pours a deep peach blonde colour, misty but with fine, champagne-like fizz coming through, under a thick and beautifully lacing, ’natural’, moussy, snow white head. Musty, funky aroma of indeed fresh basil, very recognisable if this is a herb you use in your daily cooking, but blending in nicely with all the lambic complexity; apart from the basil, lending this lambic an almost pesto-like odour, I get pineapple, apricot, wine vinegar, sour berries, wet hay, old sherry, old cheese, even goat cheese, hints of sour cream and leather, damp cellar. Very refreshingly acidic onset, lots of fruity esters (peach, gooseberry, starfruit, unripe plum) with a lemony sourness to it but gently so and not too ’biting’, aromatic basil ’sweetishness’ is certainly there and returns retronasally, softer lactic acidity takes over mixed with a soft, creamy wheat sourishness as in any ’malse’ traditional geuze as well as a background barley ’breadiness’, vinous and lean, sparkling mouthfeel, dry finish of lingering lemony and lactic sourness, some of the initial aromatic basil, woody tannins, a faraway earthy hop bitterishness just there to provide structure, as it should be in this style, and yeasty lambic fruitiness. I love this: it combines the fraîcheur and crispness of a true lambic with the herbal aromas of fresh basil and for me, this combination works surprisingly well - but admittedly, you’d have to like basil in order to appreciate this (which I do - in fact, I used this beer in an Italian-style dish and it went very well with it). Unusual, but a very nice surprise for me - I hope more of these variations will become available at the Delhaize supermarket where I found this!

Bottle shared with Jonathan from beers & more. Hazy orange color with small head. Awesome funk & basil aroma, very strong basil. Taste is basil, funk, citrus, dry sour finish. Refreshing. Veery refreshing. It fits! A nice experiment which turned out well!February 2016 bottle shared in July 2017. Still a very refreshing and fun Lambic, with a not so strong Basil note, but a good funky character and nice sparkling carbonation.