Flamingo pink head, pretty stable for lambic, over cloudy, deep-cardinal red beer. Floral, berry-filled nose, fruity³, and perfumey in the best possible way. Sweetish-sour in the best (sorry for repeating myself) possible balance. Fruity, red/pink/purple berries, lemon, and of course lots of lactic acid, buttermilk. Acidthinning, light acidburn, lipsmacking acidity, fruit-filled & slickness (more than usual); long-lasting flavours. Absolutely stunning fruitlambic. With one warrant; as fruity as it is, it just doesn't spell blackcurrant. Might well get even better with aging.

Lambiek Fabriek's third fruit lambic, with blackcurrants (cassis) this time, a fruit that has been used in lambic before by 3 Fonteinen, Hanssens and Tilquin (ignoring 'industrial' sweet cassic lambics, like Lindemans Cassis, which have been around for much longer); from what I heard, this is just the beginning of a whole string of new lambic experiments by this sympathetic newcomer on the lambic scene. From a 75 cl bottle - which gushed upon opening, so be warned; I assume my impatience got the better of me again, as this gushing issue will likely go away with some further ageing. Mousy, medium thick, pale lilac-tinged white head, opening slowly here and there and lacing in shreds over a hazy, deep purplish wine-red glowing beer with violet tinge. Aroma of blackcurrants freshly picked from the bush - but not too overpowering, leaving enough room for lambic funkiness and complexity, involving impressions of unripe plums, damp hay, soaking wet old wood, stale sweat, kefir, a fine but pungent 'sting' of freshly squeezed lemon juice, very vague touch of bergamot somewhere, cherry pits, beetroot kimchi, faint background hint of moist paprika powder. Sharpish-sour onset, lots of fruit acidity but lots of ripe berry fleshiness too, side impressions of sour plum, lemon and unripe gooseberries (which are actually closely related to blackcurrant), bit puckering but not too harshly so, lively carbonated in a refinedly minerally way; supple bready core supporting an ongoing flow of ripe berry juiciness and sourness along with an increasingly funky lambic mustiness showing some damp hay- and sweat-like Brett aspects here and there - but at all times remaining secondary to the actual fruitiness, with that unmistakable, herbal cassis flavour lingering throughout, though perhaps not as intensely so as it could have. Ends dry, juicy and still vividly fruity, on a 'dark green', mossy, earthy funkiness and astringent lactic tartness and woody tannins, the latter enhanced by those typical wry effects of berry skins and seeds. The blackcurrant remains lively and expressive throughout, offering fleshiness and a pleasant aromatic note that brings me back to the blackcurrant bushes I remember from childhood. Rustic, with the blackcurrants feeling very fresh and 'alive' - like biting on one and chewing on its skin from beginning to end, embedded in a well-balanced, rich and classic lambic profile. Another lovely Lambiek Fabriek product, as expected.