No jest wchuj wasabi. Aromat zdominowany, smak zdominowany. Ale nie, nie jest to ostre, pikantne. W uscie kwaskowate ale inslodkawe, praktycznie plaskie, jest teoche dzikich nutek... wynalazek na maksa, i to nawet prawiesmaczny ;)

Ciekawostka, bo octowo (fuj) w aromacie a w uscie o wiele spokojniej, mocno owocowo / brzoskwiniowo. Lacto. Smakuje jak octowy berliner z brzoskwinia ;)

Bottle 375ml. @ [ Tasting ] - fonefan & Brugmansia House.

[ As OWA Sudachi Lambic - 2019 ].
ABV: 5.5%. Unclear matt medium orange yellow colour with a small, open and fizzy, fair lacing, mostly diminishing, off-white head. Aroma is moderate malty, tart, funky, citrus, yuzu, lime, moderate yeasty, peppery, grapes, oak - leather. Flavor is moderate sweet and light to moderate acidic with a long duration, tart, citrus, yuzu - lime, funk, dry, oak - leather, lime. Body is medium, texture is oily to watery, carbonation is soft. [20200317]
8-2-8-3-17

Yet another Japanese-themed OWA lambic, this time with an ingredient that seems self-evident and bizarre at the same time for such a project: wasabi. ‘Real’ wasabi is quite an expensive luxury item due to the plant from which it is made is difficult to grow and can be harvested only after a few years, so that I have high doubts about the true nature of the ‘wasabi’ used in here, but anyway, let’s see what it gives… Loose, large-bubbled, thinly structured, off-white head, dissolving over a misty, ‘dirty-brownish’-tinged orange blonde beer. Aroma of salted tomato, weirdly a lot of ‘rusty’ oxidation, withering celery, trassie (fermented shrimp), mustard, capers, the liquid from a jar of green peppercorns, soaking wet fresh leather. Sharply sour onset with a light umami accent, hinting at sherry vinegar, capers, green berries and salted tomato (weirdly), softly carbonated; supple wheaty-bready ‘soil’ dried by the acidity but soon ‘marred’ by that rusty oxidation returning, along with full-blown, indeed somewhat wasabi-like spiciness, though in a kind of ‘green’ and very herbal way, more of mustard leaf than actual mustard, if you get my drift; again this typical ‘mustiness’ of capers and green peppercorns from a jar comes up quite dominantly in the finish. These OWA lambics can turn out quite good especially when made with fruit, but often show bizarre profiles, most often so when spices or herbs are used – it therefore says a lot that this one to me is probably the weirdest of them all so far. Too musty and oxidized to be good, seems like a failed project to be honest, so let me repeat what I have stated here before: this company would do better to stop churning out heaps of new experiments and concentrate on perfecting the existing recipes instead…

Leo Imai seems to have abandoned top-fermented beers altogether and has completely centered his OWA brand around lambics with Japanese ingredients lately, with this one again brand new, making use of Japanese peaches. The ‘paper flowers’ around the neck have apparently become translucent and of a more delicate fabric too, it seems… Loose and bubbly, thin, egg-white, open head quickly dissolving completely over a cloudy yellow-blonde beer with ‘dirty’ straw-like hue. Aroma of indeed white and / or unripe peach but not as overwhelmingly so as in e.g. the peach lambics created by 3 Fonteinen last year, next to gherkin (even pickled), sour grapes, sweaty feet (weirdly and quite strongly), bread crumbs, freshly cut thistles and other garden weeds, wet wood, soggy peach kernels, grass silage, linseed, vague hint of balsamic vinegar. Sour onset, quite puckering at first even, with impressions of raw rhubarb, lemon and green gooseberry but indeed also a faint hint of peach softness buried underneath; softish carb, tart middle, wheaty-bready base under unripe stonefruit, sour grape and eventually green bell pepper and raw gherkin impressions, while an unripe peach astringency increases; earthy, funky, tart finish, dryingly sour and tannic from wood, peach skin and peach kernels, while that balsamico-like whiff lingers a bit, faraway in the background. Interesting lambic for sure, very earthy, ‘green’ and acidic, complex and fruity – but painfully lacking in the aromatic sweet ‘peachiness’ it could have had if, I reckon, higher fruit concentrations and / or other varieties had been used. OWA has produced a long list of new lambics lately – perhaps it would be better now to halt this wild experimentation, and work on finetuning the existing ones to a higher level…

14/III/20 - 37.5cl bottle, 2019 vintage @ lockdown tasting (home), BB: XII/2024 (2020-263) Thanks to Alengrin for sharing the bottle!

Pretty cloudy blond yellow beer, practically no head. Aroma: bit funky, sweaty feet, plastic, chemical, bit grassy, some muzina (Japanese mustard greens) not very pleasant, or fruity for that matter… MF: soft carbon, medium body. Taste: very acidic start, lemon juice, lots of peaches, dry, bit peppery, green bell peppers. Aftertaste: more green bell peppers, gooseberries, sharp acidity, spicy, vegetal, more mizuna, chlorine, bit soapy, better than the aroma for sure! But not the best iteration of this Japanese ingredients lambic series…