One of two new sugared, 'industrial' fruit beers by Mort Subite, probably inspired by that ridiculous rouge hype here in Belgium; this one contains mango and passionfruit concentrate as well as added sugar, but seems altogether just a notch less artificial than that ghastly Bloody Berry version. Thick, even, moussey, egg-white, foamy, regular head over a lightly misty pale straw blonde robe with old golden tinge and lots of fiery sparkling. Aroma of Mango Minute Maid, passionfruit lemonade, Orangina, wet wheat flour, industrial lemon juice, something vaguely sulfuric in the background, soapy note or paraffin wax, touch apple peel or green pear. Unsurprisingly very sweet, white-sugary onset, ascorbic acid as in lemonade, but in this case obviously flavoured with a ton of artificial mango and artificial passionfruit fusing with each other into one sugary, 'tropical' lemonade effect; fizzy carb but fine-bubbled, smooth body, wheaty underbuilt with soapy effect, very slick - but consistently dominated by sugar and this mango and passionfruit juice concentrate. Not much else happens here, apart from a very vague, slightly chemical bitterish note that should probably be ascribed to the fruit concentrates; needless to say, lambic features are nowhere to be seen, even basic 'beeriness' is completely absent. This is again a childish lemonade-like concoction with no gastronomic ambitions, no complexity, no honesty, no honour - a pale version of rouge indeed. I have doubts about the way Mort Subite even produces their 'lambic' in the first place and this kind of aberrations do not help. I can down this when ice cold and in one gulp - more easily perhaps than that cough syrup-like berry version, but that is about the most positive thing I can say here. Damn you, Mort Subite - there are enough fine lambic producers in (and even outside of) Belgium now, I do not think we need you around anymore, sorry!

Mort Subite has a history (originally as brewery De Keersmaeker) dating back to the early 17th century, became a subsidiary of Alken-Maes in the 20th century and now, since 2008, forms a part of dreaded Heineken, along with the rest of the Alken-Maes group; this, along with the fact that they make lambic with rather unorthodox - cheap - procedures which hardly involve true 'spontaneous' fermentation, makes it difficult for me to grasp that they are still officially a HORAL member, but anyway... This creation, along with another one called Juicy Crime of Passion, will probably do very little to their credibility, on the contrary even, judging by the list of 'fake' ingredients (black carrot colouring and fruit concentrates). From a can bought at the Delhaize supermarket in Lokeren. Medium thick, moussey, quite busily lacing, pale pinkish off-white, partially opening but generally stable head on a clear, very magenta coloured robe, a deep, almost 'fake' looking raspberry-red purple, with near-microscopic but very active sparkling to be observed in this mesmerising magenta glow. Aroma of cough syrup and cough drops from afar - in fact the same smell as the cassis-flavoured cough drops I have been taking for almost a week now to alleviate a bronchitis, next to a truckload of near-caramelized refined sugar, industrial apple juice, blueberry-flavoured bubblegum, rubber, vague background hint of bread crust but nothing even remotely lambic-like, even though the "wild yeasts" in the ingredients list mean that they did use their 'pseudo-lambic' to create this drink. Needless to say, things start off with cloying sugary sweetness - though perhaps just a tiny bit less so than I was fearing (and compared with that rouge hype, which must have been a source of inspiration here); still extremely sweet of course, dark lemonade-like with grenadine and industrial apple juice aspects - and, most annoyingly to me at least, a heavy cassis effect that brings back those awful, sticky cough drops in full colour. Refined but very active, minerally carb, smooth body, a thin thread of graininess fused with a very thick layer of sugars and fake fruit flavours, cassis and apple remaining most prominent, raspberry and blueberry only in the most fake way possible and the alleged lemon remaining all but invisible, oddly. More of that sticky cassis sweetness at the back, where it almost acquires a faint medicinal bitterness similar to the abovementioned cough drops. Wood, funkiness, even natural acidity or anything even vaguely lambic-like remain completely absent. The magenta colour is stunning, but as fake as everything else in this terrible concoction; no doubt is this an attempt of Mort Subite - under the strict guidance of Heineken - to compete with that abominable rouge hype, and from a brewery that already came up with something as unforgettably dreadful as XTreme Kriek many years ago, this approach could never have lead to anything interesting - or even anything 'beery' to begin with. Childishly 'loud', fake, carnivalesque beverage that has nothing to do with beer, let alone lambic: avoid at all times.