Draught Faint transparant head over veiled copperish-yellow beer. Wild yeast, Brettanomyces, horseblanket, and stonefruit as nectarine, as well, yes, a peppery aroma. Sulphur. Pink pepper - and obvious, recognisable, but not overdone, subtle. Again stonefruit, lactic acid. Light acidthinning, almost no carbonation. The pink pepper is a trouvaille, it blends seamlessly in, without overwhelming, making the lambic more complex.

One of Oud Beersel’s many innovatively flavoured lambics that made it into bottled “Sparkling Infused” form, this time with oolong, a Chinese category of tea somewhere in between green tea and black tea, usually briefly heated during its production process, which I assume is the ‘roasted’ aspect mentioned here. Bottle under high pressure, opening with a loud ‘bang’ followed by ‘gunsmoke’; membrane-lacing, foamy and pillowy, egg-white, stable head on a hazy warm orangey-peach blonde robe. Aroma of lemon peel, lemon juice, green gooseberry, indeed this dry herbal tea effect of the oolong slowly piercing through, kumquat, fresh bergamot leaf or matcha and even vague cilantro leaf (the oolong again), old dry cheese rind, dusty attic, old wood, young tree leaves, minerals, urine. Crisp onset with very spritzy, cava-like effervescence, very minerally yet ‘finely structured’ so that it does not disrupt the flavours, which initially range from crabapple and gooseberry over green plum to lime, tart but ‘mals’, with a tangy ‘juiciness’ to it; bread crust-like core in the middle, under drying lactic sourness, ongoing green fruit crispness (lime and green plum lingering), some leathery ‘funk’ and drying tannic woodiness increasing towards the finish – as does the oolong tea, providing a herbal to grassy, matcha- and bergamot-like retronasal aroma, closer to green tea than to black tea but still with a very distantly smoky accent. It provides a herbaceous bitter element, too, reinforced by old hop bitterness (and the tannins from both the wood and the tea itself). Dry, complex finish retaining that initial green fruit juiciness, thus remaining very drinkable. Not being a tea lover in general, I was fearing that the oolong in this one was going to be too much – perhaps the memory of much ‘heavier’ smoked tea lambics Oud Beersel also played a part in this – but as usual, I remained confident in the brand and was everything but disappointed; subtle, spritzy, refreshing and classy, this one integrates the features of the oolong tea in a clever way so that it enhances certain aspects of the lambic rather than dominating them or clashing with them (a bit like that rose petal version I had some weeks earlier). I love this series, and I maintain that Oud Beersel’s skills remain highly underrated as compared with some other traditional (or even new) lambic producers.

The ninth one of 22 beers for our 12th wedding anniversary. Lena's.
Bottle 0.375l, bottled 15.2.2019. Clear, gold orange colored. AROMA- apple, apricot, sorrel, wet wood, funky, flowery - roses, soapy. FLAVOR- slightly sweet, medium sourness, lightly bitter and tart, apple, apricot, funky, sorrel, white muscatel grapes. Medium to fuller bodied.
Great!