The fourth bottled product from Lambiek Fabriek, released a mere two weeks after their kriek (Jart-Elle) in full Corona pandemic - a spark of hope in dreary times. Made with Muscaris grapes (grown in Belgian Limburg), a type of muscat grape developed in southern Germany in 1987. For now only available from 75 cl bottles with cork and crown cap (like the kriek), but apparently there are intentions to bottle it in 37.5 cl bottles in the future as well. Opens with quite some pressure, but no gushing. Firm, frothy, initially very thick, egg-white, bit irregular head, lacing in thick plastery patches and remaining very stable over a misty straw-yellow beer with pale ochre-golden tinge; disparate, yet numerous and lively sparkles rush through the mist from the bottom upwards. Aroma of juicy white grapes, Muscadet wine with perhaps a whiff of dry Riesling somehow too, green apples, yellow plums, lemon butter, dry clay, pronounced minerals, white Lambrusco, freshly cut grass, vague background notes of sulphur, elderblossoms, sweetclover, dandelion flowers, sweat, manure, chalk. Very crisp onset, very spritzy with enthusiastic carbonation, quite champagne-like and very minerally, bubbling through grape juiciness and lambic fruitiness of unripe plum, green apple, old lemon and whitecurrant; the grapes add both fructose sweetishness and the firm sour aspect this particular variety is known for, with sourness very obviously being the dominant factor. Supple, lean, bready body, completely soaked in lemony lambic tartness and sour white grape juiciness, with slightly earthy, minerally and (somewhat too obvious) sulfuric notes retronasally, combined with a whiff of Brettanomyces funk (stale urine) and eventually dried by grape skin and wooden barrel tannins, with strong minerality as well as continuous grape juiciness gracing the finish. Long, dry, quenching, spritzy tail - an 'apéritif' beer par excellence, perhaps lacking in the huge complexity boasted by bottled grape lambics of the genre's pioneer Cantillon (think Vigneronne and the countless grape lambics that have been added to their range in recent years), but easily drinkable, feeling very 'genuine' and highly promising - time will tell how this one will age, but the acids it contains, should ensure improvement by cellaring. Very good for a first attempt, just needs a bit more finetuning but I will follow the further development of this grape lambic with great interest.

Lambiek Fabriek has been working on their cherry lambic for months and apparently deemed it ready now to blend it into a full-blown 'oude kriek' (bottle-refermented cherry lambic), cheekily named 'Jart-Elle' (suspender), the name they picked from a bunch of internet submissions. Made with 300 grams of fresh cherries per litre; for now only available on 75 cl bottles (with cork and crown cap), but should also avail on 37,5 cl in the future. Carries the GTS label, simply ensuring that it is a 'regional specialty product', which goes for all traditional lambic beers from the Senne valley, of course. Mousy, medium thick, pale lilac-tinged pink head, opening and dissipating, to eventually dissolve completely; cloudy, very deep glowing ruby red robe with dark fuchsia hue, a beautiful sight. Aroma bursting with ripe cherries, cherry wine and pure fresh cherry juice, sour cherries of course but also a hint of sweet cherry somewhere, dominating over the lambic features, including lots of fruitiness (ripe blue plum, purple gooseberries, nectarine), raw rhubarb, old wrinkled apple peel, a whiff of 'swimming pool' but subtly so, vanilla-ish wet oak, almond, sourdough, raspberry vinegar, vague background note of drying garden weeds. Lots of vivid fruit sourness with a sharpish lemony edge at first, but quickly softened by the generous 'fleshiness' and juiciness of the cherries, even with a light touch of fructose sweetishness hidden within; lots of sour grape, redcurrant and blue plum aspects as well, fizzily carbonated with notable minerally effects; lean bready and cereally malt base, continuously soaked in lipsmacking cherry juice fruitiness and fraîcheur; some tannic effects from wood and cherry skins (and seeds) in the end, providing a bit of wryness, but remaining mild, as is the case with the wild yeast component, which at this age is limited to vague damp hay- and old lemon peel-like accents. Ends juicy, filled to the brim with cherries and refreshingly acidic without 'burning' too much. Clearly still very young, lacking a bit in sheer lambic 'nobility', funkiness and complexity perhaps, but then this is fully compensated by a very generous dosage of fleshy, juicy, bright fruitiness from the cherries, making it as elegant as it is drinkable - the bottle went down in no time. I had been looking forward to this one for a long time now and it did not disappoint, as a slender, spritzy, supple but utterly juicy example of the style. Lovely, very well done - and now for that grape version!

bardzo swiezy, wisniowy grzeczne, bez pestkowosci, ale nadrabia to fajny charkter, pasujacy dzikosci w tle. Mocno chlalne. Fajnie bezpretensjonalne :)

KØLF 060320. Golden-orange color with a white head. Aroma is farmhouse, yeast, oranges. Flavor is farmhouse, yeast, oranges, sourness, earth, citrus, wood, oak. Very nice beer.