Sunday 30th of April, the first day with beautiful weather so far in Brussels, and no work the day after since that’s Labor Day. A perfect day to visit Oud Beersel’s Spring Release at the brewery in Beersel, just outside Brussels. Although, with both Tilquin’s British Beer Fest and an open day at gueuze blendery De Cam it wasn’t an easy choice. What convinced me though to go to Oud-Beersel were the lambics that were released this weekend.
Before we go to that, they didn’t only release five new sparkling lambics this weekend. In collaboration with Vitalii Karvyha they released four ciders too. Vitalii Karhyva is an Ukrainian cider maker, who fled Ukraine due to the war with Russia. Not only did he have to flee his country. The production site of Berryland Cidery was destroyed by Russian bombings. The revenue from the sale of these ciders should help Vitalli to restart his business in Ukraine once the war is over.
However, since this is Beers Gone Wild and not Ciders Gone Wild, we’ll go to the lambics now. The five new lambics that were released are White Lambic Sparkling Infused, Orange Blossom Sparkling Infused Lambic, Roasted Oolong Tea Sparkling Infused Lambic, Red Szechuan Pepper Sparkling Infused Lambic, Lapsang Souchong Sparkling Infused Lambic, and Rhubarb Lambic.
The sad thing is, I didn’t taste all of them… There were so many great lambics available on draft that I had to choose wisely. Unfortunately, there’s a limit on how much beer one could reasonably drink, and a financial limit too. So even though these new releases were what made me go to Oud-Beersel in the first place, I only tasted the lapsang souchong lambic and brought home a bottle of the rhubarb lambic to try later. No reason to be sad though as the other lambics we tasted were magnificent. In total, I tried 7 different lambics. Please don’t think I drank 7 full-sized glasses or bottles of lambic. Although I’d certainly be up for the challenge. Luckily at Oud-Beersel there’s the possibility to order a stave with three or nine 15 centiliter glasses. So, we ordered 2 staves with 3 tasting glasses. A great way to try a lot of different lambics!
Old Lambic
We started with the old lambic to be able to compare with the other more extravagant lambics that we were going to drink and I’ve got to say, this one was probably one of the best we drank this day. Perfectly balanced, sour with a hint of bitterness, and just an overall complex flavor make this one of my favorite lambics so far.
Sparkling Lambic
Then we tried the sparkling lambic. Still a nice lambic. Slightly carbonated, a bit more sour, less bitter, and overall less balanced than the old lambic. But that’s just my amateur beer connoisseur’s opinion.
Winter Lambic
The winter lambic really stood out because of its oak-like woody flavor that we didn’t taste in the other lambics we tried so far. It was completely flat without any carbonation at all.
Whisky Barrel Aged Lambic
The next one up was the whisky barrel-aged lambic. This one sure does live up to its name. First of all, an amazing sweet whisky smell. Together with a very pleasant whisky flavor and lots of vanilla. The aftertaste was woody and took quite a while to disappear.
Merkén Infused Lambic
After the amazing whisky lambic, we tried another experimental one, merkén infused lambic. If you don’t know what merkén is, I also had to google it before ordering. But I’ll save you the trouble. Merkén is a smoked and dried chili pepper from Chili (no joke). Even though this lambic did not smell differently, the chili pepper gave it a nice amount of spiciness and a distinct chili flavor in the aftertaste.
Lapsang Souchong Infused Lambic
Last, but not least, it was finally time to taste one of the lambics I had originally come for, the lapsang souchong infused lambic. Lapsang souchong is a smoked black tea from China. The tea gives the lambic a peaty-ish aftertaste and a dry finish. Probably due to the tannins from the tea.
Framboise
Last but not least, I drank a framboise. A tried and tested drink as I’ve had it before during the ‘Tour de Gueuze’ in 2022. Again, this beer blew me away. Such an intense aroma of raspberries. Sweet, tart, and easily drinkable. I don’t think it gets any better than this. If you know any better lambics than this, let me know in the comments.
It was a perfect day. Sitting outside in the sun on the terrace next to the brewery tasting different lambics. I’ll definitely come back to Oud-Beersel again. Furthermore, stay tuned for the upcoming post featuring the rhubarb lambic I bought!