Lindemans Pomme Lambic: An Amateurish Beer Review

While spending the day with my youngest sister on our overlapping odd day off work, we visited a wine and beer specialty store to peruse their shelves. I was happy to discover this product in their import beer section, because I haven't been able to find it for some time.

Lambic beers are a traditional variety from Belgium, and the yeast is a local wild airborne strain rather than a cultured brewers yeast. They tend to be sour, and I don't like them. However, this is a fruit beer that I actually like, because the apple sweetness covers the lambic sourness, and the sweetness one finds in too many ciders is tamed somewhat by the lambic sourness. It's a fairly good balance. Carbonation is not too heavy, but definitely present.

The bottle is labeled, "Product of Vlezenbeek, Belgium," and according to the US importer's website, the ingredients are water, barley malt, wheat, apple juice, sugar, natural flavor from apples, hops, stevia, and yeast. ABV 3.5%, OG 1.061, IBU 12. It is not cheap at around $12 for a 750ml bottle, but I like to splurge every now and then.

I do have one minor complaint about this beer that keeps it from being a complete home run in my book. I do prefer it over sparkling ciders because it isn't as overly sweet, but it does have a bit of an apple juice concentrate aftertaste. It could be a bit more tart and dry without being an unbalanced flavor. It doesn't taste at all like beer. Instead, it's a lot like a moderately-sweet cider.

Still, I would recommend it for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or any other occasion where you might serve Martinelli's sparkling cider, because this is far and away a superior choice for anyone of legal drinking age.

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