A Tale of Two Lambics

Here is an account of my experience with two different lambic beers and a moral lesson: don’t judge a beer by its style.

I recently had the opportunity to try Three Philosophers by Brewery Ommegang while at an art show at the Gulu Gulu Café in Lynn, Massachusetts. I had hear about this offering before but had always avoided it, even though it is from Ommegang most of whose brews I have enjoyed thoroughly, simply because this beer billed itself as a cherry lambic.

The reason for my trepidation goes back to 2003 when I had first moved to Boston and Jon and I were enjoying a little Christmas cheer with the Samuel Adams Winter 12-pack, a selection of twelve different beers, some of which are seasonal brews only available in the aforementioned pack. One of these seasonal beers was a cranberry lambic and I, feeling adventurous, cracked it open. I was immediately greeted with a scent not unlike a sour wine cooler, the taste was somewhere in the neighborhood of bile and prison wine. As I struggled to finish about a quarter of the bottle, though I later found that this wasn't a true lambic but rather a flavored wheat beer, I nevertheless swore to myself never to drink another lambic, which brings us back to the café and my present conundrum.

I have never been so happy to be wrong about a beer. I poured the velvety smooth midnight brew into a Unibroue snifter the waitress had been so kind to present with the bottle, the smell was enchanting: rich, malty, and a bit winey. The taste was sweet, but not cloyingly so, a bit like good dark chocolate, and there was a distinct black cherry taste that matched so well I found myself ordering another of the same once my glass ran dry. By the end of the second bottle, the 9.8% alcohol content was showing and I decided to call it a night as I still had some live music to listen to and some art to appreciate.