Poured from 750 mL champagne bottle into flute
Poured from 750 mL champagne bottle into flute. Initially quite bubbly. Mild head, fine and white. Dissipates quickly but good lacing is left. A bit cloudy, like a lightly filtered hefeweizen. Very nice color, golden at its lightest, amber at its darkest (picture shows the colors slightly darker). Regardless, quite alluring.
Very sweet on the nose. Apples, as one might expect, but in a bit of an artificially strong way. Fruity, like something from my childhood that I cannot quite place. Perhaps the smell produced when making Jello (pouring the powder into the boiling water?). A bit grassy. Good balance of flavors. Very pleasant. Invigorating yet pacifying aroma.
First taste is very sweet upfront. Delicious green apples, sweet yet tart and tangy. Then comes a subtle bitterness from carbonation, almost like the quinine of good tonic water, but less bitter. Again, good balance of flavors, light malty sweetness, but apple surely is the idea here. Second taste yields a subtle citrus flavor just beneath the surface. I am not well versed in lambics, and so this one tastes sweeter than others I have had but not cloyingly so. As it warms, strong sweet apple taste fades slightly and a nice malt bass with some tart apple comes through.
Mouthfeel is soft and light. At first quite smooth and silky. Then, as carbonation builds, it floats nicely on the tongue, like a mousse. A cottony cloud, really. Extremely light. Thin but not too much so. Still very smooth, despite high carbonation. Feels a bit thicker as it warms.
Very easy to drink for its sweetness. A bit off-putting at first taste. Makes one wonder how many one can actually have, but seems a very drinkable beer after all. Generally a bit sweet for my taste, but would have another and plan on doing so. Still, not entirely sure how many I could have without tiring of the sweetness, or getting a headache.
All in all, a delightful beer. B+. And on The Drunkard’s Progress Scale, I would say that “Step 1: A glass with a Friend” seems a mighty fine idea.
