Despite the fact that I’ve drunk several saison’s and I know that Lindemans lambics are very, very sweet and not representative of the classic style, you’re never quite ready for the jolt to the taste buds that this beer provides.

Very low carbonation and a crimson, hazy body with no head or lacing. Lots of floating sediment appeared to be in place too. A very organic smell, a bit like horse manure! Not very thrilling to the nose for the uninitiated, as expected for the rest.

I’m afraid that the acidic sourness of this completely overwhelms absolutely everything else for me. In fact it was the first, partial drain pour that I ever remember having in terms of such a classic beer. I just couldn’t take the extreme sourness. It gave me absolutely no pleasure, and masked everything else that the beer was trying to do. Literally undrinkable! For me that’s saying a lot. Lambics are complicated things. Their age matters, as does your mood, and the current sophistication of the palate, but that can be a smokescreen for things that just don’t do much for a person, or that simply don’t taste good to an individual. Just because you should like it, doesn’t mean that you will. There are other Cantillon beers that are more approachable, and work better for me.

Obviously I’ve got a long way to go with the genuine Lambics, but this was a very poor start. A $6-7 a 12 oz bottle, it’ll be a long time before I investigate again.