Samuel Adams Cranberry Lambic - Boston Beer Company (Samuel Adams)

Jason

Massachusetts

3.18/5  rDev +17.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

12 oz brown bottle with a "purchase before" date on the label. "Wheat Beer brewed with cranberry juice and other natural flavors added" stated on the label, nothing about spontaneous fermentation or aging it in barrels, blending and aging for more time. It's a fruit beer nothing more and nothing less.

Dull and cloudy rusty reddish hue, holds a ring of white lace strongly. Fruity aroma, little cranberry with a faint tartness. Maltiness is present in the aroma though not too much as the yeast flavors blanket with faint wild herbal phenols.

Semi-smooth and a touch creamy within the medium body. Tartness is there, some cranberry flavor with some fruitiness as well. Malt is there with a mellow sweet graininess. Hops are very mild. Finishes with a lingering tartness, flash of cranberry and vague malt.

Notes: A good fruit beer but not a lambic at all, how they get away with using "Lambic" on the label is beyond me ... its not even close. The new Longshot Cranberry Wit should take the place of this beer IMO.

Serving type: bottle

12-29-2008 02:53:46 | More by Jason

Todd

Massachusetts

2.2/5  rDev -18.8%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

12oz brown bottle, with freshness date on the side of the label. Beer was poured into a proper lambic glass.

This beer pours a very hazy peach / amber coloured beer, that initially foams up to a decent head, but quickly falls to a whispy lace with sticking tracks as it settles. I'm assuming that cranberries (even the juice) would give this beer more of a red hue, but it's not there.

Aroma has none of the expected funk that you'd find in a true lambic beer. There's plenty of artificial smelling cranberry juice though, along side of a sturdy sweetish malt aroma. I swear I can also pick of some caramel (diacetyl ?), too. What's that doing in this beer?

In the flavour, we get a heavy dose of sweetness, but none of the off-setting dryness found in Belgian lambics. The caramel is out of place, creating a sense of unbalance on the palate and it tends to dominate over the cranberry. And, as the cranberry addition is from juice (and additional flavours), the defining character of this beer, or what should be, is a very one-dimensional, barely tart, cranberry "cocktail" out of the can like flavour. Flash of citric lime-like bitterness races across the palate (pretending to contain our missing dryness) with a prickly carbonation and touch of mineral / salt. Finish is grain dry with citric flavours lingering in the nooks and crannies.

If you're going to call your beer a "lambic" at least make a true attempt to create a lambic. This is nothing more than a fruit beer, an unbalanced one and a very misleading beer.

Serving type: bottle

01-12-2003 16:07:23 | More by Todd

jkane101

New Jersey

1.75/5  rDev -35.4%

05-24-2013 01:45:31 | More by jkane101

ChrisMon02

Ohio

2.75/5  rDev +1.5%

05-22-2013 22:59:25 | More by ChrisMon02

FreshmanPour77

Minnesota

3/5  rDev +10.7%

05-22-2013 17:39:17 | More by FreshmanPour77

LeahM

New York

2.5/5  rDev -7.7%

05-19-2013 03:20:48 | More by LeahM

jbarletto

Massachusetts

2.5/5  rDev -7.7%

05-18-2013 14:40:11 | More by jbarletto

Carpentiere

New Hampshire

2.75/5  rDev +1.5%

05-16-2013 12:13:37 | More by Carpentiere

Slatetank

Pennsylvania

2.75/5  rDev +1.5%

05-15-2013 18:37:23 | More by Slatetank

lucasj82

Indiana

1/5  rDev -63.1%

05-15-2013 01:41:56 | More by lucasj82

twenty5

Pennsylvania

2/5  rDev -26.2%

05-10-2013 15:03:50 | More by twenty5

rcbuckman

New Jersey

2.25/5  rDev -17%

05-04-2013 21:05:26 | More by rcbuckman

tbunting75

Virginia

3/5  rDev +10.7%

04-30-2013 20:59:14 | More by tbunting75

FliryVorru

Alabama

2.5/5  rDev -7.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Smells great, tastes unappealing. It's like they tried to make a lambic while still following the brewing process of an Ale.

But the is hope! I use this stuff to cook with all the time during the winter and it's GREAT! Try putting it in a slow cooker with some chicken breast, veggies, a can of cream of mushroom soup, and some garlic. AWESOME!

Serving type: bottle

04-29-2013 17:21:46 | More by FliryVorru

mhaugo

California

2.5/5  rDev -7.7%

04-25-2013 05:47:53 | More by mhaugo

thechief16

Virginia

2/5  rDev -26.2%

04-25-2013 01:39:36 | More by thechief16

Kelp

New Hampshire

2.5/5  rDev -7.7%

04-23-2013 06:13:03 | More by Kelp

JHurley

Alabama

2.75/5  rDev +1.5%

04-21-2013 02:08:09 | More by JHurley

Goobastic

New York

2.75/5  rDev +1.5%

04-20-2013 16:20:31 | More by Goobastic

randylangford

Pennsylvania

2.75/5  rDev +1.5%

04-14-2013 01:27:48 | More by randylangford

BurnMeInMyBar

Florida

3.5/5  rDev +29.2%

04-04-2013 17:36:56 | More by BurnMeInMyBar

SonOfKyuss

Virginia

3/5  rDev +10.7%

03-29-2013 23:16:24 | More by SonOfKyuss

zestd

Idaho

2.5/5  rDev -7.7%

03-29-2013 22:33:40 | More by zestd

brheuer

New Jersey

1/5  rDev -63.1%

03-24-2013 15:14:26 | More by brheuer

vfgccp

New York

1.5/5  rDev -44.6%

03-22-2013 21:25:41 | More by vfgccp