Lindemans Pomme (Apple)

Brewed By: Brouwerij Lindemans in St Pieters Leeuw-Vlezenbeek, Belgium

Purchased: Single bottle (12oz) out of variety pack from Binny's in IL; 2011

Style/ABV: Lambic - Fruit, 3.5%

I feel like I did a pretty good job breaking down Fruit Lambics and Lindemans in my review of the Lindemans Framboise, so check that out. This is the other beer from the Lindemans variety pack, the Lindemans Pomme. Pomme means apple, and this is a non-traditional fruit flavor now being incorporated into Lindemans' Lambic lineup. This is relatively new (within the past few years) and has received a fairly lukewarm reception by beer reviewers. I have already tried this beer, but I'll ignore any previous notions.

Just like with the Framboise, this is as effervescent as they come. There are hundreds of bubbles rising upwards, supporting the white fluffy head. The head is holding at about a fingers-width, but it poured with 2-fingers worth. I suspect the flute glass exaggerates the size of the head a bit. The head is made up of tightly packed bubbles, and looks good. The body is transparent to the point where I can read the words on my computer screen through the glass. The color of this beer is a nice golden-yellow color: it looks like a pilsner or pale lager.

The aroma here is big on the apples, but there are subtle pulls towards a yeast-funk-barnyard note. The apple is sweet and slightly sour, and reminds me of apple candy. Apple jolly ranchers come to mind.

The first sip makes me immediately think of apple juice and apple cider, but then the slight sour note bites in the back end and I think of sour apples. This is largely an apple juice affair, with carbonated apples all over the place. There is a pull towards sourness here and there, which is where the sour apple note comes from. This is slightly tart, but sweet and sugary. Did someone melt sour apple candy in here?

The front end is carbonation and apple, the middles gives way to more apples and maybe a touch of barnyard funk and yeast, and the back end rounds out with a hint of tartness. This is a light-medium beer with very little in the way of complexity. This beer has as much depth as an apple (literally) but at least finishes slightly dry and has some nice effervescent qualities.
 

Rating: Average

Score: 51%

 
Unlike the Framboise which had a solid Lambic backdrop and decent complexity as far as the raspberry was concerned, the Pomme is pretty much apples, apple juice, apple candy, and just a hint of sour apple. So we have ourselves a good ol' dilemma here.

You see, this beer advertises itself as a "Lambic" beer. But I'm not getting a whole lot on the Lambic front. I'm hard pressed to even qualify this as a beer when it almost reminds me of an apple soda or apple malt beverage. 

If this was an "apple drink" then hell yes: I would say this beer rocks the house. If you are looking for over-the-top apples then this beer will rock your cock. If you are looking for a complex apple Lambic...

This is at the bottom-end of Average. I almost rated this Below-Average but there are enough pulls towards a sour note and something funky and yeasty that you are left with the impression that there is a Lambic here, somewhere. Having said that, I would not reach for this beer if I was looking for a Lambic or a Fruit Lambic. HOWEVER, if I wanted something that was all apples or over-the-top apples: I might grab this beer. This reminds me quite a bit of a cider, and might stack up favorably against other ciders. You might be able to pair this beer with an apple dessert or something like cheese. But again, I have to imagine there are better examples of Lambics with apples out there.

Oh, and again I was left with nice lacing on my glass. That's 2 for 2 with Lindemans. I guess I'll keep a running count now.