A word on Sam Adams Cranberry "Lambic"

So Samuel Adams puts out a winter classics pack of beers that I've gotten the past few winters. The pack includes Winter Lager, Boston Lager, Coastal Wheat, Cranberry Lambic, Holiday Porter, and Old Fezziwig Ale. Old Fezziwig, an ale full of winter spices, is definitely my favorite, and I have always liked most of them, with the exception of the Cranberry Lambic.

Maybe it was because my taste was messed up from my oral surgery this winter, but the Cranberry Lambic just wasn't doing it for me. We have some remnants of the winter pack left that I've been finishing off, and I thought I should revisit this beer now that my sense of taste is restored and now that I have had true Belgian lambic and know what to expect from the style.

Samuel Adams Cranberry Lambic
5.9% ABV, wheat ale with cranberries and maple syrup

Now that I understand that lambics are supposed to be an unusually tart or sour beer, I have a much better appreciation for what Sam Adams was going for in this beer. This beer has an unusual aroma that I am tempted to say I have smelled in wheat beers before; it might best be described as a sweet collard green smell. This flavor is also present though accompanied by some tartness that lingers after a small kick of carbonation. There is no hop presence, true to the style.

Samuel Adams Cranberry Lambic is not really a lambic. As I have said, lambic is wild-fermented wheat ale (using wild yeast) made in the Senne Valley of Belgium. However, this is fermented in the usual way by adding yeast strain. Therefore, this beer is misnamed and would more properly be named Cranberry Wheat. The flavor is reflective of this, as it isn't really off-the-wall tart and funky like a true lambic.

As far as taste goes, this actually isn't half bad if you take it for what it is. I would not say this is anywhere close to being as sour as even the Lindeman's kriek or framboise I've had, much less the Cantillon gueuze. I've say the flavor is best described as a wheat ale with a tad more emphasis on tartness, which makes it an interesting change of pace from your typical hefeweizen or white ale. So I won't bash this beer as much in the future, though it can't really compare to the Fezziwig in my opinion, and I may even enjoy it once or twice on the holidays.