I am repeating myself here but it has been a painstakingly long wait to try the first bottle from my newest Solera. I decided to bottle the first pull straight so that I could get an idea of how things were going and determine what I would want to change for the top off batch. When I tasted the uncarbonated beer at bottling I was concerned it was a little bit one dimensional, especially because I believe that blending is so crucial with mixed fermentation beers. But I decided to stay the course so I could get to know this Solera from grain to glass.
Lambics are usually hopped with 3-4 ounces/5 gallons of aged hops while I used 2 ounces of semi-aged low alpha % hops for 8 IBUs, so I was a little concerned the initial batch may have been under hopped. It is not that I was concerned about the bitterness level but aged hops add a funky rusticity to the finished beer that I felt this could be missing. It is quite sour, bordering on being too sour but that may be because it is lacking in some complexity to balance it out. Overall this is a really nice sour beer and a nice start to this Solera, I look forward to making some tweaks to the top-off batch to add some complexity and round it out into a more finished product. Some more detailed tasting notes below.
PhiLambic Solera Pull #1 – 2014
Appearance
Very clear Golden yellow, moderately high carbonation tiny bubbles shooting up from the center of the glass. The head lasts for a while but very thin just around the edges of the glass.
Aroma
Fruity forward aroma, a little bit Apple, light funk in the background, lactic acidity. No hops or malt. A slight ethyl acetate aroma as the glass warmed to room temperature.
Taste
Tart right upfront, Lightbody, somewhat prickly carbonation. It’s dry but has a little bit of a sweet bite on the back of the palate, finishes quick off the tongue leaving you with a dry puckering mouth. It is pretty refreshing and drinkable.
Overall
When I tried to first bottle of this almost 2 months ago I thought it was a little bit one dimensional, and maybe lacked some complexity but its really coming along in the bottle. This reminds me a lot of Brian Hall’s Lambic with a lot more carbonation. It’s fruity in the nose very little barnyard, tart, dry and refreshing. It might be lacking a little bit of complexity but I think as an unblended product it holds up well. I let some of it warm up to room temp to let it open up a bit and there is a slight ethyl acetate aroma, it is very slight but something I will want to keep an eye on as the Solera ages. I am quite pleased with how this is drinking and look forward to seeing how this ages over the months to years.
