I was standing around at Craft Ale House talking with the owners and I mentioned that I needed a new beer to review. Melissa turned around and went to the bottle cooler and pulled out a 750ml bottle of Vanberg & DeWulf’s Lambrucha and started telling me about how it is a Lambic that is brewed with Kombucha Tea. Feeling adventurous I decided to bring it home and give it a try, I swore that I heard “Take a walk on the wild side” playing as I left the bar…ominous.

I knew that I was in for some sort of weird tea and alcohol fueled psychedelic trip from the moment I opened the beer. The Lambrucha is very carbonated, so much so that it pushed a large yeast deposit out of the mouth of the bottle. It kind of freaked me out a bit, but after a quick phone call to Shane I decided that all was well and it was time to sample the beer.

Very carefully pouring this highly carbonated drink into my pint glass I was able to keep the head under control (hard to do with something this carbonated) and got it to around two fingers in height. The beer itself is a hazy yellowed orange. The smell is interesting and not like anything I have smelled in a beer before. It is musky, crisp, slightly citrusy, sour, but still a little grassy. Interesting, weird, and intriguing…

The Lambrucha’s interesting and trippyness continues into the flavor. Even as I write this I’m trying to decide if I like it or not. The taste is sour, what you would expect from a lambic, and a bit tart tasting of lemons (lemons especially towards the end). As the beer warms more fruit flavors start to come out including grapefruit and orange. Overall the flavors can be a bit thin, but some do stand out a bit more. There is also a holdover musky/funkyness from the nose that is present in the taste. It is a bit off putting at first.

Overall I consider Lambrucha to be more of a tea drink with some alcohol than a beer. It is interesting and worth a shot, just don’t expect many similarities between it and your favorite brew. I did enjoy the beer, it was refreshing and crisp, but not my favorite.

Overall: 6.5/10