The good Wench stalkers know that the gueuze is my all time favorite style of beer. I know it is a bit “ballsy” to declare an all-time favorite style, but heck, I can do whatever I want. Cause I am The Beer Wench. Recognize.
Although I have tried my fair share of lambics in the past, one style that has always evaded me: The Faro. This is because, until now, it was not imported into the U.S. (to my knowledge).
I was delighted when Lindemans Brewery and Merchant du Vin announced the national introduction of Lindemans Faro, an authentic lambic Faro from the Senne River Valley.
You see, Lindeman’s Cuvee Rene was my first gueuze. And you always remember your first gueuze. She is responsible for giving me my biggest craft beer epiphany, to date. And she is also responsible for making me obsessed with the style. Thanks, Rene.
So back to Lindeman’s Faro …
According to Merchant Du Vin, “Faro is a Flemish classic, served throughout pubs in Brussels but uncommon outside Belgium. Historically, sugar or sugar syrup was sometimes added to young, unblended lambic by a bartender – it helped balance the lambic’s tart acidity – and soon Belgian brewers began to add candi sugar to lambic at the brewery to make bottled faro.
Lindemans Faro is fermented by the numerous strains of wild airborne yeast that are found in the lambic region – an area only 15 by 75 miles, southwest of Brussels, where all lambics are produced. Faro shows a fruit and caramel aroma, balanced by the subtle complexity and refreshing acidity of the many yeast strains in lambic. The flavor starts sweet, with suggestions of brown sugar or orange marmalade, and finishes with some crispness and a green-apple tartness; the color is deep amber.”
OG: 1.058; IBU: 12; ABV 4.0%.
Look for Faro after June 1, 2010. Looking forward to it! Cheers!
ABOUT LINDEMANS
Southwest of Brussels, in the quiet Belgian town of Vlezenbeek, the Lindemans family has been farming and homebrewing as long as anyone can remember. Commercial brewing started in 1811.
Lambic, or spontaneously fermented beers, are the beers of this region and are among the world’s rarest: they are the only beers fermented via wild, airborne yeast – no yeast is added by the brewers. The unusual, demanding, and unique flavors that come from multiple yeast strains are unmatched in the world of beer.
Merchant du Vin introduced Lindemans lambics to the United States in 1979, making them the first lambics marketed in U. S. history. To this day, they are the best selling brand in the category.
April 21, 2010 at 4:11 pm
When did this supposedly enter the US market? I tried this beer awhile back.
April 21, 2010 at 4:51 pm
Just want to throw out that Cuvée René is named after René Lindeman, Head Brewer, and one of the owners of Lindeman’s.. who is a man.
Cuvée René is an awesome beer, but “she” in this case is a “he.”
More to the point of the article, I tried some of this while in Quebec this past summer and it really is pretty wonderful beer. Looking forward to being able to buy it in the U.S.
April 21, 2010 at 8:31 pm
Go to Belgium. Walk into a beer shop. Find a bottle of Lindemans ’lambic’ — and look for the list of ingredients on the label. It’s right there for all to see: Acesulfame K. There’s also ’fructose’ (beet sugar, normally) and ’flavors,’ which means artificial flavor compounds of the sort you’d find in soda or candy. What they don’t mention is that the ’base beer’ that they throw all this into is not lambic beer.
Acesulfame K, as you probably know, is a relatively recent variant of basic saccharine. Saccharine, to a lot of people, it’s poison. The federal government requires that if you use it, you must list it as an ingredient on beer labels. Funny it’s not listed on the U.S. bottles of Lindemans. It might hurt sales in a lot of places.
That being said, if you like the beer, drink it just know what you are getting. Faro is a great subsection of Lambic.
Cheers,
Dr. Bill
April 23, 2010 at 11:35 am
I had this back in March in Antwerp. It seriously cost me .85 cents (euro) at a train station grocer. Bonkers.
Its almost like drinking corn syrup. I hate to say that because it conjures up so many bad thoughts and i like this beer. But, its thick, sugary beer. The added candi sugar kind of kills the tart lambic taste, but its oh so interesting.
You will either hate this or love it after the first sip. Remember it will take 100 sips or so to actually catch a buzz though, so you better like it (its 4%).
Wench – you rock.
BB.com