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European Sour Ale / 23F

Fruit Lambic

Certified Beer Server Candidate Style Profile

Official BJCP guideline sections attached for full style exploration.

Certification exam alignment
Certified Beer Server Certified Cicerone® Advanced Cicerone® BJCP Beer Judge Entrance Exam
Source
BJCP 2021 Beer Style Guidelines

Overall Impression

A complex, refreshing, pleasantly sour Belgian wheat beer blending a complementary fermented fruit character with a sour, funky Gueuze.

Aroma

The specified fruit should be the dominant aroma, blending well with similar aromatics as Gueuze (same description applies, but with the addition of a fermented fruit character).

Appearance

Like Gueuze, but modified by the color of the fruit used, fading in intensity with age. Clarity is often good, although some fruit will not drop bright. If highly carbonated in the traditional manner, will have a thick rocky, generally long-lasting, mousse-like head, sometimes with a hue reflecting the added fruit.

Flavor

Combines the flavor profile of a Gueuze (same description applies) with noticeable flavor contributions from the added fruit. Traditional versions are dry and tart, with an added fermented fruit flavor. Modern versions may have a variable sweetness, which can offset the acidity. Fruit flavors also fade with age, and lose their vibrancy, so can be low to high in intensity.

Mouthfeel

Light to medium-light body; should not be watery. Has a low to high tart, puckering quality without being sharply astringent. Some versions have a light warming character. Carbonation can vary from sparkling to nearly still.

Vital Statistics

IBU
0 - 10
SRM
3 – 7 (varies w/ fruit)
ABV
5% - 7%

Commercial Examples

  • 3 Fonteinen Schaerbeekse Kriek
  • Cantillon Fou’ Foune

Similar Styles: How to Tell Them Apart

Use these guideline-based sensory contrasts to organize comparative tasting practice.

These Belgian wild wheat beers share dry acidity, fruit, funk, very low bitterness, and no hop flavor. Straight Lambic is the stiller, more variable single-batch beer; Gueuze is a blended, highly carbonated, more complex expression; Fruit Lambic adds a clearly fermented fruit character to a Gueuze-like wild base.

Compare with: 23D. Lambic; 23E. Gueuze

By aroma

  • Fruit Lambic makes the specified fermented fruit dominant while retaining recognizable Gueuze-like sour, funky, grainy, and wild aromatics.
  • Its color and head can take on the fruit's hue, unlike the golden appearance of unfruited Lambic and Gueuze.

By taste

  • Fruit Lambic combines noticeable fermented fruit with a dry, tart, funky Gueuze profile rather than tasting like simple fruit flavor in a clean sour beer.
  • Traditional examples are dry, while modern examples may use sweetness to offset acidity; fruit intensity fades with age.
  • Carbonation varies from sparkling to nearly still, so integrated fruit plus evident wild character is more decisive than effervescence.

Quick tell: Dominant fermented fruit integrated with clear Gueuze-like funk identifies Fruit Lambic.

Both can be highly carbonated, dry, fruit-driven beers whose color reflects the fruit and whose base beer stays supportive. Fruit Lambic is distinctly sour and funky with fermented fruit over a Gueuze base; Grape Ale resembles sparkling wine, stays clean, and allows only mild tartness below the sour threshold.

Compare with: 29D. Grape Ale

By aroma

  • Fruit Lambic makes its specified fermented fruit dominant while retaining Gueuze-like sour, funky, wild-wheat aromatics.
  • Grape Ale instead blends varietal grape with a clean, relatively neutral base and must not show Brett funk.

By taste

  • Fruit Lambic combines fruit with evident wild fermentation, tartness, funk, and essentially no hop flavor.
  • Traditional examples are dry and tart, although sweetness and carbonation can vary in modern versions.
  • A Gueuze-like base beneath the fruit distinguishes it from a clean, sparkling-wine-like Grape Ale.

Quick tell: Fermented fruit over unmistakable sour Gueuze-like funk identifies Fruit Lambic.

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