Brewery: OWA Brewery SPRL
Country: Belgium
ABV: 5.5%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Japanese herb

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Shiso herb has also been known in English as the “beefsteak plant”, possibly on account of the purple-leaved varieties evoking the bloody-red color of meat. It is sometimes referred to by its genus name, perilla, but this is ambiguous as it could also refer to a different cultigen (Perilla frutescens var. frutescens) which is distinguished as egoma in Japan.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.24

Intro: A 375ml purple paper wrapped corked and capped bottle, 2019 vintage, poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy golden orange colour with a thin white head that dissipated fairly quickly but settled to a ring around the glass, while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Green, herbal, vine, shiso, leafy, mandarin, lemon peel, dry wood.
Taste: Sour, tart, oak, lime, lemon peel, herbal, shiso, green viney, menthol, with light funky and bitter notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: Shiso, much like coriander/cilantro, is probably a love hate herb with its interesting aroma and flavours, and so I could see this bottle being in a love hate situation as well. If you haven’t eaten raw shiso before, it could feel overpowering. The great thing about this Shiso Lambic, is that unlike quite a few other OWA lambics using fruit, the adjunct in this case, shiso, is very obvious and actually front and center. Good, interesting and enjoyable aroma and flavours. Would not be surprised if this becomes one of my favourites from OWA.