Young examples are intensely sour from lactic acid and at times some acetic acid. When aged, the sourness is more in balance with the malt and wheat character. Fruit flavors are simpler in young lambics and more complex in the older examples. Some oak or wood flavor is sometimes noticeable. Hop bitterness is low to none.
Hop flavor is absent.
Typically, no diacetyl is perceived. Medium to light in body. Bottled lambic ales vary from well-carbonated to not carbonated, and draft lambic is virtually flat. Straight lambics have a fruity complexity and intense acidity, and very few are bottled. Blended, aged and bottle-conditioned lambics, called gueuze or geuze, tend to have a smoother palate.