Belle-Vue’s traditional geuze, made for the afficionados since 1991 but later discontinued; tasted in 2005 as an old beer of 12 years of age, which is no problem at all for this style, of course. Very sour geuze, lots of body from lactic acid as well as delightfully refreshing citric acid and both components in perfect balance, very complex with all the typical lambic aromas one can expect, abundant fruitiness, sherry, hay, wood. This product, though sadly out of existence for many a year now, showed that ’Interbrew’ in the nineties was still a very different thing from ’AB InBev’ nowadays, I’m sure something like this is unthinkable in their current management strategies. I hesitate to admit it because of this reason, but Belle-Vue Sélection Lambic was one of the best geuzes I ever had - a masterpiece from a producer as unexpected as one can imagine.

750 mL 1999 vintage bottle #03046 shared with popery. Aroma has quite a bit of stone and tropical fruit with some medium light lactic acid and faint acetic character. Some medium light earthy herbal notes but not the barnyard funk you get from some other gueuzes. Light oak and some orange peel notes. Pours a fairly cloudy golden orange with only a faint head that quickly disappears. No lacing no legs. Flavor is rather nice with medium acidity, mostly lactic with faint acetic. Moderate stone fruity notes with some overripe tropical fruit, especially pineapple. Citrus notes, especially orange but some lemon and lime zest as well. Medium light oak notes. Medium light, herbal earthy notes. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with very low carbonation. Low acidic astringency with low alcohol warmth. Overall, a very nice gueuze, but not my favorite ever. Not as much barnyard funk and Brett complexity as you get from some of the bigger gueuze names. Nice acidic complexity though and some nice fruit character. 8-3-8-3-16 for 3.8 for this bottle. 750 ml bottle of 1989 Fond Gueuze. This one has a better aroma than the 1999 with more earthy, funky notes and a more complex acidity. This bottle also had some carbonation and a small white head that persisted a bit on the edges. Flavor is better with more complex acidity and funk. Nice woody notes that the 1999 was lacking. Acidity is a bit stronger. Showing a bit more age, but not horrible.