[Vintage 1999] Hazy amber with a large off white head. Typical sour barnyard aroma along with lacto, wood, leather, peaches and grapefruit. Barnyardy flavor with very sour lacto notes along with leather, wood barnyard and sour lemons. All sorts of things going on here. Freaking sour stuff. I simply love this!

Bottle vintage 1999 @ Mikkeller, Aarhus. No head. Color is amber. Aroma and taste are rich lactose acid, sour vinegar, malt and fruits. Nice sour finish. Semi plaque remover. Original rating 9/29/2007 before I learned to appreciate lambics. Bottle. No head. Color is amber. Aroma is lots of lactose acid. Taste is sour with lots of lactose acid. Sour finish. Virtually no carbonation.

Bottle 1999 @ 16th Weekend of Spontaneous Fermentation 2007, Optal. Unclear orange color with virtually none head. Aroma is heavy sweet / sour, vinegar, fruity, notes of oak. Flavor is heavy acidic with a long duration. Body is light to medium, texture is watery, carbonation is flat. Very nice dry finish.

1999 bottle number 07282. Received one from Hildigoltur and Engelsmann, thanks so much to the two of you! Shared with SuIIy and JoshuaB on 2/3/07

What to say about the holy grail of gueuzes?? My earlier placeholder review summed up a lot of it pretty concisely: it’s incredibly bright for its age. That is to say, not oxidized/dulled, not softened in its acidity, nor loose/flat in texture. In another word, fresh (though it’s 8 years old). Appearance is pointless to judge at 8 years of age. It’s unfiltered, bottle conditioned and a true lambic, that’s a five in my book. Objectively, it pours a small covering of white head atop a brassy-peachy gold body that is still sparkling at first. Lacing is light to moderate, clarity is high.
Something is so simple and elegant about this beer (and about great gueuzes in general) that I don’t want to ruin it with a rambling review. Suffice to say it has a wonderfully balanced bacteria profile. Quite bretty, but with strong lacto cheesiness and sourness. Lightly oily from pediococcus and acetobacterias, I suppose with a subtle, but very enjoyable funkiness. Acidity is still highly active, making me pucker before my palate can adjust. Fully attenuated as it should be, with a soft, unfiltered texture and tight carbonation (though the carbonation does not last very long at this age). Wet hay, barnyard (yes, it’s there), lots of lacto and peachy fruitiness.
What the 1994 Cuvée Rene would be if it didnt have the light oxidation and some crayon/vanillin-like flavors. Not overly different from some vintages of Cantillon that I’ve had. Strong funk at the heart of it, is what makes my favorite gueuzes (and why I prefer this, Cuvee Rene and Cantillon to 3F). Don’t know if I’d give this a 5 in a blind rating, but it would be up there, I imagine. Special stuff.

1992 bottle sampled at Montreal RBSG.
Deeply mysterious, funky, dry nose veiled in cobwebs, cheese rinds, strong fruity pungency and very light brett. Nice and powerful considering its age and a beer that opens up with breathing.
This one wasnt as brightly flavored as the more recent bottle, and I think I would have given this one somewhere around a 4.5 or 4.6, but I chose not to rate it because it seems pretty silly to rate a 1992 bottle of beer that you’ve never had fresh (relatively speaking), based on a little tiny sample.
Lots of fruitiness, oily aceto/pedio and lots of hard, dry yogurt and cheese rind. Very funky, with all sorts of odd bacterial nuances. Strong mouthfeel still, with only slight, slight oxidation. Fantastic in its own right and having the 1999 puts it in great perspective. I’m very lucky to have had them both.

750ml bottle. Hazy orange body with a thin white head. Aroma – ahhhhhh the real stuff. Lovely sour fruit, acid and wild yeast. Flavor is intense bitter, acid and very much alive inside you’re mouth. You feel the acid down the throat and inside you’re stomach. Wonderful, still not the best, but a good memory.

Bottle at RBSGE-06, GTN. (1999 vintage). Orange colour with a white head. Aroma is fruit, yeast, sour. Flavour is sour, yeast, citrus, orange, apple.