8

Mahe, oksüdeerunud, sidrun, nisu, puuviljane.

8.5

Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 8

Bottle. Thanks Matt! Pours hazy orange, large white head, good lacing. Aroma is horse blanket, funk, dusty, lemon. Flavor is quite light tart, medium funk. Merlin body, soft carbonation. Pretty nice.

9.8

Appearance - 9 | Aroma - 9.5 | Flavor - 10 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 10

Time for one of Belgium's most legendary beers: the iconic Millennium Geuze. In late 1998, inspired by champagne makers preparing millennium champagne to celebrate the upcoming turn of the millennium, De Cam joined forces with 3 Fonteinen to select the most superior of their respective lambics and blend them in this one-off, about 8000 bottles of which were made. The late Armand Debelder stated in 2010 that this was a creation he was most proud of, so by the time the lambic revival (surfing on the global craft beer revolution) arrived, the remaining vintage bottles began to rise in value, with prices of 500 to even upwards of 1000 euros (or dollars) circulating on the black market. This renewed interest in vintage geuze prompted me too to go out and search for one of these a few years later; I eventually, after long negotiations with a local collector in Halle, managed to get my hands on one which still resides in my cellar, but imagine my surprise when last week at the Lambik-o-Droom these bottles were suddenly (and once-only) for sale, due to the fact that a new collab geuze of 3 Fonteinen and De Cam was released at that time. I cannot thank Dennis Vansant and Bart Aesaert enough for sharing their respective bottles during that event - allowing me to compare between not one, but two different twenty-five year old bottles of this legend. Out of respect for this iconic beer and for the way such old geuze bottles need to be served, I will ignore the final part of the bottles and judge this by the first two glasses, which turned out almost miraculously unscathed by time. Pale off-white, medium sized (after all those years!), shred-lacing, only slowly opening and diminishing head on an initially misty peachy golden blonde robe with still visible sparkling, turning darker further into the bottle and ending up cloudy and almost brown. Aroma of moist old wooden boards, very old Parmigiano cheese, green plum, peach kernels, old dry sherry, unripe apricot, wet hay, cheese rind, dusty attic, damp cellar (an effect becoming stronger towards the end of the bottles but much more in the first bottle than in the second), volatile whiff of tomato peel, hints of dry earth, paprika powder, old copper wires, grapefruit pith and a touch of tobacco somewhere. Still very crisp onset (remarkably so) with notes of sour grape, lime, unripe apricot, hard nectarine, tamarillo and green apple, much more lively and fruity than I had imagined, moderate carbonation but still actively sparkling and sustaining the head for quite a while, with vinous, full body; unripe stonefruit, grape skin and tamarillo notes accompanied a deep lactic tartness on its journey through a deep bready core and tannic woodiness, the latter matching with an unexpectedly 'deep' lingering bitterness of old hops in the end; meanwhile, retronasal effects of dusty attic, very old oloroso sherry and damp cellar point clearly at oxidation but in such a way that it adds an extra layer of finesse and flavour - the kind of 'flattering' oxidation in old beers only the very best can display. This beer, dug up from 3 Fonteinen's catacombs where it was undoubtedly perfectly aged, is not just a beer: it is sheer nobility, up there with the great wines, whiskys or other 'aristocratic' alcoholic beverages of the western world. It turned out much more powerful, complex and firmly structured than I had hoped for - a beverage of pure beauty and class. I am still in doubt about what I am going to do with the bottle I have left now that I had the chance to thoroughly taste it - with one bottle oddly being a tad more 'fresh' and lively than the other - but now that I know this world famous geuze can withstand time like few others, I am in no hurry to open it. This is truly a beer for the Millennium: a legend in its time, and probably much more so today, but very much alive to this day as well. I left that wonderful Lambic-o-Droom dreaming of lambic indeed - this kind of experiences is why I have been pursuing all these beers in all those years. Majestic.

8.5

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9

Bottle shared at Himmeriget, Copenhagen. Pours a hazy golden with a big white head. Aroma is extremely funky, barnyard, earthy dusty cellar, cobwebs, tart lemony, citrussy, sweet orange, forrest floor, minty, spice. Taste is citrussy, funky, barnyard, tannic, sweet orange, tart lemony, minty, subtle oxidation.

8

Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8

Corked bottle. Oak, grapefruit and bubblegum in the aroma. Oak, lemon, grapefruit, pineapple, honey and bubblegum in the still quite complex flavor. Rubber and plums in the aftertaste. Millennium shows signs of old age and tiredness, but nevertheless remains a great beer.

8.5

Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9

Bottle, many thanks Koelschtrinker! Hazy golden color with white head. Aroma is light böckser, peach, lemon rind, moldy basement. Taste is moldy basement, lime, horseblanket, peach, oxidized indeed. Silky mouthfeel with high carbonation. Already quite old, but it is still good.

8.8

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9

10k rating! 750ml bottle @ 1420. Smooth, farmyardy and funky with loads of cellary notes, some cheesy notes, gooseberries, tartness, mild sourness and wood. Really well balanced and quite tasty still after 21 years. Awesome.

6.5

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6

Old rating rerated 09.05.2018, 0,75l bottle sampled @ 1420 "The great geriatric geuze get-together" tasting:
Nice fizzy-creamy mediumlasting head. Aroma is slightly dry sour-ish mineraly, oak, hay, minerals, mild cork, old cellar, bark, old rope, berry skin, unripe berries, mild vinegar, old citrus peel. Taste is slightly dry sour-ish, old rope, sorrel, oak, hay, minerals, bark, berry skin, unripe berries, old citrus peel, old cellar. Medium bitterness, slightly dry sour-ish mouthfeel. Fair enough, seems over the top to me...

9

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 10 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9

750ml bottle back log entry thanks to Eric and Toby. Pours out straw color topped with a fizzy white head. Nose is amazing old dust basement musty notes lemon cheese tons going on. Taste is more of the nice funky bugs cheese wow this was great.

8.3

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9

This bottle has been sitting in my closet for over 16 years, so it was about time...As promised long ago, shared with de Rooie Dop crew (NoiZe, Caesar & Skortila) & Bierkonijn. Cork comes out easily with a good pop. Pour a hazy golden yellow color. As good as white head, firm, a bit frothy. Delicate geuze aroma’s: sourness, ripe apples, wood, a hint of sweetness even, light cork and fortunately not much brett funkiness. Flavor is moderate to full sour, but soft, not sharp at all. Light to medium bodied. Long finish, sourness remains, along with some wood. Like I expected, nothing but a good, nice tasting geuze.