December 1, Ratebeer Odense. Hazy golden with a lasting white head. Funky aroma with fruity and spicy notes, and a touch of alcohol. Sweet and tart fruity and funky flavour with boozy alcohol.

Kollane õlu valge vahuga, mis jääb mõneks ajaks. Lõhn ja maitse on väga funky, hapu, puuviljane, magus, alks, natuke tamme, natuke viinamarja, õun, õrn konjak. Hea, aga see on tõesti pudel, mida peaks aastate pärast uuesti külastama, potensiaali on palju.

New geuze by Lambiek Fabriek, which as a newcomer to the traditional lambic scene, managed to secure its spot among the classics. Launched as one of six novel beers in this year's BXL BeerFest box but already appearing elsewhere too - albeit still very limitedly at this point, I wonder if this one will be kept in assortment or not. At a mighty 10.5% ABV, this is not only the strongest Lambiek Fabriek product so far, but also one of the strongest geuzes ever made - only (but barely) topped by 3 Fonteinen's Langste Kook (in the Twists of Fate series) to my knowledge; I can only guess how they managed to reach this level of alcohol, maybe one of the lambics used was brewed at higher density? In any case, it comes from a 75 cl bottle with blue label, cork (which came out in two pieces) and crown cap. Dense, frothy, eggshell-white, slightly membrane-lacing, remarkably stable head remaining closed for a long time whilst audibly crackling for a while, resting on a initially clear, deep 'old golden' blonde robe with ochre-ish tinge and a storm of wild, champagne-like sparkling throughout; turns misty only in the very end. Aroma (if muffled a bit under this tight blanket of foam) of oxidized apple slices, old lemon peel, wet oak wood, unripe nectarine, haystack, old plant seeds, dry bread crust, green pear, dusty jute bags, halfripe yellow plums, hint of farmland to even manure when warming up but in a volatile way, minerals and, faraway in the background, a calvados-like whiff of the alcohol. Juicy, fruity, estery onset, even harbouring a certain nectarine- or yellow plum-like sweetness amidst gentle, green apple- and unripe grape-like tartness; lactic sourness stretches through the whole but remains juicy, soft and mild, even if a touch of 'lemoniness' pierces through at the back. Meanwhile, a full bready maltiness develops, sparkled by this high, 'champenoise' effervescence, and buried under a heap of fruity lambic esters and some onsetting Bretty funkiness (damp hay, very slight touch of urine perhaps but only briefly so); lots of spring water-like minerality at the sides, almost feeling a bit 'ferrous' (metallic - but I mean this in the most natural way possible). That fruity sweetishness (red apple, nectarine) from the beginning lingers about till the very end, but it remains kept in check by lactic sourness, while underneath, some woody tannins develop but remain gentle. Something grapefruity, a combination of underlying 'old hop' bitterishness and fruity sourness of the lambic, colours the finish alongside these elements, and all the way at the back, the alcohol indeed appears, as a warming, almost sweetish jenever- and calvados-like glow - seemingly accentuating that sweet element that is continuously present in this beer. It remains a bit of a mystery how they got this geuze so strong; it feels as if a lambic brewer aspired to make a tripel, this is indeed a true 'tripel of geuzes' as it were, including that rounded maltiness, that sweet aspect from unfermented sugars and that warming boozy afterglow. Heck, it almost feels as if this is lambic blended with an actual tripel - but then they probably would not use "oude geuze" on the label (and would not even legally be allowed to, either); so my guess remains that a higher density lambic was used here, and to repeat what I already commented on Cantillon's LHD and 3 Fonteinen's Langste Kook, I am very much unconvinced that lambic works well at ABVs with double digits, as it tends to lose its crisp, elegantly earthy, refreshing and graciously dry character under all that booze. This one, unfortunately, cannot completely convince me either, though it is certainly a powerful and impressive lambic blend with probably a very interesting ageing potential (because I very clearly had this one much too young - only half a year after bottling, so I must absolutely find another bottle to age and, if required, revisit my rating here). In the way this beer reached me, however, the alcohol in the end did bother me a little bit and I still prefer my geuzes lighter, drier and more attenuated. Give me Fontan-Elle instead please - but I am already on the lookout for yet another new Lambiek Fabriek beer, a new cherry lambic with 'Schaarbeekse krieken' called Schar-Elle...