One-off geuze created in 2018 for the 30th birthday of the Bierpallieters, a dedicated Zythos club (formerly OBP) based in Buggenhout and perhaps best known for organising the yearly Weekend of Spontaneous Fermentation, which I keep fond memories of, but which I really need to revisit some time as it has literally been decades. Anyway, this blend was created with Boon lambics of different ages, a large part of which was aged on vermouth barrels - probably the same lambics that were used in the collab with Mikkeller that was made the same year (!). I do not know to which extent the proportions of the lambic vintages differ between both, but they must certainly be very, very close to each other - but it has been seven years since I had the Boon x Mikkeller Vermouth Oude Geuze anyway so any comparison at all will have to be made with the notes I took back then. Bottle under high pressure (still after seven years), opening with a long hissing sound. Thick and firm, at first audibly fizzing, egg-white, irregular, lightly lacing head remaining quite stable (and closed) for a long time on an initially near clear, warm peach blonde robe with pale orange tinge and lots of sparkling in numerous lively strings, misty further on but given the age of the bottle, containing considerable lees in the end too. Aroma of grapefruit zest, orange pith, old Parmigiano, wild berries, bitter herbs as in indeed vermouth (young wormwood among others), wet gravel and even wet cement, tamarillo leaf, typical 'old Boon' chlorine and quite a lot of it, old crumbled spice cheese, vague notes of limestone, capers on vinegar, dried artisanal salami, pond water, rusty iron faraway in the background (oxidation already sneakily creeping in?). Very crisp, sour onset, a bit puckering at first but nothing vinegary, with impressions of old lemon, wild apple, green plum and unripe wild blackberry; lively, minerally carbonation, even after all those years. Smooth mouthfeel, very dry with bitter and sour elements intertwined and carried along by a strong current of lactic acid, woody tannins and bread-crusty graininess, altogether 'full' and remaining minerally thanks to the ongoing champagne-ish carbonation. Apart from strong woodiness and that typical chlorine effect of aged Boon lambic, it develops an underlying herbaceousness, reminiscent of young wormwood and juniper berry, very obviously linked to the vermouth - but then, not to the extent where it dominates everything. Instead, leathery Bretty funk, drying lemon juice flavours and tannic woodiness come to close the curtains, but lingering for a long time - only fading when that vermouth element has long gone. I was expecting a more prominent vermouth flavour because it is very recognisable orthonasally (at least in the 'beginning' of the bottle), but in the mouth this element only enriches the lambics, constituting quite a characterful, pungent, lively and entertaining geuze - indeed eerily close to that 2018 Boon and Mikkeller collab, perhaps even the same altogether, but then the only conclusion I can draw is that unsurprisingly seen their experience with the subject, the Bierpallieters have good taste. Not the easiest geuze even in comparison with other Boon variants (like their regular Oude Geuze, Mariage Parfait or Black Label), but a treat for the true geuze afficionado, for sure.

6/VIII/21 - 75cl bottle from de Bierpallieters, shared @ home, BB: 29/X/38, bottled: 29/X/18 (2021-729)

Clear orange blond beer, small creamy white head, stable, non adhesive. Aroma: nice, gentle acidity, “malse geuze”, fruity, some peaches. MF: lively carbon, medium body. Taste: very nice acidity, fruity notes, some ginger, bit lemony, spicy, soft bitterness. Aftertaste: spicy, ginger, orange peel, lemony, wood notes.