Tilquin pleasantly surprised the beer world about a decade and a half ago by becoming the first Walloon 'geuzesteker', and has since consistently delivered high quality geuzes blended with wort from Boon, Lindemans, Girardin and even - though in small portions - Cantillon. Brewing his own lambic seems like a logical extension of this and has been done on an experimental scale for several years, but only now, i.e. with this year's Toer de Geuze, can we enjoy a geuze blended exclusively with lambics brewed on Tilquin's own premises - named after the linden tree, to which Tilquin's own name also etymologically refers (it has also been the company logo, featuring on the labels, from the beginning). From a 37.5 cl bottle with cork and muselet. Thick and fluffy, egg-white, pillowy, firm head on a misty, warm ochre-tinged 'old golden' robe with champagne-like, fine and very active sparkling rushing upwards from the bottom of the glass. Classic geuze aroma of unripe green plum, dried apricot kernels, wet leather, mugwort, wrinkled old green apples, dried out lemon peel, grass silage, old parmigiano, young nettles in spring, haybarn. Spritzy onset, well-carbonated in a very fine-bubbled way, dry yet 'green-juicy' with impressions of unripe stonefruit, sour grapes and green apples, lined by a lemony streak yet altogether 'mals', with a soft 'bed' of bread-crusty maltiness under ongoing dry-green fruitiness and lactic acid; woody tannins grow in the finish, becoming quite outspoken in the end, but this dry kind of green fruit juiciness is maintained and the acids remain in perfect balance with the wood. Brettanomyces-induced funkiness shows up retronasally with leathery and haybarn-like colours, while the old hops down below provide extra drying bitterness, clearly marked, yet remaining subordinate to the green fruitiness and the acids. Ticks all the boxes for a traditional geuze: dry, funky, woody, with a perfect balance of all the acids, esters and other components, close to perfect mouthfeel and refreshingly dry. I was not expecting a geuze at the same level as some of the most sophisticated blends Tilquin has produced over the years (most notably the Family Tree geuzes, perhaps), but this one does not lag far behind - less far than I was expecting really. I guess from now on, we will need to respect Tilquin not just as a master blender, but as a master lambic brewer too. Even better than I was hoping for - clearly the last chapter in Tilquin's story has not yet been written.

Warm reddish brown colour, dissipating white head. Aroma of berries, blackberries, light marmelade, bread, funk. Tart flavour, berries, funk. Blackberry wine finish. Nice!
(from 37,5cL bottle @ home)