Clearly pre-Boon sample Clear red-amber, end of bottle hazy; dirty shards of foam. Faint "horseblanket", sourish lactic acid & wood, red sourish fruit. Woody, tart, lactic taste, more gueuze-like than their own Vieux Foudre G., vinous, fruity, plain excellent. Tart, medium-bodied, little slickness. God, now I remember why I used to think of this as one of my favourites, long time ago. The perfect middle between gueuze and Flemish Oud Bruin. Officialy this is a blend between gueuze and ale. I reclassified this beer at faro, as that is closer than "Belgian Ale", and resembles what Frank made of it. In fact it belonged to a category of mixed beer, including the Jack-Op, ruined by De Neve, Super 6 gueuze from De Block, or the original Bourgogne des Flandres from d’Ydewalle-Van Malder. Frank Boon, whom I love for other things, turned it openly towards the faro side (read the other ratings), whilst his current Duivel is from another brewery’s recipe, totally sweet. I moan this one.

Quite aged sample, cork of abysmal quality Big pinkish-crème head, full of little black specks, collapsing on amber-red beer, colour of high-copper gold. If lambic usually is "horseblanket’ aroma, this one is horsemeat - even smoked (saccharine?). Bit jam-like nose, very little fruit at first, but the head, densifying during collapse, blocks most, moving it frees cherry-aromas. Very wry & tart fruittaste indeed (sour cherry, redcurrant & lemon), modified by a great sherry-like flavour, and a curious hint of freshly cut ginger. Slightly smoked, lots of acids but no vinegar. Puckeringly dry, acerbic, extreme dry-out effect, reasonably body. Maybe slightly overaged already, but still great to (re)discover. Search for it in specialised houses, or points of sale in Pajottenland.

Pale copper colour, very clear; rather stable (for lambic) yellowish head, very creamy at first, leaving some lace. Strange, but all the same lovely blend of citrus (lemon, mainly) and mouldy nose, ending in more classical horseblanket and much sulphur. Outspoken tart taste, softened by obvious but thankfully restrained artificial sweetener. Woody notes, sulphuric, tannine-rich; dark candi sugar, rhubarb, crab-apples, Brett. Rhubarb flavour gets stronger in time. Very wry, tart, dry-out effect, not very much body; slickness (from saccharine?) at the back of the throat. On the verge of traditional and less so. One of the last bottles ever blended; still to be found in specialised beerhouses, certainly in Pajottenland.