When I first ventured into the world of lambic beers, a much more limited world back then and very different from what it became later, Oud Beersel had already been a household name since 1882, but unfortunately was at the last gasp: when I made a trip to Beersel to find out more about this brewery, I found myself before a closed gate, as the last owner, Henri Vandervelden, had just closed down the place several weeks earlier. That could have been the end of it, had it not been for Gert Christiaens, who was determined to bring it back from the dead - and succeeded when in May 2006, half a year after the official reopening of the brewery, he bottled his first batch of geuze. To celebrate this important event in recent lambic history, he has now invited friends from the brewing world and the hospitality business to blend an anniversary geuze, using lambics from smaller barrels: the Demi Muids of 630 l (formerly used for wine) for the older lambics and the so-called 'Oude Pijpen' of 650 l for the young ones. The much larger foeders, which tend to produce somewhat less outspoken lambics due to the fact that there is proportionally less exposure to the bacteria-containing wood, were completely omitted. Appropriately named Reborn, this geuze appears in three variants: a draft version, a 37.5 cl bottled version made with a bunch of bar owners (representing famed names like Billie's Bier Kafetaria and Heeren van Liedekercke but also the guy from Den Herberg in Waasmunster apparently, one of the few truly interesting beer venues in 'my' Waasland), and then a 75 cl bottled version made with a team of craft brewers (hence called "Brewers Edition") from ten different countries. There seems to be no consistent feature distinghuishing the second from the third other than who was involved in making it, so I am inclined to regard the 37.5 cl and 75 cl bottlings as just batches of the same, whereas the draft version can be kept apart simply for being draft, which developes a bit differently; for that reason I have created a 'bottled' version for both the 37.5 cl and 75 cl, as separate from the draft version. My review here concerns the 37.5 cl version. Very frothy, pillowy, egg-white, loudly crackling, irregular, thick head sustained by a tornado of sparkles, more fiery than in most champagnes I had, raging through a misty, warm old golden robe with apricot tinge - a visually absolutely stunning geuze. Aroma of green plum, crabapple, lemon juice, wooden planks, dusty wooden attic, meadow sorrel, cucumber peel, old leather, wild unripe berries, hard green pear, a very faint whiff of oaky vanillin tucked away at the back (coming from the Demi Muids according to the brewery), volatile damp earth and farmland notes, grapefruit zest, grass silage. Crisp onset with lots of green apple, green plum and green pear, the astringency of unripe stonefruit mingled with the fraîcheur of lemon, with a crystalline effervescence matching this 'green crispness' perfectly; supple body, a bread-crusty backbone soaked in lovely green fruitiness, with green plum again upfront but also more distant notes of kumquat and other exotic citrus fruit, as well as a distinct dry white wine-like vinosity smoothening everything out. Could it be that this wine element very subtly reflects the Châteauneuf-du-Pape which lived in the Demi Muids a long time ago, or perhaps even the port that was once in the Oude Pijpen, many decades ago? My guess is on the first, as Oud Beersel has made a special geuze variant using these Oude Pijpen before and I do not recall this wine-like accent from that one (however great a geuze it was). Complex finish joining the aforementioned elements with a tannic woodiness (quite astringent but in a good way - in any case 'woodier' than foeder lambic would have been), something vaguely white-peppery I cannot put my finger on, a deeply looming bitter 'kiss' from hops and lasting minerality from the carbonation. Notably 'green' flavours, even resembling dry green tea for a moment, linger in the background too. I have been following this brewery's output from even (briefly) before Christiaens took over, and as I have stated many times in my reviews, Oud Beersel to me remains one of the greatest lambic producers of them all - so my expectations for this twentieth-anniversary edition were evidently high. Classically styled as it may be, everyone who is as deeply in love with geuze as myself knows that it is all in the details, and it is in those details that this Reborn shows its true greatness; it remains sharply focused from beginning to finish, shows nearly 'hidden' subtleties which are exciting even to search for in a discreet and classy way, and at the same time maintains high drinkability with its 'malse' character, crisp 'green' flavours and prominent woodiness. The brewery explains that the smaller volumes of the barrels used here produce more distinct flavours and they are absolutely right. A must for every geuze lover - and of course a big cheers to this wonderful brewery!

The third in this new series of Oud Beersel geuzes blended with lambic which was aged on barrels that previously contained something else, in this case cognac, though it remains undisclosed which one. Egg-white, crackling, frothy, quite regular, medium sized head sustained (and kept closed for a long time even though eventually it dissolves from the alcohol) by a fierce 'storm' of sparkling raging through a misty warm golden blonde with apricot tinge. Quite distinct, fascinating aroma of freshly cut green apples (initially strong), white grape, indeed recognisable cognac, lime juice, something oddly coconutty in the background (which I would associate with rum and not cognac), green walnut husks, unripe nectarine, wood (but more background than I am used to from the genre - or indeed overshadowed by the cognac-induced scents), hints of kiwiberry, feverfew flowers, raw quince, green pear skin, bugleweed leaves, cold tea, dry sherry, prosecco, bee wax. Crisp onset, lime- and green apple-like tartness with a dash of green plum wryness, pear skin and unripe nectarine but also a softening white grape-ish element underneath; lively, minerally, cava-like effervescence piercing through a rounded, smooth cereally core dried by pronounced lactic sourness - though always 'mals' and nowhere too sharp. Something almost vaguely sweetish fleetingly passes by - the cognac of course, unfolding an array of retronasal aromas combining with the lambic's own complexity, producing odd but interesting impressions that are so numerous and volatile that they are hard to pinpoint - but elements of white port, spring blossoms, sour cream, kaffir lime leaf and quince are certainly among them. Down below, tannic woody elements intertwine with a pronounced old hop bitterness stretching deep into the throat with drying effect, so that whatever subtle sweetness the cognac brings, remains superficial and aromatic in nature. The sourness reinforces the bitterness, but so does the alcohol, quite considerable in this case and certainly for a geuze; it is present from the start (also orthonasally) but recognisably of high quality and not just 'raw', if you get my drift. Its warming bittersweetness is omnipresent in the finishing stages of this play, colouring and even 'distorting' the lambic's natural characteristics in ways no one probably was able to predict - but at the same time it remains in perfect harmony with the rest. Meanwhile the beer's orthonasal aromas shift like a kaleidoscope of colours - this geuze's complexity is truly astonishing. The splendour is truly in the details here - as is the case with many a great lambic, if not all - so take your time to ponder this one, it is worth the effort. Not the most accessible geuze around, there is something 'waxy' and 'green' about it at first, but then it gets warmed up and transformed by the cognac, which plays with the lambic features in its own peculiar way, until - only in the very, very end when the bottle has been open for a long time - it begins to fade, unveiling the basic lambic underneath more clearly again. Odd in a way that makes every drop different and fascinating, strong in character, increasingly alluring once you start to comprehend its nature; I am seriously inclined to use the word 'masterpiece' here. More impressive even than the two others in this series which were already utterly delightful - and more so than I was expecting. I have been an admirer of Oud Beersel since Henri Vandervelden's last bottlings - he basically closed the original brewery shortly after I seriously got into lambic - and I have argued many times in my reviews that what his successors have been doing since the reboot in 2005, is often nothing short of brilliant, but this one stuns even me. Have a score corresponding with that.

One of three new 'barrel edition' geuzes by Oud Beersel, incorporating lambic that has aged on calvados barrels. Fairly thick and foamy, briefly crackling, egg-white, even-bubbled head remaining stable and closed for a long time thanks to 'stormy' sparkling rushing through a misty apricot blonde beer with slight ochre-beige tinge. Aroma of sour apple and green plum upfront, especially the apple effect being enhanced by the calvados which in itself is also recognisable (though subtly so - a tad less clear than e.g. the rum in the rum version of this series, yet becoming more prominent when warming up), green tree leaves, raw rhubarb, wet wood, half-withering green garden weeds, sorrel, raw 'witloof', dry cider, unripe pear, haystack, oxidised Chardonnay. Green-fruity onset, Granny Smith, unripe pear, hard nectarine, touch cucumber, well-carbonated with lovely minerality - yet still less effervescent than expected, even somewhat less effervescent than the average geuze; tart alright, but nowhere sharply sour, not even too lemon-like anywhere - maybe the calvados somehow softened the sharpest edges of acidity here. Dry yet 'juicy' and smooth, vinous body, quite light-bodied in relation to strength, with this cereally core running under drying woodiness, continuous green-apple like fruitiness and general lactic tartness accentuating the fruitiness; remains elegant till deep into the finish, where the calvados element slowly comes to the foreground, unveiling its flavour without overpowering the other flavours - and providing gentle alcohol warmth in the chest after swallowing. Minerality, wood, and this softly sour apple-ish juiciness remain equally present at that stage. I was stunned by the beauty of the rum barrel variant because of the subtle, intricate way it interweaves rum flavour and its almost 'opposite' lambic flavours - the same is true here, the calvados has been applied gently and elegantly, but perhaps the end result is a tad less surprising, considering how calvados is made of apples and (green) apple-like flavours are naturally present in Oud Beersel lambics. In that sense, I guess one could say that this one is more 'obvious', less far-fetched and therefore less of an achievement to get right than a rum version, but that of course does not detract from the fact that this is another delicious Oud Beersel product.