Undated bottle. Without reading or remembering anything about this beer, I’m excited to give a completely unbiased review (except that gueuzes are my favorite beer, ahem). Pours a golden straw color, slight rusty yellow/coppers. Little head retention, quite bubbly. Relatively small amount of sediment, but still enough to please me. Aroma is quite unique. Very acidic, reminds me of pear skin, grape skin and sour lemon. Almost like unripe limes. Yes, I do believe unripe lime is it here. Nowhere near as much horseblanket, funk, cheese(dont even really smell any cheesey bacteria) as say Cuvee Rene or Drie Font. That’s ok though, to each lambic his own and I’m just happy that it’s got its own character. Flavor is tart at the beginning, with light light citrus, good full yeastiness and some sour lemon and grapefruit. On the end, this stuff gets really good; that unripe lime flavor, sour pear skin, orange peel, a bit of sweet malt (nowhere near as sweet as 3F) and even a hint of hops, perhaps? Another unique characterisitic of this one was the oily, leathery, acidic grapeskin quality coming on at the start and again on the finish. Body is medium-full, with a soft but ever-present carbonation that gives the tartness a nudge in the right direction. As it breathes, gains almost a light creamy sweetness on the end, though only in passing. Lots of lemon-lime-pear lingers on the finish, with light yeast as well. Outstanding and quite a good balance. I prefer the extra bacterial, ultra funky, barnyard lambics and saisons, but this one was magnificent in its own right. To be constructive, this one was a bit lighter bodied than the others I’ve tried, though the flavor was so eminently quaffable.
Another (likely 2003) bottle (beige label, purple lettering) consumed Summer 05 at Sunset Grille. Just about as good as it gets for a gueuze. I can see now why this is regarded so highly by many. The aroma is just something else! Pure horseshit, wet barnyard notes. Wow, nice and strong. Flavor is cheesy, heavily funky and only moderately sour. The only moderate amount of sourness is probably further attractive to those who desire a more balanced acidity/sourness. Juicy apples are quite present as well. Wonderfully round and creamy texture with very tight carbonation.
Undated bottle consumed 11/05, label pictured at left. Yep, fascinating again, though not quite as funky. Obviously older and more mellowed out, but still quite cheesy and appley. Perfect texture/carbonation again.