With that whole lambic revival we have seen in recent years, accelerated through social media but of course instigated by the global craft beer movement, it has often struck me how the household name of Hanssens - blending geuze for more than a century now - always seemed to fall a bit off the wagon, mostly because their lambics had become increasingly acetic over the years; this has apparently not passed them by, as they now present this renewed version of their classic geuze, made with lambic from new barrels in an attempt to reduce this sharp acidity and return to the original taste. I was eager to taste this one, as I keep fond memories of Hanssens' geuze the way it was about two decades ago: it was not nearly as acetic back then as it had become in recent years and distinguished itself with its typical heavy Hanssens funkiness, making it one of my favourites in the genre back then. I had the chance to taste a twenty year old bottle last summer - thanks Vincent - and without any signs of being tattered by time, it brought me back to those wonderful early years of exploring geuze (and beer in general) around the turn of the century. See if this 'new caveau' edition manages to do the same. Medium thick, snow white, tightly knit, regular, dot-lacing, slowly opening -but otherwise very stable head on an initially near clear, warm old golden robe with pale apricot tinge and thin strings of sparkling here and there, gradually turning increasingly misty with the sediment creeping in. Aroma of crabapples, decayed wood (in a good way), wet leather, old abbey cheese rind, freshly picked cranberries, sour grapes, wild peaches, green plums, dried mushrooms, old furniture, hints of musty cellar, old oxidised sparkling wine, minerals, damp earth, forest weeds, stale sweat, matured horse meat and something oddly but very faintly 'minty' lurking deep in the background. Dry yet lively onset, lots of green apple, green plum and green gooseberry with a lime-like edge but also a softer peachy touch deep within, sharply carbonated in a cava-like way with a smooth, somewhat 'greasy' mouthfeel, 'heavier' than average for the style as has already been mentioned below; a rounded bready core lies buried under thick lactic acidity (in a kefir- and sour fruit-like way), ongoing esters and increasing Bretty funkiness, bringing retronasal sweat, forest mushrooms and barnyard into the game - in a way that has always been very typically Hanssens. Drying woody tannins and an underlying, late but in the end very noticeable old hop bitterness do the rest - while a complex, citric, green apple- and plum-like fruitiness lingers beyond. I can only conclude that Sidy and John have achieved what they set out to do: this is indeed, from what I remember (it has been many years after all and my palate doubtlessly has changed a lot since then), back to the roots, with all that smoothness, oiliness and outspoken funkiness Hanssens' geuze possessed two decades ago. Very distinct and characteful already - and I read that meanwhile they are already working on an even further improved version, which I am already excited about now. And if this is the new Hanssens house style, then I cannot wait to see what will happen with their fruit lambics too - I could write another two pages about how fabulously funky and greasy their Oude Kriek was at the time... The top of the lambic hype - and craft beer hype in general - may lie behind us by now, so they came up rather late with this improvement, but who cares: more for the dedicated lambic lovers who did stick around, then.

Complex aroma of tart apple, tart fruits, citrus, barnyard funk, earthy notes, oak. Flavour is heavy sour with a nicely dry finish. Scores major points in both the sourness and funk department. An excellent Gueuze.

Bone dry. Heavy sour with lovely cherries, barnyard, horse blanket, lemon etc. Nice.