Belle-Vue Sélection Lambic

Formerly brewed at Belle-Vue (InBev)
Style: Lambic - Gueuze
Sint-Pieters-Leeuw, Belgium

Serve in Flute, Stem glass, Tulip, Tumbler

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Big thanks to Todd from FiftyFifty for opening this rare awesomeness. Pours a very clear copper color with a very small off-white head, just bubbles really. Very intense barnyard funk aroma, hard to describe but damn good. Really nice oakiness. Great flavor as well, awesome funk and tartness, extremely well-balanced with loads of oak and great wild complexity. Extremely sour. Medium body with huge acidity and almost no carbonation. Really impressive stuff. Thanks a lot, Todd, this is incredible. Pretty funny that this is apparently an InBev beer! It sure is no BMC.

[1999 Bottle] shared by BDR at WtWBA ’10. Wow, raising the bar for the event this year! There’s a slight pop as the cork is removed, the bottom of which is covered with a millimeter layer of sludgy black mold. You know this is going to be good. Pours a clear gold with a thin ring of white bubbles. Aroma is hugely lactic and quite funky, lots of minerals as well. The flavor is insanely sour lactic acid, lemon and other citrus, and a bit of barnyard funk. The mouthfeel is just super lively - like drinking liquid crystals. Super bright and sparkling in the mouth, this is a superbly aged bottle. Absolutely bone dry.

Bottle. 1999 vintage. Pours a hazed orange rust color with a slight white head, very minimal carbonation. The aroma is fairly minimal with some notes of acetone, lemon zest citrus, with some additional sour fruit notes. Light mouthfeel. The taste is really pretty tart, mouth puckering sour. Nice notes of lemon zest, oak, earth, along with some some acetone. Ends pretty dryly. Really glad I got to try this one.

Marc breakin’ out another bottle of sickness at LCBS 10. 99’ vintage poured a gold color with a small head. It reeked of horseblanket and funk. Achie machie, this is one sour ass lambic. The lip puckering sourness and acidity made it difficult for me to pull out individual flavors. It reminded me of that kinda tart saltiness like sour patch kids.....

A huge thanks to Dr. Bill for sharing this rarity with a non-sourhead like me. This 1999 brew pours clear golden with a minimal amount of carbonation. The flavor shows outstanding complexity: tart, touches of sweetness, peaches, apricots, funk and other things I couldn’t place.

750ml, 1999 vintage, bottle #05420, lot #B, best by December 2005 and consumed in August 2010. Served initially cool, but let to breath to room temperature. A vigorous pour fails to rouse much more than a few small, beige-outlined bubbles on the surface of a initially clear, apple juice colored body. A swirl of the glass reveals some thin sheeting, but ultimately leaves no lacing behind. With each pour, cloudiness begins to set in, and the last full glass is nearly opaque with yeast. Allowed to blossom at it’s proper temperature, and initially closed off nose rewards the drinker’s patience with a bouquet of sour lemon, grapefruit, mixed stone fruit, Granny Smith apples, and relatively spicy, soured, old wood. Acetic acid competes with bretty horseblanket funk, equally suggesting tart citrus and musty farmhouse air. Flavors aren’t quite as well balanced, as the acetic character asserts itself, becoming just a hair overly aggressive. Still, the strikingly sour green apple, grapefruit, lemon, and apricot are clearly defined, joining forces with the soured, buggy wood to push past the underlying vinegar content. I would be remiss in failing to mention a slight grainy sweetness that pops up towards the front of the sip, only to give way to the razor sharp citric finish. I found the trace remnants of softly prickly carbonation to be more than enough to carry the dry, parching palate from start to dry, dusty finish. Overall, a very fine gueuze. It’s probably a good bit past its prime at this point, but I’d still not hesitate to drink it at any given opportunity. I found it to be one of those "better with each sip" kind of beers, as the last, lukewarm, yeasty sip was truly great.

750 ml bottle, 1989, courtesy of ygtbsm94 - thanks Brad! Pours golden color, still a few bubbles after all these years. Aroma of citrus, dust, peach, apricot. Taste is sour and acidic, dusty, dry, bleu cheese. Outstanding.

UPDATED: MAY 4, 2011 1989 Bottle Courtesy of ygtbsm94 at the DC epic tasting. Thanks Brad! Had this midway through the afternoon with the likes of millenium, YB, dirty horse, crianza, etc and this stood out. Poured a light golden with a thin white head that dissipated quickly. Nose was brett, grass, lemon and grapefruit citrus notes. No bandaid to be found. Taste was a beautiful balance of sour acetic acid, tart funk. The mouthfeel was almost the best part of this.... subtle and delicious. After all the brews of the night, this was the most balanced and enjoyable to drink. Nose, palate, taste were all fantastic. Just really awesome. Thanks again Brad for the rare gem. Was able to taste from a 2nd bottle thanks to Matt. This bottle was a little more abrasive on the palate with slightly harsher acidic notes on the back end, but nothing too overpowering. This truly is one of the best geuze in the world. Hands down.

Bottle (375 cl), thanks mybestfriend. Hazy orange, small white head. Eaarthy, woody, vinegary green apple aroma with notes of bitter almond. Ridicilously sour.

Bottle of the 1999. Aroma is of dusty old preserved lemons, also in a good way. Nice flavor: not teeth dissolvingly sour but pronounced acidity and yet still quite elegant - understated, even.