Belle-Vue Sélection Lambic

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

Serve in Flute, Tumbler

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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.

1993 Vintage split between me, Tim & Adam @ WoSF 2012 // bottle no. 7497 // bottle has a thick, solid layer cobwebs and layer of dust // looks like it just spend a century in ancient cobweb riddled basement (pretty much true) // neat // pours a darker shade of amber with no head whatsoever // smell is quite sharp, tart, lemons with a medicinal flair, mixed with health store “tea” & herbs // taste is bitter, herbal, mouldy, candy, reasonably tart with some herbal candy sweetness mixed up, tea, funky, tart/herbal/dash medicinal thing goes into a tad bitter finish, lemons // this is not muted, very clear, sharp & bright // substantial body, pretty much no carb. now // quite unique, don’t know whether the flavours described before were part of the original pallet but this is still very clear, sharp, dry, is holding better than you would expect at 19 years // not sure why they ceased doing this one, financial reasons, I suppose?

Hazy orange, thin dissipating white head. Aroma: Dry crackerlike malt, tart sourness, some lime and apricot. Flavor: tart sourness, apricot, lime, dry peppery finish. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

This is the 1989 vintage. Pours a hazed golden orange color with a small white head. A definite cork aroma, but not really detrimental. Quite lactic with a pleasant funky quality. Lots of grass and green apple skins, musty as well. Lactic tartness is evident, but there is a mild vinegar note. Surprising amounts of oak with some mild cork flavors. Quite a bit of lemon, grass, and apple. Overall, a nice (old) gueuze.

Thanks to Kramer for bringing this one to our recent gueuze tasting. 1999 bottle. A - Pours golden orange with a small film of white head, dissipating down to little to nothing, leaving little to no lace down the glass. S - Smells of strong vinegar acidity, light barnyard funk, citric fruits, sour apples and quite a bit of earthy oak tannins. I can already tell this one is going to be one sour beer... T - Starts off with what can only be described as pure acidity that threatens to melt the enamel off my teeth. Once the acidity dies down a bit you get hints of citric fruits, light funk and even more vinegar acidity. Finish is bone dry, lingering long after the finish. M - Medium body and flavor with moderate carbonation. The pucker was INTENSE, it feels like it burned a hole in my stomach, leaving the pallet bone dry long after consumption. O - This is easily one of the most sour beers I have ever had. Even with all of the acidity this one was still really interesting to finally try. For being this old I was pretty impressed.

Drank the 1991 version at the weekend of spontanious fermentation. A very nice product from Belle-Vue, although not really comparable to some other geuzes out there ... .

UPDATED: JAN 13, 2012 Opened Spring 2011. 1999 Vintage.

A: Medium straw-orange body. Small white cap. Slowly receded. Thin streaks of lacing.

S: Deep, musty tartness with lemon and orange fruit notes shining through what is other wise fairly earthy.

T: Really tart. Like grow hair on your chest tart. Nice interplay between the fruits and musty oak. I found this to have developed quite the nice complexity over the years. While it is incredibly sour and tart, there is a clearly discernible depth of flavor to this gueuze. Lemon, orange, oak, earthy must, barnyard notes and the slightest hints of salty sweat.

M: While it was incredibly tart, it wasn’t what I’d consider to be abrasive. The beer coats the tongue with flavor and slowly fades with a nice lingering citric aftertaste.

O: I savored my glass for damn near an hour. Each sip was enjoyable. It makes you wonder what Belle-Vue could do now if they gave a real go at producing a quality gueuze.

Thanks to Chris for this... peach gold, no head... acidic vinegar, a touch oxidized, a bit nostril signing... the taste is right on with the nose, vinegar acidicness, a bit enamel biting, but really just gives you the quality that you like in a super sour beer but super drinkable

RBESG Sheffield 2009 Grand Tasting @ the Harlequin. It is quite difficult to rate something so extreme for a style that I am not used at all. There have been some geuzes that I started enjoying, but this is so acidic and reminded me of nail polish. I hope I will have the chance however to try it again with a more sour trained palate

Pouring at the grand tasting at RBSG in Philly. Pours a hazed golden orange with a thin white head. Lightly cheesy at the start. Big acid, nutty acetone. Long acidic sourness, very acetic, big long acetic finish, and a touch nutty.

1999 bottle generously shared at the RBSG grand tasting. Pours a hazy strawberry blond. Aroma of aged cheese, peach, and nail polish. Fairly acidic with the right touch of acetone (noticeable without an obnoxious sting). Also notes of peach and a hint of vinegar. Outstanding finish; some legitimate dryness and the right acidic bite. The level of acidity is just about perfect.