De Troch Gueuze

Brewed by Brouwerij De Troch
Style: Lambic - Gueuze
Ternat-Wambeek, Belgium

Serve in Flute, Tumbler

75cl bottle at home vintage 1981. Unfortunately this was quite badly oxidized which was not what I was expecting because the cork was in excellent condition. With a 30 year old bottle of lambic its always a risk.

Sampled at De Heeren van Liedekercke; July 2010
The beer pours with a very fluffy, pillowy, pale colored head. The beer is a lightly hazed, gold-straw color. The aroma smells of woody mushrooms, definitely musky, funkified, interesting overly ripe farmhouse cheese aromatics as well as having notes of straw and wheat towards the finish. A lactic tartness is noticeable in the nose and brings about a touch of lemon-like character or even some notes of grapefruit.

The beer is extremely tart and sour up front and finishes with a solid astringency. There is a very woody mushroom character here that is followed by a rip farmhouse cheese note. Lots of sweat soaked, sun cured blanket character further enhances the funkiness of this brew; this almost epitomizes the farmhouse funkiness that is found in Lambics, it also is bracingly lactic with hints of lemon and rounded tart grapefruit flavors. Warming brings out a hint of acetic spiciness that boosts the complexity even a bit more.

This is really my type of Gueuze; bracing sourness, extremely funky, so complex, yet so light and spritzy. This beer captures quite well in its character why I love Lambic so much. Surprisingly, this blows the 3 Fonteinen that a friend is drinking out of the water.

In short: A very very acidic gueuze. Simple, very intense and overall quite good
How: Bottle 375ml at DHVL Belgium
The look: Cloudy yellow body with small particles. Medium white head
In long: Nose is very bright, wild, with notes of dry straw burnt by the sun. Taste is very acidic, one of the most acidic gueuze I’ve had. Like biting into a lemon except that it is very dry. Dusty fortune cookies. Does not have the complexity of a Cantillon or other big guns of the style, but its intensity makes it an enjoyable experience. Very acidic and sharp. This beer was as sharp as a high quality knife used for chopping babies.

1993 bottle at DHVL. Amazingly still pours with a decent head, a mild cloudy gold. Aroma bursting with pineapple, pear, apricot is just awesome. The flavor is rich and sour, refined andbalanced for its extreme age, with musky apples, dried fruit, and citric acid. Very very tasty, highly recommended.

Green label as pictured, 1999 bottle. Bright yellow, wafer thin head. Aroma of dusty lemons. Taste of funky grapefruits, lots of sourness. Vinegar finish. Has character.

A very old bottle tasted at the christmas tasting. Dated back to between 85-88. The cork on this one had had almost vanish and the bottle mouth had some fractures...you could tell that it had past its prime - but still fun to taste. The appearence was hazy yellow and brown with almost no head what so ever. The aroma was unbelieveble strong and sticky, and after a short debate I recon that we agreed on that the aroma (smell) most of all could be compared to very very old sticky male sweat...and that the stinky kind. Damn. The taste was buettery with sour notes with vinegar and diacityl - like american popcorn butter - clearly way to old and thuss maybe not fair to rate...sorry. Don’t keep these bottles waiting -

375ml bottle left out in the rain. Filmy orange with an initial sparkle of carb feeding a slim white collar. Mouldy lemon curd, old school corridor and green apple on the nose. Bright and faintly damp with a lasting tingle of effervescence, lemon sherbet, mildew, a slightly ashy/dried herb back taste (old hops?). Bit empty in the finish, but a light and sessionable gueuze to knock back without too much analysis. Or antacid.

Bottle, 1999 vintage at Kulminator, Antwerp. The aroma was pretty mild, apples, and the classic scent of barnyard. Sour it was, but not extreme. Very refreshing and enjoyable beer to drink.