De Troch Gueuze

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

Serve in Flute, Tumbler

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.

UPDATED: NOV 6, 2006 Sebastian (DerDoppelbock) and I had ourselves a great lambic tasting which we kicked off with two bottles from Joris’ cellar, the first being De Troch’s Gueuze - a bottle dating from the 80s but whose precise vintage couldn’t be determined by any inquisition. Despite its age, the gueuze was still showing signs of life as it formed a presentable froth dissimulating the crepuscular brass body. Surprisingly open and airy, the aroma was showing exceptional complexity mingling the fruity tones of green apples, cherries and apricots to a distinctly sweet blend of brown sugar, mild caramel and unmistakable guimauve. The dusty oak profile adds just the necessary hint of maturity but there’s no chance I would have deduced its age in a blind tasting. On the palate, springy carbonation and dry flavors overtly remind of Champagne, subtly tangled in brown sugar, apple and vanilla. The parching finish leaves a sticky sweet Emmental aftertaste on the tongue pleasingly fading with time. I’m full of awe at how well this gueuze has aged and can only humbly thank my benefactors.

37,5cl from 1993 - Beautiful really deep golden yellow body with a small white head; Beautiful deep really fresh lemony sour, some malt and hay notes as well as marzipan and macaroon, no sign of age; Quite soft textured body with no carbonation, very sour and very complex; Very long sour finish, complex, hay and wood aromas toped by tons of fresh lemon juice;

1999 Vintage 75 cl. bottle@Kulminator: no label, completely covered by dust, appearance is slightly hazy, light golden with nearly no head, smell is lots of musty, sour lemons, plenty of horse blanket, rainwater, tart, barnyard funk & minor leather, taste is lots of sour lemon acid, light rotting lemons, plenty of barnyard funk, acidic, light pepper, sour slightly watery, definitely not as extreme as I expected something like this to be but certainlly very nice

Wow - thanks for this Joris. I was overwhelmed but its complexity and sophistication. Pungent even astringent geueze nose with some dust, metal, and a drain pipe. Pale copper color with no head. Like apple juice at first, really, then a puckering sourness that hits you on the head. Dry chalky end with some spicy tastes. Wine-like at times. After breathing for a little while this beer just kept improving through the glass. A pretty hefty gueze experience.

It is very little known that brewery De Troch at Wambeek has always made - and still does - a traditional gueuze. In specialised beerpubs you can find the old one with the yellow label and lettering. In other pubs you might find the current with various lables, often for the pub itself (the, already defunct Schaere gueuze springs to mind), but you ought to be able to find it easily enough. For this tasting, I had only an old example. The saccharine (?) tells it all. One warning: if it bears the dreaded inscription "Chapeau" it is not what you are looking for. Colour: dull orange, little yellow head immediately gone. Very much 'horseblanket' in the nose, lemony, vinous as in old over-the-top Burgundy. Taste: very lemon-sour immediately, then flavour as in the smell of unsmoked cigarleaf, and the taste gets immediately milder (this is probably saccharine). Leather aroma. Acidburn, dry, woody. Interminable tumbling of acids, smokey and sweet-that-is-not-sugar notes. Very pleasing. Well worth looking for.

1993 bottle (375ml) at De Heeren van Lindekerke
Pours like clear apple juice. Nutty honey and apple crisp nose, a bit old and faded (musty), but still quite enticing. Light prickliness on the tongue up front, then more of a faded sweetness, giving way to a tannic burnt almond flavor and finally a bright and sharp acidity in the finish, coating the mouth with apple cider flavored residue.

Joris - thank you so much for presenting this one to us - another treasure! This Geuze (from the 80ies) has a wonderful orange color, medicine, pungent, dusty nose - also wet stones with some sweetness. Wow. Astringent taste, overripe apples, earth, very strong metallic taste, long chalky aftertaste, harsh copper wood finish. Great!