Eylenbosch Gueuze

Formerly brewed at Mort Subite (Alken-Maes - Heineken)
Style: Lambic - Gueuze
Kobbegem, Belgium

Serve in Flute, Tumbler

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Bottled. Gueuze Cuvée Speciale, vintage 1984. Strange aroma. It is rather chemical at first, but luckily the unpleasant notes fade away as you work through the glass. The flavour has no unpleasant side flavours at all. Very sour and acidic with all the complexity you want to find in an aged gueuze. Great.

(Bottle 25 cl) Original version from "Br. Eylenbosch" in Schepdaal at 4,3% ABV. Amber coloured, bubbly head (leaves the bottle by itself as soon as you get the cap off) but then the beer turns rather flat. Some tart - but far from extreme - vinegary notes nicely matched by a candied sweetness. 291196

1991 bottle provided by and shared with clarkvv on 5/1/2005: Cork appears in good condition. Pours with a large yellowish head (nice!) that quickly dies to nothing. Copper dark amber colored body that is mostly opaque with visable tiny bubbles and ruby highlights. Aroma: sweet fruits, ceder, light pepper, dusty wood, yeast, oxidized caramel. Flavor: somewhat oxidized (sherry notes up front), wet oak & ceder wood, acidic barnyard flavor, dusty, stale hops, berries, surprisingly sweet for a gueuze. I can’t fault the body on this - plenty of carbonation still left, nice tiny tingling bubbles, not watery. Thanks to Jacob for sending this to clark, and clark for sharing it.

UPDATED: DEC 27, 2006 1991 bottle 375mL shared with Bucknaked on 5/1/2005.
Pours a caramelized sugar colored orange-amber (caramel) with some bright golden-copper tinges. Sediment at the bottom is surprisingly (to me) very light (in quantity). This poured with a big yellow-flecked white head which rapidly dissipates to a ring and then nothing. But it’s absolutely marvelous to see it pour a head at 14 years of age. Fine bubbles still rise to the surface in the liquid. Aroma of dry, dusty yeast, sawdust like, perhaps, with low, but still discernable barnyard qualities, wet hay, bits of damp barniness (that’s a new word). But up front in the aroma we have bits of aceteldahyde or however you spell it, with lots of cideriness, quite a smooth, sweet sherry oxidation and a caramelly sweetness. The flavor approximates the aroma quite nicely, though there is even less funk in the flavor. Caramelized sugar or candi sugar (or whatever is giving that big sweetness and color) roams a bit too freely in the flavor and this is sweeter than I would prefer a gueuze to be, but the body has held up remarkably well, no wateriness, not thin, just a bit of tingly carbonation and a smooth, soft mouthfeel. Bit of sawdust again on the finish, cider vinegar, little bit of sweet and sour sauce and then just fade to sugar. Incredibly well-preserved. This is the kind of oxidation that I live for (just wish the beer wasnt so sweet). This must have been brutally sweet when fresh, though. Thank you so much Jacob, that was truly generous of you to send this!! I think Ungstrup’s comment, "for a gueuze not so good, for a beer OK" is spot on.

Vintage 1988 from the old Eylenbosch brewery. 75cl bottle. Sampled May 1, 2005. Cork still in very good condition for that age; rusty metal cap on top of cork. 2 cm wide fishbone structure of sediments all along from bottom to top of the bottle. Very nice amber-orange color with off-white, not very thick head. Fine carbonation, still amazingly sparkling. No off-flavours, not too sour, well balanced Gueze with some wood flavour. Reminicence of a faro sweetness though. Amazingly drinkable and refreshing. Wish I had more than just two bottles left...

The original Eylenbosch Gueuze - Vintage 1988.
Amber orange body with a fine head. Aroma of vinegar and wet wood - old and fusty. Sweet sugar and wood flavor with a little sourness to the finish. Smells and tastes old!

[The original Eylenbosch Gueze - vintage 1988 - sampled March 2004] The aroma is both sweet and sour with notes of wood. The color is a hazy amber and it has a fine head. The flavor is both sweet and sour with notes of candy sugar - like a Faro. The notes of sugar makes it a little weird - I wonder if it is the 16 years in the bottle that has done this? For a gueze this is not that good - but as a beer it is OK.