Girardin Gueuze Black Label

Brewed by Brouwerij Girardin
Style: Lambic - Gueuze
Sint Ulriks-Kapelle, Belgium

The first beer to break my heart. Corked and caged 375ml bottle fountained mostly over the kitchen floor and worktop. Lucky floor. Just about resisted the temptation to lick it up. The 1/4 of a bottle or so remaining poured with a headless orange haze. Acetic, musty, dank, saliva-making lemon and orange juice aroma. Intensely but not acerbically sour. Deep, fleshily orange-accented fruitiness. Tinglingly sour like freshly-squeezed orange juice. Shards of mouth-watering sherbet lemon tartness. Outrageous.

Bottle, 75cl corked. Hazy, orange-golden pour with a lasting, bit white head, leaving those nice lacings. The nose is quite grapefruity-sour. There’s a little barnyard-note as well, but the citrus dominates. Sour, astringent flavor, with lots of citrusy acidity, and some farm-like notes in the background. The flavor last for a good while, and finishes citrusy as well. Medium body. Even though it doesn’t have too much of that barnyardish or horse-blanket like twist I find so lovely, it is a really nice gueuze. (070526)

Bottled. Beer is clear, light orange-caramel with a small, off-white, frothy, mostly and rapidly diminishing head.<P>The aroma is malty with a light note of toasted grain, trace of biscuit; Hoppy with a moderate note of lemon zest, light edgy herbal note; Moderate/heavy dry yeast notes of horse blanket, tangy barn yard funk; Trace note of green apple peel, moderate peppery oak.<P>The flavor is moderately sweet, moderately bitter, moderately/heavily acidic with a long, lightly sweet, light/moderately bitter, moderately acidic finish.<P>The body is light, the texture is watery and the carbonation is lively.

Pours a cloudy orangish color with light white head and good amounts of yeast sediment. Aroma is of light citrus, barnyard, must. Taste is the same with a very dry and bitter taste, but a good way.

Pours a yellowish color with a medium head. Smells of sourness, grapes, and horse blanket. Tastes of grapes and medium sourness. Not as acidic and sour as many other Geuzes. Definetely an easy drinking Geuze Lambic.

Bottle. Hazy golden colour with a little head. Aroma of sourness and acidity. Also flavour of sourness and ends acid with a oak finish.

Green bottle, 37,5 cl, 2003-2004 brewing season, best before 1.08.2026, savoured on July 4 2007; eye: golden, clear, light effervescence, white head, light lacing; nose: sour green apple is dominant, light horse blanket, light oak, fruity; mouth: sour, astringency is quite present, dry like champagne, sour green apple, light oak, light horse blanket, light in the mouth, enjoyable sour finale with a nice balance of its acidity, medium body, a bit thin, quite effervescent; overall: makes me want to reconcile my differences with the gueuzes! FRANÇAIS Bouteille verte, 37,5 cl, année brassicole 2003-2004, meilleure avant 1.08.2026, savourée le 4 juillet 2007; œil : dorée, claire, légère effervescence, mousse blanche, légère dentelle; nez : pomme verte aigre prononcée, léger cheval, léger chêne, fruitée; bouche : aigre, astringence assez présente, sèche un peu comme le champagne, pomme verte aigre, léger chêne, léger cheval, léger en bouche, agréable finale aigre avec une belle balance de son acidité, corps moyen, un peu mince en bouche, très effervescente; en résumé : mMe réconcilie avec les gueuze!

Robe dorée très claire surmontée d’une mousse blanche épaisse en dentelle qui persiste. Arômes acides de fruits. Saveurs acides d’agrumes, de fruits et de céréales.