Girardin Gueuze Black Label

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

The beer after removing the wire basket and cork from the green 375ml green bottle sets in my glass a beclouded amber color with a voluminous creamy light tan head that lingers long, leaving a thick covering of lace to surround the glass. Nose has a distinct somewhat sweet wet moldy straw aroma, underpinned by a staunch tartness, musty, but still appealing to me; start is first a bit sweet, followed by a massive sourness, with the body light to moderate in feel. Finish has a tongue biting acidity, with the sourness clinging to the palate like Jack Benny to a dime. What a magnificent brew, one I’ve wanted to sample for many years, trust me it was certainly worth the wait.

This Gueuze zi much milder than the Cantillon one, and has a much mre refined taste. It tastes sour -of course-, but I also tasted some fruityness, and some yeastyness. Excellent gueuze, nice body, ...

Bottle. Head is initially small, frothy/fizzy, white, mostly diminishing. Body is hazy light amber, bottle conditioned. Aroma is lightly yeasty (barnyard), lightly malty (toasted bread), with notes of lime zest, cask wood, flowers. Flavor is moderately sweet, moderately to heavily acidic. Finish is lightly sweet, moderately acidic, lightly bitter. Medium body, velvety texture, lively carbonation, lightly astringent. Elegant but a bit restrained.

Great dark orange appearance with a very good bitter and sour aroma, and a great sour flavour. Overall a great sour beer.

Pours a slightly hazy deep gold with a small white head. Sparkling like champagne. Aroma of crisp apples, lemon, and spice. I was suprised by no barnyard smell. Then it began to warm and Mr Ed showed up but not nearly as strong as some other expamples. Tangy flavor cotinues with apples and spice and little bitter on the long finish but not a hop bitter and then lemon on top of that. Medium bodied.

I am really glad that I had other gueuzes (Cantillon, Mort Subite, Beersel) before having this one, because I could see then the level of complexity and intensity of flavors on offer here. Attractive white head over a cloudy yellow body. First aroma and flavors were the barnyard ones I expected, with some sour zing. Layers of flavor revealed a lovely citric, very lemon flavor, and then as I got closer to the bottom it produced more grapefruit notes, with a bitter grapefruit finish. Musty, chewy flavors carried on throughout. The acidic effect was a bit too much on top of a lamb madras earlier in the evening. What a gem of a beer to find in a pub. I really didn't need a whole bottle of this (a half bottle would be fine). (at the Wharf, Oxford)

375 ml bottle. Gusher. Orange golden colour. Cloudy from yeast. Crisp refreshing apricot aroma. Distant barnyard aromas. Delicate, but sharp flavours. Orange and lemon. Very distinct flavours and not the extreme acidity that one can find in other similar beers. Notes of cork in the finish.

Thanks to brandon for passing this off along to me sometime back in a trade. This beer poured a fairly clear gold color with a thin soapy white head, which actually was more of a film and an active degree of carbonation. This is one of those beers that you could rate ten times and still have new things to say about it..so here goes. The aroma is funky cheese at its finest. Barnyard, leather, lemon, vinegar, citrusy esters, cheese and tartness. Sour nose, but a nice hint of sweetness. The taste is TART!!!! A sour super complex carbonated time bomb that just explodes in your mouth. You had better pucker up because this acidic, lemony, leathery, barnyardy, cheesy flavor is going to whoop you! Where did all of this carbonation come from..I saw some in the glass prior to tasting, but it just explodes in your mouth! This is definitely a total sipping beer! Good luck taking anything longer than a gulp of this. This left a good strong coating on the mid-portion of the tongue and wow did the tartness of this brew get concentrated in the finish as it warmed. Full bodied, very complex and sour but not horribly dry finish. Beware of that last sip because WOW is it a tart doosy!