Lindemans Gueuze

Brewed by Brouwerij Lindemans
Style: Lambic - Gueuze
St Pieters Leeuw-Vlezenbeek, Belgium

Serve in Flute, Tumbler

Draught. Hazy golden with tiny head. Aroma is mild sour with wood, grapefruit and hay. Flavor is sweet and mild sour mild barnyardy and grapefruit notes.

Pours semi-hazy golden with fizzy carbonation and mediocre head that swiftly dissipates. An aural pour with lots of fizzy soda-like sounds in addition to the light pop from removing the cork. Aroma is musty, slightly sour and dank. Also slight hoppiness in the nose. Taste is nuanced: starts off dry and tangy but yields somewhat unpleasantly into a sweetfest. I like the flavor arc because it makes for an interesting experience but the sweetness at the end is annoying and cloying. It’s refreshing enough and finishes relatively clean so no major problems. In fact, there is a hop bitterness at the end that wipes the palate clean. Mouthfeel is nice and soft. There are far, far better gueze out there but this one is easy to find. Actually this beer is a perfect match as a snack with samosa and mango chutney--as if it were crafted for that purpose alone.

Tap @ Den Tatoverede Enke, Cph. Pours a clear orange amber with a small, surprisingly creamy white head. Aroma is nicely funky, lightly tart and sour, some barnyard and sweet strawberries appearing as well. Fair, lively carbonation. Flavour is a light tartness mixed with a good fruity sweetness. Okay, but perhaps a touch too sweet. This might even be a good beer for non-lambic’ers...

Bottle from Kris Wines. Hazy gold with a fluffy white head and lots of bubbles. Grapefruit, vinegar and barnyard funk as usual but also sweet and musty with a hint of puke at the end. Some vinegar tartness but mostly candi sugar. Sweet and sickly with only a hint of authenticity. Still, not as bad as I expected but not great either.

Bottle: Poured a amber color with bubbles and a white head. The aroma is tart and funky. Taste is acidic and sour with a dry sweet finish.

For me, I find it so hard to rate this style of beer because it is just so unique. Usually I start out loving the beer but then end up not being able to finish the bottle because the flavor is just too much. Unfortunately this beer is no different. In the glass it is really quite remarkable with a solid finger of white lacey head on the golden backdrop. With the smell being non-overpowering, and very inviting as well. The first sip too was awesome but then, as explained earlier, the flavor just overwelmed me. In the end, I was glad it was finished. Oh well, next. . .

Had this after the Cantillon Gueuze so my rating may be a bit swayed. Pours a copper color with some lacing. Aroma is funky but pretty sweet. Taste is a bit sour up front but is pretty flat overall and sugar sweet. Not as complex as my Cantillon but still a decent gueuze.

A Mes rate: 4.5% 37.5cl bottle from Dranken Geers.
Attractive looking beer. Copper / gold body with a grippy head and some nice lace. Sadly the rest of the beer is not quite so good. Artificial aroma of sweet fruit with a slight prickly sourness in the background. Again, artificially sweet flavour with some card and sherry like notes. Finishes slightly tarty (erm...) and just never really gets going. Almost as commercial as the spice girls.