Oud Beersel Oude Geuze

Brewed by Brouwerij Oud Beersel
Style: Lambic - Gueuze
Beersel, Belgium

Serve in Flute, Tumbler

The nose shows a bit of Brett, but nothing like the Kriek. This shows well for the style. Light, refreshing and tart. Would be excellent with cheese.

Bottle @ Biermarkt Toronto. Mild barnyard aroma. Mildly cloudy golden yellow appearance. Surprisingly thin head. Assertive sour (lemon) from start to finish. Dry.

Poured into a tulip. Best before 08-11-30. 3.5 A: Lightly hazed golden color. Two fingers of white, fluffy froth. Retention is a hair below average with no lacing left. 4.5 S: Pleasantly balanced between funk and fruit. Wild apple and vinous white grape lead the charge. Gym socks, dirt, and rotting wood are close behind. A small tinge of acetic acid with a heavier allowance of lactic acid - just enough to complement. Oak sticks out with just the slightest hint of tannic astringency and some vanilla to go along. Musty basement with wet hay and musky white tail buck. Very complex with great complementarity between aromas. 4.5 T: The taste is as good as the nose suggested it is. Wonderful balance between flavors. The bugs aren’t overly aggressive as they are in Cantillon or many US brewers. Plenty of wild apple fruitiness, though pear now enters the fold. The white grape is somewhat subdued in the taste. Rotting wood and oak are strong with a slight increase in the tannic intensity. Musty basement, dry dusty cardboard, musky wilderness, dry-rotted socks, apple orchard, and vanilla. Subtle acidity, but again enough to complement. Superbly complex and well put together brew. 4.0 M: Medium body. Good moderate carbonation, though I dare say it could use a touch more. Reasonably creamy with a woody aftertaste. 4.5 D: Great beer. Easily one of my new favorites of the style. Tons of complexity without needing to relay on acid overload to be interesting. Serving type: bottle Reviewed on: 11-05-2011 02:25:46

Pours straw yellow. lots og white head. Apple and pear scent. Very sour. Wineous aromas, almost like a brut sparkling white wine. A bit to sour for my taste, sadly.

Bottle from Kris Wines. Amber colour with persistent thin white head. Smells and tastes mostly of the sour gueuze flavours. It is quite smooth, although a little one dimensional.

Golden, with the slightest of haze. Inititally some high carbonation. Reminds me a lot, even more than other geuzes, of a good, extra brut dry white wine. Some fresh red apple, compost and dusty hops. Obvious sourness but very accessible and well balanced. Taste does stay the same from start to finish - might needs some more maturation? Needs a bit more warmth than usual to bring out the best. (75cl bottle, best until 2027, 7,95 EUR)

Bottle poured into a snifter. A - Pours cloudy straw yellow with a nice one finger tall white head leaving small wisps of lace down the glass. S - Smells of dank basement funk, damp earth, wet hey, green apples, lemons, and some light lactic sourness. It is fairly complex for being so simple. T - Starts off with a ton of horse blanket funk slowly giving way to a mix of green apple, lemons, wet barn, and some light lactic sourness. The finish is pretty dry with plenty of funk, lingering on the pallet for some time. M - Medium-Light body and flavor with moderate carbonation. Not as tart as I was expecting. Still has quite a bit of funk but the balance is a bit off here. O - Pretty good but I have had much better. I would have preferred a bit more balance, in this case more tartness and a little less funk, but it was still pretty enjoyable.

Bottle poured into a flute. Pours a very bubbly straw colored yellow with some haze. The smell in one of the most interesting I have ever experienced in a beer. Very funky with smells reminiscent of a farm. Hay and straw, animals, and some wood. I can detect some citrus in there as well notably lemon. The taste really echoes the smell. All the same barnyard characteristics but not quite as pronounced as in the smell. A distinct sourness although not as strong as I was prepared for. The carbonation was a bit sharp and perhaps my only complaint with this beer. Overall I am very impressed. What a complex beer! There is so much going on here and it is nothing like I have ever had before. I would like to try some different beers in this style.