St. Louis Gueuze

Brewed by Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck
Style: Lambic - Gueuze
Ingelmunster, Belgium

Serve in Flute, Tumbler

On draught at Brasserie Beck. Light winey nose, mild cherry wood or oak, and a mild fruity character. Not overly complex or sour, but a decent tangy freshness. Dark golden-amber clear, with very little white foamy head. Medium light body, watery with light carbonation. Starts with very light gueuze profile, mild tarty fruity notes, light oak, and some winey acidity. Bit sugary, and overall a bit watery. Run-o-the-mill quaff.

Bottled. In my opinion this was a pale golden one, but who can tell in a dark cellar-pub...!? Kind of sourish-sweet aroma with notes of lemon. Earthy and somewhat acidic or artificial flavor with a dry finish. I think this was quite lame. Was this my third gueuze...?!

Bottled. Hazy golden coloured with fairly high head. Grassy and wheaty aroma. A standard lagerish palate with some plastic notes. Sugary aftertaste.

Amber bodied topped by a royal white head, leaving some great lacing around the glass edges thanks to a powerful carbonation. Honest aroma plays between the sweet cookieish malt hinting at honey, peaches and pumpkin and lightly moldy, moreso hay-like yeast. It’s definitely no disaster up to now and the palate is actually quite soft with the carbonation being just enough, smooth and medium bodied if finishing watery. It is too sweet though, that’s its only weakness, but it transcends everything else and kills any interest. A fair number of IPAs and even stouts show more acidity (though mostly citric) than St Louis Gueuze. Needless to say that the complexity is fairly limited as well, it’s just basically not very tasty at all, the malt is faint and the fermentation elements are not assertive at all, a mere shadow of the aroma.

Best By September 2009; Sampled July 2010
Pours with a frothy, pale tan colored head. The beer is a rich amber hue that shows a brilliantly clear, dark amber color when held up to the light. The aroma smells of fresh cut pears, apples and bananas even. There are some kiwi like aromatics that are brought out by a definite acidity. I should mention that the beer smells quite sweet too, so at least in the nose this is very different than something that is fully spontaneously fermented and conditioned. There is a soft, musky note here that smells strange when coupled with sweetness.

Not as sweet as the Faro, but this is certainly a sweet beer. The beer finishes with a lingering tartness that is mostly lactic, but has some definite acetic over-tones to it. Fizzy and light bodied, though perhaps a bit heavy for a Gueuze, but this also doesn’t have that Lactic slickness that one usually gets; this really isn’t that sour, so must not have enough to contribute this note. The sweetness brings out fruit notes that remind me of lightly oxidized apples, some pear, fake lemon, . A touch of sherry in the finish adds some age to the malt character. This also reminds me of sweet tea, though perhaps not quite as much as a Faro does.

This is worse than the Faro to me b/c it really shouldn’t be sweet. Judged as a Faro, I like this better than the three Faros that I just tried, but as a Gueuze this simply sucks; it is certainly not bad or objectionable tasting, just not a Gueuze.

Bottle in Belgium. Clear golden. One finger white head. Aroma from dough, light brad and flowers. Sweet. Flavor is candy sweet, some citric notes and yeast. Light palate.

Bottle from Beers of Europe. Amber coloured with a very minimal off-white head. Cider like aroma. Taste is cider (apples), grainy with a sour finish. Moderately carbonated and light bodied. OK but not my cup of tea.

(bottle) Amber coloured with a small and slightly beige frothy head. Dusty sweet and sour citrus aroma. Sugary sweet initial taste with notes of apples and oranges. Light bodied, crispy mouthfeel; slightly tart and woody sweetbitter finish. Mediocre Gueuze.