Belle-Vue Sélection Lambic

Formerly brewed at Belle-Vue (InBev)
Style: Lambic - Gueuze
Sint-Pieters-Leeuw, Belgium

Shared by sliffy @ the Columbus tasting #7-Thanks Dan.Lots of sourness dominated the aroma. Pours a very hazy orange with a medium white head.Nice sourness with a lot of funk as well in the flavor.Medium mouthfeel with a big sour finish.

750ml bottle shared by sliffy at columbus tasting 7 - Thanks! - Pours golden with a short white head. Aromas of cheese, funk, and maybe a little yeast through the sourness. Flavor is sour with funk, cheese, some citrus, and lots of yeast. Acidic on the palate with medium body..

Thanks to Sliffy...shared at the C-bus tasting. My second lambic rated 4 or higher? I must be losing it because I could swear I hate these beers, but the last two I have had I enjoyed quite a bit. The nose of this beer was lots of sour and funk with some yeasty characteristics coming through as well. Lots of zestiness and citrus coming through in this beer too. The flavor is as over the top as a lambic could get...lots of sour and puckering dryness, but still very refreshing. I enjoyed this beer a lot, but the one glass I had of it will be more than enough of this beer for the next couple years. Very enjoyable!

Ah yes -- the holy grail of lambic. Before being presented the bottle in jjpm’s fridge, I’d been working out my first international trade so I could spend $45 + massive shipping to be able to taste this stuff. Luckily for me (or unluckily for papsoe who I ended up cancelling on :( ), I got to try this stuff before signing over the house. Yes, it is everything I imagined. No, it is not worth 3 or 4x as much as Drie Fonteinen or Lou Pepe Gueuze, or 7x as much as Cantillon Gueuze.

This poured dead-still, which means of course, no head. Pumpkin colored, which interestingly enough was a recurring note throughout the beer. Aroma was big sour, spice, funky yeast, and some mashed up pumpkin. I’d say surprisingly restrained, but for a beer this old (1999), that’s not that surprising at all.

The flavor though... wow. Even after drinking 4 other lambic-like beers before this, the first sip was still like a smack in the face from a world champion ping-pong player. As the mouth adjusts, though, this beer has great balance, between massive sourness and spices, all sorts of tart fruits and expensive balsamic vinegar. And a touch of that pumpkin. Absolutely luxurious beer, once you get adjusted this is simply unbeatable. It’s a shame I had to drive home or I absolutely would’ve drank more. Till then, I guess, I will have to wait till next time, when someone else insanely generous will let me drink theirs. Thanks, John!

C-Bus 7 Bottle thanks to madsberg once again: Pours a hazy orange gold with a very small white head. Aroma, peach, lemon, tart, a funky sourness to it. Flavor, very tart and sour, lemony, yeasty, some other light fruits. Some sweetness in there but it seemed to finish on the dry side. Very nice stuff.

Proud to be rating #100 of this beer. Bottle generously shared by jjpm74 with myself and puzzl. Poured a hazy golden with a small off-white head. Strong sour horseblanket aroma that you could catch from across the room. Really assertive. Taste is citrusy and sour--not Cantillon sour, but sour enough to make its presence felt--with notes of grapefruit and lemon. There’s also a surprising yeasty sweetness that backs it up towards the finish. The biggest surprise is a spicy peppery kick that arises at the very end, leaving you gasping for air and trying to gather what’s left of your palate. Really complex, refreshing, and surprising. I could drink this every day... except I can’t.

A Mes rate: 1998 bottle in the proper glassware from DHVL. My god Interbrew, I hope you are proud of yourselves. This could not be any further from the chemical shite these scumbags are famous for. Golden brown colour that has such amazing depth. A slight ring of bubbles cling to the edge of the glass but other than that what head it had, has long gone. Aroma is full of wooden character making me think of freshly varnished sandalwood and buttery lemon. More beautiful wooden texture in the mouth with aged oak barrel feel and leathery barnyard notes. Wonderfully dry and puckery sour but with a hint of mysterious sweetness. Mysterious... imagine that for an Interspew beer. Palate is as good as it gets. Finish is stunning leaving you wanting more every time you swallow and it must be said it is incredibly drinkable for a geuze. Stunning beer, cock off InBev.

1999 Bottle shared by MrFacto on 12/16/06: Pours a bright golden bronze with a thin ring of white head. Aroma of tart, cheesy funkiness and drier complex notes. Body starts fairly full and tart with some funky earthy cheesy notes and a sticky tart finish. Complex, well-balanced and well-aged brew. Thanks for sharing, Matt!