Belle-Vue Sélection Lambic

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

Hazy dark orange appearance with small head. Some vinegar in the aroma. Flavour is exploding in your mouth. EQuite a lot of citrus and very dry in the palate. Somewhat a brutal but pleasant lambic.

1992 Vintage. Rating #400. Hazy golden colour with a small head. Mellow acidic barnyard aroma with some hints of citrus. Nice sour flavor with some citrus hints. Dry tart and lovely aftertaste.

So intensely sour as to seem sickly...I am pleased to be distracted by the very lively carbonation. Citrus flavors, sour of course, predominate. Mainly orange, lemon, and grapefruit. Still don’t get it!

1992 Vintage. Hazy golden amber w/ small white head. Musty, leathery horseblanket aroma w/ a lemony tartness & notes of apple cider, aged cheese, oak & tobacco. Medium, astringent feel. Complex, smooth flavour that is heavily acidic & tart. Very dry, lingering finish. A rare treat.

1992 bottling: hazy gold, white head. aroma like a cellar, with must, yeast, cider vinegar, hints of wild mushrooms and lemon. acidic citrus flavours, lots of yeast and must. powerful tart limey and cidery finish. complex. quite nice.

(Bottle 75 cl) Vintage 1993. Golden and very unclear - almost impure. Extreme sediment inside. Very vinegary but without the subtle and sophisticated flavours found in the best, traditional gueuzes. 150602

1982: 9/4/8/5/16=4.2. Calm cloudy golden. Extremely musty and cobwebby nose. Mushroomy oldish cheesy funk. Interesting mustard grain peaks. All about the yeast at this age, it brings on weird bread moisture and highly woody flavors. Now we’re talking, corky cellar earthiness, obviously complex, but not quite the best to my taste. Lots of apples and peaches nuances, but also dirt and cement. Definitely interesting if a bit chaotic. Highly tart in mouth, in a cider way. Complex apples and lemony acidity rather than dull grapefruit. Long yeasty finish, musty through and through. I love the different levels of acidity in this one, big time citric and lactic, but has those acetic edges as well. Very low carbonation at this point, sharp medium body. Remarkable.
1999 vintage from Olivier_Mtl: Incredibly intense lambic experience with pukering dry sour character that sticks on the teeths. By a fair margin the most sour of 15+ gueuzes we had in a blind sampling and among everyone’s top 3 or 4 examples. Very fruity aromas with plenty of cider nuances, yet with sufficient malt and lactic character to be one of the best. This was fresher, so I’ll make the rating fit this bottle. If my overall score seems a bit lower than the rest suggests, it’s mostly because this one seemed to focus on pure strenght and flavor intensity rather than finesse and pure refinement like an elegantly displayed girardin.

1992 vintage at RBSG ’05. Pours dark rich hazy applejuice. Aroma of sweet juice and musty cellar. Vinegar and mustard. White wine. Lime and heat. Dried apricots and mild carbonation. Extremely acidic. Very intense and fortunate to try. Was age great to this bottle, I hope I could sample another one.