Belle-Vue Sélection Lambic

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

Aroma/Malty-light, Appearance Head/Initial-small, Head/Color white, Body/Hue-medium, Initial Flavor-sour, Finish Flavor-sour, Palate/Body-light to medium Palate/texture-watery not not good beer

1999. Light haze after the pour is accentuated by mild chill that quickly wears away. Almost completely flat, but this behemoth doesn’t look lifeless. Oily undercurrents shimmy to the surface. The body is orange and amber with cinnamon sugar inflections. Appealing range and fluctuation in orange hues, otherwise a standard aged lambic pour. Citric-predisposed farmhouse funk is crushing even from afar, nearly venomous once nearer. Barnyard notes are medium-strength and obviously faded and melded into the whole over the course of the long slumber, airy, with tangerine providing a stern curvature in direction. Leathery nuances drift softly in. Soft brettanomyces and wild yeasts run amok; very tart with large lactic acidity and lemon peel notes. No hints of oxidation or degradation, merely a softening of the nose that must have been overpowering when fresh. Light vanilla bean, raisin and fig, fruitbasket, cream and Pinot Blanc grapes all introduce themselves in an orderly fashion. Oak is heavy and weaves a great tale of heritage and patience. Hints of peach cobbler, doughy malt and not a hints of alcohol. there is not a word that would adequately put the complexity of this into perspective for someone who hasn’t held a glass to their nose. This was only the beginning, the greatest surprise and unforgettable entanglement of the senses was yet to come. The first sip is alarming - it is singularly the sourest and most pretenseless lambic I’ve ever tasted, and at this point I’ve sampled most of them produced in the last 15 years. The sourness is streamlined and sharp, an acidic attack coupled with rampaging brettanomyces. A great combination of tongue throttling tartness cooled by initial underlying sweetness and plenty of soft and refined wheat malt. Acidity is very high but only tricky in the first sip; after the primary attack the palate adjusts and subtle variances in flavor begin to show themselves off. This is essential lambic - crushing sourness with elegant subtleties. Acetic notes are medium high but fit into this mold perfectly. Sweetness is low to mild and sporadic. Bitterness is nearly nonexistent but could easily be misnoted due to such acidic waves. Tartness is puckering and full. Oak notes are heavier than in the aroma but are well rounded and this just wouldn’t be the same without this amount of woodiness and the vanilla and tannic bite that is resulting. The finish is highly sour, tannic, tart, oaky, with light fruitiness and remnants of wild yeasts lingering. The mouthfeel is medium bodied, very lowly carbonated(nearly flat), prickly and spicy with biting tannic interludes, oily, and somehow jagged and smooth at once. Drinkability is astonishing; I could go through a bottle in a matter of minutes on a regular basis. Everything I had hoped for and so much more!

Bottle #6772, 1999 Vintage... This beer rocks!... Murky amber ale. The aroma is an acetic mega-swirl of biting acidity, honey, caramel, aged cheddar, fallen ash or oak, a forty-year-old-yellow-paged book and old baseball glove. In a word; dank! Most intense flavor I’ve ever encountered. Mild sweetness up front with a note of apple. Involuntary eye-squinting sourness on the backside. Nothing balanced about it... no residual sweetness to buffer the onslaught of pungency. Beautiful lemon/orange zing. Full-bodied with a 1%-milk mouthfeel. Finishes delicately sweet with a well-rounded, refined tartness. Oh, so very good. Thanks to boboski for making it possible for me to finally try this beer!

Rating #900!! 750ml bottle No. 01783, 1999. thanks to ygtbsm for this trade. pours slightly hazed golden with hints of copper and extremely small white head around the rim. nose is very funky and oaky with vinegar, white grape, and lemon notes. flavor is really sour and oaky, esp. in finish, with a somewhat harsh acidic notes. really crisp, spritzy, and refreshing notes of white grapes and lemons. a big white wine finish. the big problem i have with this beer is it’s still highly acidic making this hard to drink at times. you’d think after 8 years of age it wouldn’t be this acidic. really too acidic, but also a bit too sour and vinegary.3.9.

4/17/08, thanks to holdenn for sharing this bottle and congrats on his 1000th rate! pours hazy orange with not much head. a dusty moldy tangerine aroma. flavors has a huge shart tartness that sticks to the back of the throat for a long time, an acidic burn, there’s some perceived woodyness to it, citrus and acidic feeling in the belly. really intense gueuze and tough to drink. even 1/4 of the botlte was hard to get down. i’m sorry but i’d take many gueze that are softer over this any day. 3.7.

bottle 6772, 1999. Bottle 1 of Day 2 of the tasting to end all tastings. Simple orange color with little if any carbonation. Aroma is oak, grapefruit, Meyer Lemons, lambic funk, a touch of orange blossoms. Perhaps a touch of dill. Flavor is unlike any gueze I have experienced. There is a sweet orange component, the yields gracefully and seamlessly to a bracing acidity, livening my palate. Utterly amazing.

Tasted this one, compliments of the mighty duff, early this year at the session to end all sessions. Certainly wasn’t the ideal situation with a smattering of sensational imperial stouts, a few brutish Belgian strongs and the (h)umungous Utopias dominating the show. However, the opportunity to taste this elusive classic was indeed grasped with my two greedy hands. The real unfortunate thing about it is that at that late stage of the day my notes start turning to shit, really, because of the pickling of my brain and the enjoyment of the company of my fellow Aussie beer geeks. So I’m probably guilty of trying to pad this rating out a bit to give this beer the attention it deserves. Anyhow, it poured opaque orange with little to no head. It was surprisingly smooth, with the sourness there but not excessive at all. Plenty of hay to give the barnyard feel. Very lasting and satisfying, one that I would have loved to just sip away and enjoy. Alas, after this we had quite a few to go and we were due to be kicked out of Aarleks’ place too soon, so I probably chugged it down and put down my glass ready to be filled with something else!

75cl bottle at Heeren van Liederkerke. 1999 bottle no. 05164. Orange/gold with lasting beige head. Bit of musty age on aroma. That is quite sour. The age has taken a certain edge off it, but it does have malt vinegar notes on the end. Too sour on end. Nice up front farmyard, but way too much vinegar.

Hazy orange of color with a weak small white head. A dry aroma of grapefruits and citrus notes. A sour flavor with dry and citrus notes.