Cantillon 50ºN-4ºE

Brewed by Cantillon
Style: Lambic - Gueuze
Brussels, Belgium

Bottle sampled on 6/3/08: Pours a slightly hazy golden bronze with a thin ring of wispy-lacing white head. Semi-tart earthy dry leathery nose has some light fruity notes and oak complexity. Body starts fairly full and semi-viscous with a nice lightly sweet biscuity malty presence and good oaky tart balance. Fairly smooth and less tart than some other Cantillons, which is a good thing.

Bottle from Zinister at the Houston sour tasting. Thanks, man! Pours a cloudy mac ’n cheese orange with an aroma of plastic table mat like Mom used to have, cedar, and lemon. Flavor is woody cedar that finishes with essence of old woman smell. Tingly mouthfeel. Might set another course with this one.

Hazy golden/light amber with a thin white head. Strong toasted wood citrusy barnyard aromas with a whiff of brandy. Light carbonation. Tart lemon and earthy barnyard flavors with a prominent boozy, lighty sweet brandy barrel taste. The gueze and booze don’t mix well in this brew. Thanks to Brad for this bottle.

Had this wonderful brew during the Champion League final Barcelona-Man.United with some other beers and it lasted two days. I must admit that for the first time in my beerlife a beer was okay, or just another, the next day. Ok, the carbonation was almost disappeared, but much of its flavor still existed. Fantasic notes of citric, lemon, grape, sourness and great carbonation. Very wellbalanced and with a great, great finish of sharp dryness.

Pours a golden orange with a small head. Smells of green apple peel and vinegar Taste is crisp, lots of green apple, tart, not too sour at all, vinegarry, dry, not too heavy on brett, but has some nice brett notes on the end.

750ml bottle. Pours a lightly hazed medium golden color, small fizzing off white head, good carbonation throughout. Great nose of tart citrus fruits as well as light vinegar and some tart Chardonnay grapes. Picked up light oak in the flavor along with fresh citric acidity and a crisp funky Belgian finish. Another great one from Cantillon.

Bottle - Pours hazy yellow with a small white head. Aroma is funky and sour. It’s musty, with lemon and wood. Taste is ridiculously complex. There’s a little wheat up front, the middle is sweet, then transitions into a really tart citrus, like an unripe orange. The finish hits with a bunch of wood, then sour grapefruit. I give this a lot of credit for the flavor roller coaster you get put on--it’s pretty ridiculous. It’s just okay in the mouth--smooth and medium-light bodied, with a nice dry finish. Is it worth $26 a bottle? I have no idea. But I do know I scooped it up when I saw it on the shelf at Riley’s. What a nice find!

750ml. Pours a hazy pale yellow with a pretty tiny head. Aroma shows different characteristics than the normal Gueuze. It’s hard to describe but it’s more herbal. More like a garden than a barnyard. Funkiness is relatively low though acetic acid is high. Very vinnegary. Flavor is kinda watery, high tartness, more acetic acid. Dry. This was kind of a letdown. I love this brewery but this is a pretty ordinary example of the style.