Cantillon Gueuze (Classic/Organic/Bio)

Brewed by Cantillon
Style: Lambic - Gueuze
Brussels, Belgium

Pizza Port Belgian Beer Fest. Pour from a 750mL. Aroma of mellow birch skin tang. Woody and perfusive with barnyard. Deep gold cloud with white fringe. Flavor a lightly rubbery wheat oil in a sour field of oaken agricultural grasses. Very mellow, sublime and fruited. Horsey oak brings up the background with a mouthfrul of hay. Fragrant. Light honey esters. Finishes in a salty cherry pit cascade. Enjoyable for it is a lambic that speaks of the wheat in the beer and the base ingredients. Letting some of the base ingredients through isn’t something I usually gather from this style.

Bottle shared by puddintane: Pours a cloudy golden color with a white head. Aroma, funky, some barnyard like notes, pale malts, some spices, and a sourness. Flavor, tart and funky, some lemon, and a nice acidity. Good stuff, nice and puckering.

NOTE: Sometimes labelled as "Classic Gueuze" w/o reference to Organic. Pours somewhat hazy golden yellow-orange. Smallish fizzy white head that recedes in no time. Aroma of wheat, lemon, and that funky sweat quality so difficult to pin down. This is indeed "classic" in regard to its lambic character. Light bodied, and tart up front. Just tart enough to put the fear of God into you before playfully backing off. Bone dry with some acidity, probably from the carbonation. This one finishes long and slow with a tangy wheat flavor and mineraly dryness. A nice low-end Cantillon.

12.7 oz. bottle from Plaza Liquor - Corked and capped? What the hell? Pours a slightly hazy golden color with a half finger thick white head. Light spotty lacing. Aroma is a wide range of fruit and light yeast. Has a bitter and tart lemon flavor. Couldn’t taste any of the oak aging. Thin body and mouth feel. Not my style of beer. I should pour this out, but at $7 a bottle, I’ll choke it down.

Tried at the 12 Hour Belgian Beer Party in Carlsbad, CA. Possibly the best beer tasting ever, with 70 bottled and 20 draft beers. Tried again at Holiday wine cellar beer tasting with the same rating.8/4/8/4/16:4.0 Rerate: 11/3/07 at Logan’s Oceanside beer tasting with AlohaC, and Hair, and Matt, and Ken, and Bill, and others. 1996. Cloudy yellow. Great funky aroma. 9,3,9,4,19:4.5

Tasted at Cantillon, Brussels. Very sour and yeasty, weird aroma. Barnyard character. Dark yellow color. Very sour flavor, and one of the most flavorful lambics I have tried. Best when fresh.

375ml bottle.
Sharp as a geuze should be. Fills the mouth, tingles. Leaves sharpness, sweetness and light berry hints after (long after) swallowing.
Rerate: What was I thinking? This is sharp and crisp and beautiful. Classic geuze. Adjusted numbers accordingly.

on tap as Cantillon Monks Café Cuvee at Monks in Philly. cloudy dark yellow/golden color with a thin off white head. aroma is funky tart/sour over-ripe lemon. flavor is tart & sour, a little dry white vinegar. a bit lemony and yes, grapefruit juice too. can’t knock this as a session gueuze - who else can do better? hit the spot during dinner to intro some friends to a new style.