Cantillon Gueuze (Classic/Organic/Bio)

Brewed by Cantillon
Style: Lambic - Gueuze
Brussels, Belgium

fabulous. tart sour but far from one dimensional. hazy amber color, funky horsey aroma. many complexities here - a hinbt of apples some herbs. perfect carbonation and refreshing. the champagne of beers. the funk in this beer may scare off some but its worth it.

2003 bottle consumed 2/16/05.
As I pop the cork and take in the vapors rising out of the bottle, I have visions of being snugly nestled in between some sheep, cows, goats and horses, lying on a dry hay ground in a warm, dry barn. Ok, it’s not that extreme, but it sure is funky. Band-aid phenols, pure, concentrated brett and light vinegar. It’s not moldy/cheesy smelling as much as it is dry and sharp smelling of yeast, dry leather, rich, oily tannins and acidic sourness. The intensity of the aroma is second to none, as well.
The beer looks perfect, with a wit-bier like appearance, cloudy yet brilliantly colored (pale gold, straw yellow and light copper tinges all swirl about). White head sticks around, laying in clumps as it recedes.
Flavor wise, this beer is difficult to prepare for. Pure unadulterated tartness washes over the palate, sticky dough, and plenty of acid coats the mouth. Perhaps the strangest phenomenon, is the way the acid attacks my teeth, much like eating a raw lemon. I can only drink it a mouthfeel at a time and only after pausing to let my palate recover from the extreme sourness and tartness of it. Finish shows great potential to come, with emergent notes of light cheese (camembert/brie type notes), light wood and earth notes and a touch of sweetness. After letting my bottle breath and serving in a tumbler, the carbonation was perfect; it wasnt sharp or prickly, but was far from flat. For me, this was mind-blowing stuff. I don’t know what it is, but this floored me. I kept trying to get that effect from the Girardin Black Label, but it didnt do it. I think I still have a lot to learn about the subtleties of gueuze, but I can’t help loving this stuff right now. I’m betting that with age, the extreme acid attack mellows somewhat. I’ll test that prediction when I sample Bucknaked’s 1996 bottle.
Yep, the 1996 is about as good as it gets. The aroma has mellowed out and softened a good deal, with tons of dryness working its way in. Barnyard funk is there, of course, but not in your face. Flavor is magnificent though. Is this oxidized? I sure couldnt tell. The effects of age have done nothing bad to it. Would drink this every day.

Draught at Redbones October 2005. Brett is more pungent/apparent. Funk and mold and cheese in the aroma of course. Not nearly as sour/acidic in flavor. Much easier drinking. But during the ballgame, I aint complainin. Good lacing, seems cleaner in flavor. Brett really wipes the palate clean after each sip. Reminds me more of drie fonteinen.
2004 bottle Incredibly funky, barny aroma with light sulphur and tons of tartness. Flavor is rustic, sour, tart, woody and dry. I think the flavor and aroma are as good or better than any vintage, but the mouthfeel seems a little bit looser than the 2003. No need to make any quick judgements though, time will be a better judge.
2006 bottleDelicious as always, nice to know some things don’t get worse over the years. Reserved sourness, but still nice and tart. Lots of lacto and plenty of fresh brett. Sulphur, rubber, it’s all here. Great texture, not as loose as the 2004 and 2005.

Beer 35 Belgium trip. Never thought I would drop a perfect rating, but there it was. We had arrived at Cantillon at 10:00 AM on New Year’s Eve. Toured the brewery, and then they popped a few open for us. Hazy medium yellow, pretty white head. I’m not sure I can even begin to describe all the aromas and flavors, horseblanket and sour doesn’t even come close to doing it justice. Just so much going on. Maybe it was the setting, in a brewery where you can literally almost feel the hand of the beer gods on your shoulder, but I could find nothing I would change here. I left the place emotionally moved, and I don’t think I’ll ever re-capture the experience of that glass. My wife loved it too. NOTE: sample of a 1996 bottling courtesy of Probiere upon taking our new son home from the hospital. I stand by the 5.0 rating. Additional funkiness and some cheddar elements made themselve known, but still amazing all around. Solid carbonation was a pleasant surprise!

I don’t think that putting into words just how heavenly this beer is would do it justice. Maybe some of the worlds greatest poets may be able to describe how perfect this is, but alas I don’t think I would be able to. Hazy yellow color w/ white head. The aforementioned barnyard, horseblanket, cheese, funkiness, tart, sour, and apple acidicness is just awe inspiring. I will simply say thanks aspidites. Everything sort of pales in comparison.

I have no idea how these lambic brewars do it, but the wierdest and most unusual tastes in the world manage to pull themselfs together into some great beers. Im relitivly new to lambics and this is only my second gueuze, so let me away with lack of knowledge. Aroma is the unual sourness, with corked white wine and grapefruit having a wee say too AYE AND YER MAW HAVIN A WEE SAY AN ALL. Taste is sour with a great dry edge, similar flavours to the aroma, complexity to which no 5% should ever have, though at the same time, thin? (in a good way) Rerate a classic! RERATE: Up from 4.5- 4.9. What a beer, just outstanding, soft gentle soo drinkable. Soo tasty. My god i love gueuze.

Bottle, in a gueuze tasting. 1996 vintage is simply terrific! Very barnyard/hay, citrusy apple, enveloped by a superb dusty aroma leading to an astonishing complexity that gets unleashed in the mouth with a sustained carbonation that causes a riot of tartness, acidity and sweetness with no manifest dominance. If by now you’re not yet smiling, the sharp astringency will take care of it.

Recent examples (bio) of this appear to be a little restrained and even if they lack that complexity, they are still great ambassadors of the style and the brewery. Barnyard/dust and apple acidity. Great mouth fell and nice astringency and finish.

Rating is an average of 1996, two recent (bio) bottles, and draught at Redbones, but i admit it’s much more influenced by the 1996.

This is absolutely my favorite beer on the planet. I find one now and then in my travels. I haven’t been to Europe much lately (that pesky devalued dollar and all) but found this one in April of 2007 in a grocery store in the Yokohama Japan train station. That little bottle had quite a ride until it got to my belly in a home on a dirt road in North Florida. This is an incredibly well balanced guezue with palate that is quite dry but not offensively so. Smell is so subjective. Either you love or it reminds you of a sheep pen. I love but then I kind of like the smells of a barnyard so take that at what it’s worth. It poured a beautiful amber with a very tiny and quickly evaporating head. It’s an amazing beer. I was a little worried about how this bottle had fared on it’s long journey. Fear not, pilgrim. It was just as tasty as it was when I drank a bottle in Antwerp a few years ago that had had a much shorter trip. This bottle came with the makenpis statue on the label and a Japanese label (with barcode) pasted on the back. If you have a chance to try this beer, you owe it to yourself, even if you don’t think you like lambic’s.

Tasted after the very interesting self guided tour of the brewery. Fantastic. The skank is very hard to liken to other flavours - some sort of juice left in the cheese wrapper.