Chapeau Cuvée

Brewed by Brouwerij De Troch
Style: Lambic - Gueuze
Ternat-Wambeek, Belgium

Muddy yellow with a small white head. Grapefruit, leather and barnyard in the aroma. Very sour lemon juice like flavour.

Hazy golden with tiny head. Sour aroma with barnyard, wood and grapefruit notes. Same goes for the flavor. Ends sour.

Bottle (ZBF2008)
Allegedly this was a young sample, according to the brewer who served me. Rich gold, no head. Sharp acidic taste, becomes more vinegary and diacetyl. However, still fairly mellow, a bit buttery and woody, but on the whole too thin.

Bottle. Low fluffy off-white head. Hazy yellow body. Sweet fruity aroma. Sweet fruity flavor. No edges. Boring. Low carbonation, short aftertaste.

Bottle... Murky yellow ale with a small, bubbly, white head. Decent retention. Acidic nose with lots of yeast and funk... tons of barnyard, wet wood, horseblanket, straw, white bread. Medium-bodied with a milky mouthfeel and zero carbonation. Tart, jagged flavor; very rough around the edges. Green, with no refinement and raw, but tasty. Lengthy, lip puckering finish. I’ve never brewed a beer of my own. However, if I was mega-ambitious and my first attempt was a geuze, this would be the result... and I would be proud; very proud; mistakenly proud. Kudos to ygtbsm94 for sliding this brew in my direction!

Best By Date of April 2012; Sampled February 2008
Not superbly carbonated, a somewhat vigorous pour produces a scant, not even fully covering, pale off-white colored head. The beer shows a few meager bubbles wandering up through a clear, bright gold colored brew. As I pour this brew I get notes that are tart, funky and authentic. A deeper inspection of the aroma yields sour lactic notes, uriatic cat piss, green apple notes, light barnyard, a hint of spiciness (both oak and funk), phenolic/solvent soaked cotton balls, light grain character and a nice splash of lemon. The aroma is perhaps a bit on the smooth side as traditional Lambics go, but all of the components are certainly here.

Quite soft on the acidity up front, the acidity does pick up through the middle though and provides a mildly bracing sourness that lingers on in the finish. The light carbonation provides a tiny prickle of effervescence that just starts to offset the medium light body of this brew. Easily quaffable though, which is certainly a requirement for this style (assuming you can get past the acidity). The tartness while definitely lactic, provides a sharp flavor of lemons that really serves to clean the palate quite well. Fairly mellow in the funk department though, but soft notes of urea, woody mushroom and a hint of funky-mold-ripened-cheese. As the beer warms up the acidity softens up a bit more, but the funkiness becomes a bit more noticeable.

This is perhaps a touch heavy for my tastes in Lambic, but an ample carbonation would go a long way towards balancing this out. This is definitely a Lambic though, even if it is on the soft sides of the spectrum, though it is harder than some of the Boon vintages that I have had.

Bottle, 37,5 cl (bought @ Geers). Almost clear golden color, with very small white head. Aroma bit malts, sour, fruity, (oranges ?) Medium body. Taste i’m suprised this is sucha nice gueuze. Sourness, dry, fruity. Like it !

My friend Artem dragged this back from Belgium for me. The beer pours completely thick dull golden with a small head. Cannot see through the beer at all, definitely does not look filtered from the appearance. Aroma is strong with sourness, cheese, and that Chapeau signature overly oaked sourness. Taste is at first light Orengina and then comes a wave of sourness and leaves an everlasting stinging acidity. It’s actually hurting my cheeks a bit. Light lemon leftover as well. A lightly sticky mouthfeel with strong carbonation making it nicely refreshing. Very impressed.
375mL bottle, BB 13/04/12, elongated thin Ommegang 10th Anniversary goblet glass.