De Cam Oude Geuze

Brewed by Geuzestekerij De Cam
Style: Lambic - Gueuze
Gooik, Belgium

Golden body with a large white head. Smells like a cider, I didn’t get that barnyard aroma of other good gauzes. Taste reminds me of those young sour red mini- apples. Grainy malt character with flavours of apple seeds and small branches. Sandy/earthy finish. High level of sourness even by gueuze standards. Something unusual for a gueuze is that I could taste the alcohol. This is one of my least favourite “real” gueuze. I will have to retry it because this time nobody seems to share my opinion… while usually nobody seems to care about my opinion.

Tap at Bruxellensis. This was a nice brew, had a lot more of the wild yeast funkiness that the other lacked. Tart and sour with a dry wheat flavor and a mild fruity finish. The acidity was kept in check very nicely increasing the drinkability for me, to acidic gets to me after a while. Very enjoyable.

(Bottled, 0.375l) Hazy golden color with a fluffy, white head. Tart, very pleasant, wheaty and fruity, earthy aroma. Somewhat acidic, tart flavor with earthy maltiness and berry hints. Medium-bodied, dry and tart palate with lively carbonation. An enjoyable, traditional gueuze - maybe a bit too acidic for my tastebuds. Fortunately, the yeast balances the acidity nicely.

As my lambic week-end came to a close, I decided I ought to give De Cam’s geuze a try for the sake of being thorough (not to mention my love of the style). Up until then, my knowledge of the spontaneously-fermented covered a healthy range but one involving above all the primary protagonists, which sadly seem to be swamping what used to be a rich and diverse tradition. Nonetheless one can only respect the few remaining brewers untainted by the sweet smell of money, and De Cam is surely one of them. Served in the classic tumbler (though not my glassware of choice), this geuze appeared golden and clear, not exceptionally attractive in color but topped of a resplendent alpine head - dense, spongy and coalescing to a husky hoop. To the nose, sweet dried fruits composed a mingling array introduced by raisin and banana, followed by the juicier pear and apple aroma. A noticeable blend of mild cheddar and gouda produced the necessary funk profile, to which the acrimonious scent of rubber added an unpleasant tonality. Proceeding to the tongue, one notices all the basic elements of geuze notably a dry sourness, hints of apple and rubber again, but generally a lack of originality and direction. While some blenders emphasize the sour, others the fruit, and others yet the barnyard scents, I found that De Cam took a very primordial approach which I suppose allows a certain accessibility but seems merely the sketch of a great geuze. The finishing cheesy note and lightly nutty aftertaste does redeem this nevertheless excellent example, but it is clearly not one of the phenomenal.

Bottle. Beautiful golden with an orange glow and a nice foamy white head. Acid aroma with apples and barn. Flavour is fresh, fruity and dry, but not so sour on the tongue. Had expected more flavour from this...all in all it’s quite accessable.

A Mes rate: 37.5cl bottle from Le Poechenellekelder. Straight forward gueuze (if they can ever be classed as straight forward). Not the best but all the boxes are ticked and it’s a good all rounder. Very very funky manure aroma.

Could be the perfect blend as if I spoke of Whisky or coffee to their particular connoisseurs. Indeed it had depth, life and character but it also weighed up finely as a decent quaffer and summer refresher. Either way this an exciting and incomparably complete Gueuze that just oozed of artisanal craftsmanship, and yet from such a young brewer. Tasted from the bottle into two of its own glasses as it erupted once the cork was popped (waiter was apologetic, though I had to thank him for this one), at the ’t Brugs Beertje, Brugges, Belgium, one of the finest little pubs in the world. Bright, summery gold in body. With the first surge of pent up gas came a rocky, snow-white head of foam, yet it was visibly very fine in carbonation, even intermittent. Head held on solid, drabbing the glass in its wake. Aroma is potent yet delicate, refined, funky, unique. Its hairy, reeking of sweaty animal fur with so much pepper it tickles the nostrils. Underneath are fruits, exotic fruits, like guava and paw-paw with some raw acidity aided by notes of lime and lemons. Subtle showings of stripped pine, stinging nettles and a little paprika add to my furor, all the more invoking in its wee nuances. In the mouth its dances across the palate. Its dry, rough and potent like the aroma. Hairy, brisk, acidic and very light in mouthfeel. Carbonation keeps it lively but it could be still and equally absorbing. Cracked pepper gets the saliva flowing to start off, then it is all Lambic Gueuze. Classic. Tart, under-ripe fruit stream the tongue with amazing control. This is very fruity. Its heavily acidic, dry yet very fresh. Musty, dank cellar notes develop as it infuses the fruit tones with some lambic funk. Hessian sack notes in back are prominent and reminiscent of cold wet days on a cattle farm as if tasting that waft. Swallow is gently astringent, not too much pucker there, with a rough, hairy aftertaste that has just a little fruit lingering along with raw wood and some forest floor grit. It grips well in the mouth and it lingers for so long. My palate zinged and tickled for an hour afterwards. I loved this. Could have been quite content with a few more bottles of this and a seat in the sun to laze away the afternoon. But, hey, many more beers to taste. <!-- br --> The tip-top, top-of-the-pops Gueuze. Absolutely divine quaffing. (Bottled 03/03, 37.5cL)

I had accidently put the oude lambic rating here before, this is the gueuze rating now. Bottle Oud Aarsanal, 2004 bottle. Noteably hoppy notes for a gueuze, grassy with hints of cheesy hops, lambic sour funk. Taste has lemons, sour touch acidic, dry, good soliday gueuze that i forgot to buy to bring home with me.