Girardin Gueuze White Label

Brewed by Brouwerij Girardin
Style: Lambic - Gueuze
Sint Ulriks-Kapelle, Belgium

Bottle. Pours aan orange-copper colour with a large white frothy head. The aroma is straight-up pine, grapefruit, sweat, and wood. Fruity apple tartness, wood, and cheesy flavours. Sparkly wheat character. Very drinkable.

Bottle shared with HogTownHarry, GregClow, jerc, mds & tupalev -- courtesy of HogTownHarry. Pours a hazy orange with a good size fluffy white head. Aroma is nice and funky with sour fruit, yeast and spices. Flavour is tart, sour and funky -- as expected -- and it’s very nice and tasty. Not as acidic as some quality Geuzes making it very easy to drink. Medium bodied. Not as complex as the ’Black Label’ but still a damn fine Lambic!

Bottle shared with the regular crew plus MDS at Greg’s, Harry’s bottle. Really really good aroma - so funky - ammonia, sulfur, yeast, earthy outdoor barnyard - it is all here and oh so good. Dark yellow, small white head. Wow, super funky taste- compared favourably to the Black label based on my memory, this would be a dream double to have at a tasting. More funk than the aroma even suggests. Thin to medium bodied and foamy. Short linger which is a tiny let down. Maybe just not quite as complex as the black, but all the right flavours are there. Not acidic at all. What a wonderful beer - how do these guys do it?

Bottle shared with blankboy, HogTownHarry, jerc, tupalev & mds - courtesy of HogTownHarry. Pour a slightly hazy sunset gold with a moderate white head. Aroma - cheese, citrus, wet dog, vinegar, sulphur, barnyard - I know, that sounds completely disgusting, but oh no it’s not! Flavour is sour and funky without being overly acidic - not as complex as the Black or other hardcore gueuzes, but much more quaffable. Could it be a session gueuze?? I wish I had enough bottles to find out...

Golden yellow, big creamy white head. Aroma attacks the nose with big sour wheat, brett and a tart something that echoes in my memory from somewhere but I cannot quite place. Surprisingly light sourness in the flavour is a tingly wave of refreshing change in the first sip. Does not *taste* particularly sour, but still manages to soundly pucker your cheeks. Light lemon rind, muted malt. Surprisingly drinkable for a lambic. Average palate appropriate to the style. Lacks the complexity of the black label but makes up for it in quaffablility. Solid. 7+/4+/7/3/17

Bottle (750ml). Shared with blankboy, GregClow, jerc, mds and tupalev, my bottle via trade with Boutip (thanks, Phil!). * Rating #1600 * Poured slightly hazy orange with a large, lasting white foamy/creamy head, nice lace remnants. Aroma was initially oddly simple, tart lemon juice, pungent spice, yeast, some sweet juicy malt - then it started to open up, each new sniff brought different funky delights; lanolin, rubben, citrus zest, even a slight hint of sulfur now and then - solid. Tasted of sour citrus, nice and malty, interweavings of yeast and spice and general funk, gets almost lemon juice sour on warming - not too complex, but very nice, very drinkable. Decent body, not overly thick, nice and lively, obviously highly acidic, complex unless you compare it to the Girardin Black Label - this is an excellent gueuze, top level, only the Black was appreciably better IMO.

Almost clear golden body topped by a generous white head. Typical aroma of quality gueuzes (barnard, leather, etc.). Taste is acidic with an intense green apples sourness that commands to be drunk slowly. Actually I would pretty much describe any good gueuze the same way, the only difference being how good it is. This one is really good, way above average. Girardin happens to be a brand of minibus over here in quebec. I’d take a Girardin of Girardins any day of the week!

Bottle into Girardin tumbler, Delirium Tremens Cafe, Brussels. Almost clear orange with an off-white head that stays put at 1/4". Lacing is very sticky and dense. Buttery sour brett smell is weak. First impression is lemon juice on the front of the tongue. Carbonation fizzes up in the beginning, which isn’t the best. Darker and more prickly in the mouth than other gueuzes with dark hops and brett dominant. The fruit flavors (sour apple and honeydew) coming on late, persisting past the swallow and into the finish. Obtrusive sourness defines the finish, with a dark bitterness underneath. This is hoppier than any other gueuze I’ve had here in Belgium; it’s neither bad nor good, just different.