Hanssens Mead the Gueuze

Formerly brewed at Hanssens Artisanaal
Style: Mead
Dworp, Belgium

Pours a hazy gold, with a thin white head, which evaporates quite quickly. Wonderful aromas blending together. Definitely get the honey in the smell, probably more so than the gueze. They seem to mix together well. Smells mildly acaidic and sweet. The honey dillutes the sourness somewhat, but the taste is still mostly gueze. Has a nice big bite to it still, and the honey mostly shows up near the finish. Definitely not a mead, as it tastes mostly gueze, but the beer is quite enjoyable.

This is not a mead. Hazy yellow/orange and a small soda like off white head. Nose has the sweet flower blossom and honey notes of a mead and dry, dusty, acidic tartness of a gueuze. Drinks like a gueuze with mead elements showing up near the finish. Body is medium and well carbonated. Very tasty, would love to see this in 6 packs. Underrated.

Bottle: Golden in color, slight orange hue, moderate white fizzy head, dies quickly, moderate carbonation.   Sour nose, tart, very slight sweetness, likely because of the Mead.   Sweet and sour on the tongue.   Starts out like your normal Gueze, tart and sour.   Finishes on the sweeter side, becoming less sour.   Slight hints of honey.   Body and mouthfeel are fairly moderate.   Dry finish, lingering subtle sweetness.   Interesting mix, fairly tasty, albeit not as good as either of them individually.   Thanks for sharing mattbob!

12.7oz bottle. Cork removed with a very loud ’pop’; pleasantly surprised i didn’t have a gusher. Pale golden color, thick white head with large bubbles settled very quickly. Tart, acidic aroma with some honey and green apple in the background. Tart, barnyard flavor up front which gives way to sweetness then finishes fairly dry. I found this much more enjoyable as it warmed. Gueuze character definitely dominates the mead.

Bottle from uto. After nearly losing an eye opening the last bottle of Hanssens, I pointed this one at the wall. Two twists, a pop and my wall has a dent in it. It chipped the paint! Told that this isn’t served at the Rake because it has glass ceilings. Careful! Hazy amber colour with an aggressive foam head that fizzled to nothing. Citrus and vinegar in the nose. A bit of barnyard in there too. First taste reveals a solid gueuze, but then...things get weird. I imagine that’s the mead. Lemon, tart apple and white grape turns into wheat, yeast and cereal. Earthy finish. Acidic palate. Took me by surprise, but not too bad.

Bottled, Reading BF 2006. And cheers to harrisoni for conjuring this one up - good gueuze, fresh and funky with the astringency checked slightly by a simple sweetness (presumably the mead hard at work). Interesting stuff. And led to all sorts of mead-related shenanigans. Including a bottle of the damn stuff being drunk between the two of us back at the hotel... now I know the meaning of a mead hangover ;-)

Bottle from santa. Thanks. This is an odd beer, and I dont really know what to say about it. It smells sweet like honey, with some sour funky notes too. The taste is sweet and sour, no carbonation, kind of bland and not really exciting. Thanks, but this one didnt do it for me. Too odd of a beer for me to enjoy.

Bottled at The Map Room. Pours sparkling yellow with a small frothy white head, mostly diminishing, spare lacing. Aroma is average malt (straw, cereal), average hops (lemon), average yeast (earth) with notes of cassis, wine, cask and honey. Light bodied, mineral texture, lively carbonation and a metallic finish. Short duration, moderate sweetness and bitterness, light acidity with vinegar notes.