Hanssens Mead the Gueuze

Formerly brewed at Hanssens Artisanaal
Style: Mead
Dworp, Belgium

I now have a weapon to drive off unwanted neighbors or scare the hell out of those friends that bring over a 6pack of Shiner Bock and expect me to open a 750 of something from my cellar. That weapon is Hanssens Mead the Gueuze. I plan on leaving one on the counter, warm, to set the trap on a cheap buddy of mine. It nearly took my head off with just one twist of the wire cage. I proceeded to pour this one strongly and patiently to drive off some of the excessive carbonation...the key word in the last sentence is ’patiently.’ After pouring and settling of the honeycombed, white head, there was a nicely hazy, peach colored beer. The aroma was tart, tannin-like grape skins, apple cider, funky earth, some bubblegum, and moldy, rotting cotton...ah. Flavor is a delicious, astringent, honey-like, cidery, tart, funky, raw beef ladden, and dirty, earthy lambic with a solid malt foundation. This was well-aged and worth the wait. When this beer is too young it has an overly astringent bite at mid palate that is almost tongue burning. This was beautiful.

Lemons, cheese a tad sushi in the aroma. Cloudy orange, nice head. Dry citric fruitiness, flowers, surprisingly little honey. Fizzy mouthfeel.

This bottle has probably been sitting in the beer store for a few years. It was covered in dust and in a back corner. I bought it because it was cheap and something different. Well it was. OH MY GOD. THE NEW CARBONATION RECORD. The second I untwisted the thing... I HAD A CRUISE MISSILE NEARLY BREAK A LIGHT. I didn’t even need a wine opener. The second I untwisted the thing I had a mini WMD. My god! After that, a gentle pour gave a body that was 95% foam. Body is hazy golden. Aroma is mostly honey, but also floral with oranges. Flavor is very acidic. Huge honey orangey flavor. Finishes sour sweet. Weird. I have no idea how this is an ’ale.’ Each sip I take of this is dropping off more and more points. It started at about a 3.2 and is dropping fast. It just doesn’t feel natural sitting in my mouth. Hanssen did to beer what Dr Frankenstein did to humanity - mixed and tested things that shouldn’t have been and created an abomination. Pleh!

Cork flew off...pour is slightly hazy golden with a big bubled fast fading off white head...smell is bad gueuze, apricot, orange, funky cherry...taste is tart citric cherry and apricot with a strong back end sweetness...finish cloying and not too tasty...

Golden brown, hazy. Thin white head. Rocky aroma with note sof heather, honey and cabbage. Acidic. Honey flavor with notes of mint. Acidic with dry finish.

Bottle at MilkmanDan’s tasting on 9/10/05. I really don’t have much idea as to what I am doing when I rate Gueuzes. And let’s be certain about this beer. This is a Gueuze, not an Ale. Gueuze-like aroma; sour apricot. Cloudy yellow appearance that could pass for a cider with an untrained eye. Very tart and sour. I don’t like the aftertaste. Much higher in alcohol than most Gueuzes, and perhaps that is why whoever classified this beer chose "Ale". After my palate warmed up to it, it had a nice, old world flavor to it.

Clear bright yellow. Nose is quite sour and earthy and in the "I never really expected to say this" category, it smells a bit like urine, but not in a bad way. Flavor has an initial sour burst but the tartness is considerably less than some of the more aggressive gueuzes, certainly sweeter than most. The relative mildness of the sour is assumably to the 30% mead, but there isn’t much in the way of a honey sweetness. Kind of gueuze-lite, but rather enjoyable stuff.

Less sour than the other gueuzes I have had, surely due to the mead. Citrus and yeast aroma. Assertive nutmeg finish, and still a very sour beer by any standard. Not as complex as it could be.