Hanssens Mead the Gueuze

Formerly brewed at Hanssens Artisanaal
Style: Mead
Dworp, Belgium

Bottle@Spiesys and also i think it was either at Toronado or at mwsf’s place. The fisrt time i had it, it was very nice, but had a definite honeyed sweetness, the second time it was drier and more tart. In both cases there was a pretty healthy barnyard stench and quenching sournessm lemony, and tart in both cases. More like gueuze than a mead, in fact it should be called a gueuze over mead, based on flavour and mouthfeel alone, i liked it very much, more so the second time i had it. Good stuff.

Bottled. The much anticipated, ceremonial 2000 beer for SilkT. Exciting stuff this beer was ‘Self opening’ and positively explosive. I only had to give it a half twist to get it started and I don’t think there was anything I could have done to stop it. Thank god we were outside. Orange, ginger looking beer that was super lively but controllable with the right glassware. Sharp, dry farm yard aroma. Sharp and dry flavour that cleanses the palate. [London gathering: Spiesy, Duff, chris_o, Marty-D and SilkTork]

Beer #14 at Spiesy’s and Silk’s "official" 200th beer. After the excitement of the uncorking, so graphically described by Silk (although we were expecting the explosive eruption as previous raters had commented on it), the beer itself was something of an anticlimax. Cloudy orange colour. Typical gueuze aroma - citrus and manure. But the flavours were quite soft, with a relatively restrained sour edge. I suppose that’s what the mead is supposed to do, but I prefer my lambics to have a bit more edge. Still quite nice. Bottled.

Bottle @ Spiesy’s gaff. The official 2 grand beer. Shared with Spiesy, chris_o, Duff and Marty.
Spiesy opened this on his balcony, and the cork flew in a beautiful arc high and long - over the road, over the cars, over the fences, over the couple having a good time in the long grass, over the dog doing a whoopsie, over a giraffe pleasuring itself while flicking through the pages of Wildlife Exposed, over the heads of the approaching Zulus and the Thurlstone & Rastick Brass Band to land in a tree 40 yards away. A triumph!
The beer was also quite nice - aroma like an oaky lambic with a slightly sickly cidery acidic note. It was rough, wild, acidic, dry, yet comfortable. Barky, cidery, acidic short lived finish. The cork is spectacular - the beer is merely nice.

Pours near amber and is very effervescent. Tall white head with moderately sized bubbles. Almost like a champagne. Aroma is very gueuze-ish with hints of honey and plastic. Taste is still very tart but not quite as acidic. There’s some honeyish sweetness lingering throughout but it never becomes dominant. The mouthfeel has lots of sharpness but little acidity. Finish is almost a perfect mead/gueuze blend. It alternates between sour gueuze and sweetened mead. Nice twist on a gueuze!

Cloudy orange golden color, short white head. Aroma and taste are quite typical gueuze, but with sweet honey added. High carbonation. Slightly sharp palate. The combination of mead and gueuze is not a good experiment IMO.

No, this is not a good idea... Mead and gueuze. Nice try. Typical Gueuze aroma (oak, tart) and honey. Hazy, yellow-orange coloured with a rocky, white lasting head. Taste is oaky, honey, tart, fruits. The alcohol (9% ABV) is quite well hidden. Dry palate.

Bottle said 9% ABV. Light tart, light honey aroma. Hazy, yellow/amber color, white rocky head, no lace. No strong flavors, medium body, not very special, alcohol well hidden. Just gueuze with honey.