Mort Subite Gueuze Lambic

Brewed by Mort Subite (Alken-Maes / Scottish & Newcastle)
Style: Lambic - Gueuze
Kobbegem, Belgium

Given the opportunity, Gueuze would be my beverage of choice. Living in the swamps of North Florida, the opportunities to drink it are sadly, quite limited. I’m happy to say that I’ve had better, but not by much. The company that produces this beer has nothing to be ashamed of. I’d pay $5 or $6 a bottle if I could buy it locally.

Amber hue and tart aroma I expected with this style. However the taste was thinner than expected. Very drinkable but not one of my favorites. 3.8 Rerate. Light amber in color with an almost still head. Fruity nose with just a bit on musty barnyard notes. Sharp, friuity flavor with mostly apple notes, mostly.

Bottled. Had this with dinner at Chez Leon in Brussels. Amber with a small cream colored head. Nose is mildly tart and leathery with light graininess. Taste is tart but mild with some minor sweetness. Body is lighter for a gueuze with light sweet stickiness. Finish is also sweeter with light sour notes a some dryness.

A step up from the overly carbonated framboise. Dark golden in colour with a leathery fruit aroma. Sour on the tongue! And then depleting in the finish. Nothing really to write home about. It’s actually a mild gueuze.

If your taste in nearly everything, beginning with, at the very least, the drinking of beer, runs toward the acerbic and away from the sweet, perhaps you, yes, you, are the gueuze drinker Mort Subite is looking for! Appearance: a solid, opaque, pale orange/ medium red color, with a small, thin, brief head of white foam above. Aroma: lambic-y, that’s the only way to call it, that’s the way it is, in lambic-land, but without the extraneous flavors involved in so many others. There’s nothing else like it, sour, yet pleasant, lively, alert, hoppy, it exists beyond traditional boundaries and anticipations and is what it is, defying other expectations. On the tongue, there it is, once more: sour, but not too tart, and actually approachable, perhaps a "tamed tartness"?Medium body, rather short, though crisp and memorable, finish. Sourness recurs on the plate, sip after sip, and that’s what this brew’s all about, though mildly so. I can never see myself getting terribly excited about the gueuze style of lambic, but I don’t dislike it either. It’s great that it exists, I guess I’m saying, but I can’t imagine seeing myself returning to it for taste or refreshment too often!

Ahhh...the last bottle. Guess I better rate it. Darkish gold w/ large, foamy head & nice lace. Aroma is slightly tart (apple?), but yet has some inherent sweetness. Medium feel, some carbonation but also syrupy. A very sweet interpretation of the style. There is a slight sourness as you might expect, but overall lacking in complexity. Finish starts off dry but ultimately leaves a lingering sweetness.

Bottle from the Offie, Leicester. Peach, lemon, lime aroma. Pale sunrise colour, not much froth. Gueuze-lite - sweet, not too sour. The initial sour hit that there is, fades very quickly to a sugary blandness. Disappointing for a Belgian product.

Ruby orange pour with a creamy white head and big spots of lace. Sweet and tart aromas of funk. Some fruit. Dusty cobwebs. Not too overpowering. Awww. Rather mild flavors. They’re all there, but they’re just not what I was looking for. The barnyard funkiness is small. The tartness doesn’t pucker the mouth, and it’s not too dry. Finishes a touch tart and fruity.