Oud Beersel Oude Geuze

Brewed by Brouwerij Oud Beersel
Style: Lambic - Gueuze
Beersel, Belgium

Bottle. Pours a light wood color with a fluffy white head. The aroma is very sour, but not unbelievable. Barnyard, vinegar, oaky sweetness. The mouthfeel is just right, slightly spritzy and medium density. A reasonable vinegar sourness and funk is going on. Hints of Champagne, lemon, and wood are also noted. This was the single least expensive Lambic on the shelf at Bruisin’ Ales and it has proven to be a contender with the higher priced bottles.

Bottle. Flowers, stable, barnyard. Sourness, yes, but not extremely so. Rhubarb, lemon.

Pours a cloudy golden-yellow color with a thin, foamy white head that settles into a thin lace. Aroma is citrusy and funky with a lot of sour fruit notes as well as some champagne yeast. Puckering but not too sour with a sweet citrus/ light fruit earthy flavor. Very vinous with a dry finish.

375 ml bottle from Systembolaget. Deep golden color with a slight haze. Mostely lasting low white head. Crisp fruity aroma. Cheesy, woody barnyard notes. Taste has a slight harsh, fruity sourness. Notes of cellar, yeast and horsestable. Some sweetness underneath. Spritzy mouthfeel. Fruity, light tart ending.

Dirk at the Kulminator told us that this bottle, brewed on October 29, 2001 and served on September 23, 2008 was the last bottle he had that was brewed at the old Beersel brewery, which is now a museum. I like to think it’s true. Dry and musty, typical wet horse-blanket aroma and acidic sour taste. Wonderfully complex. I hope the 3-F version ages this well.

Just a prime example of all that’s good about a gueuze. Pours a hazy yellow color with a loose white head. Aroma is tart and sour citrus with a hint of wood. Flavor is mouth puckering and dry. Beautiful tartness and a great sour twang. This is a great Gueuze.

[Bottled] Hazy golden with amedium, white head. Sour with diesel and rubber along with some sweet maltiness and citrus. Not that sour after all...

A Geuze is as a Geuze does. Once one has wandered into the realm of the more wild Belgian beers, there is usually no return for at the point, your heart and soul has been captured by their lively, tart, and complex bodies. Such was my torrid love affair on that fateful evening a few weeks ago when, after much searching and growing desperation, I found myself face-to-bottle with the Oud Beersel Geuze from Oude Geuze Vieille, Oude Beersel. Our lips met and I became hers, heart and soul, something I am sure my girlfriend will have something to say about.
She poured a golden hay color into my glass with a slight haziness, disturbed only by the steady stream of bubbles which rise to join the scattered puffs of foam resting on top. She foams easily upon each swirl; bringing a bouquet of dirty laundry, soap, orange skin rinds, and a tart pickled vinegary snap. Intrigue and lust commands me to wait not, and so I raise my glass and taste her sumptuous body. Dry like an Arabian desert with an immediate sour pucker of funky lemons, pickles, and bretty delight. Lemon, grapefruit, and other citric skin esters mingle amidst delicate spice. Each quaff leaves my mouth arid and thirsting for more. My Oud Beersel Geuze is an oral and sensory delight. Tangy, crisp, and refreshingly funky as a Geuze should be. Lacking the further ten-fold punch of many traditional Lambics, my Gueuze instead woos me with a more subtle palate. Of course, they are two different beasts, but should one enjoy a Geuze, one will most definitely enjoy the other. None too soon, my glass is empty, and I am left wholly satisfied. My lips and mouth are dry with a lingering tartness and funk.
I could drink Geuze all day long, and I could drink the Oud Beersel Geuze all day long. I have fallen and fallen hard. If you have an open mind and open palate when it comes to beer and new gourmand experiences, then seek out your own Geuze and discover your own love affair for these wild and invigorating beers.