St. Louis Gueuze

Brewed by Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck
Style: Lambic - Gueuze
Ingelmunster, Belgium

Not for Lambic purists...but for those unfamiliar with the genre, this is a good starter ale. Pours hazey- golden-red with a smallish cap that laces well Aroma od musty burlap, herbs and sweetness. Tastes like a well blended gueuze but the sweetness is a tad annoying..it has all the musty-earthy tones and herbal balance from long boil aged hops and the tart dryness of a lambic but the added sweetness seems phony. No reason to discount this as a serious lambic blend...but it is best suited to turning on your wife or friends to this style.

Deep amber with an OK head. The aroma is acidic. The flavour is initially sour in a fresh and typical way, but then comes sweetness, caramel and fruit along. The sweetness is too strong for this kind of beer...

Bottle after cellar accident shashed the neck off the bottle so i filtered it through a tea towel and got about 75ml. Aroma is reminisant of a flemish sour more than a lambic, tart cider vinigar and some funky hints, some sweet balsalmic notes also. Taste is sweet and sour, vinigar more than sour funk, still quite nice. My cuboard stinks of it now.

25cL bottle, courtesy of Papsoe. Thanks, Henrik! Pours a murky, muddy brownish color; light tan head with patchy lacing. Overripe fruits and apple juice in the aroma; minimal tartness, funkified sugar. Medium mouthfeel: slightly tart / spoiled apple juice and lemony citrus and a biscuity / flabby malt core; tart, sugary apple juice. Medium, tart apple and dusty finish.

Bottle, 4.5%. Sweet and acidic aroma. Clear copper colour, sparkling. Big, stable, creamy tan head. The flavour is quite sweet and slightly acidic with a hint of earth. OK refreshing, but too sweet IMO.

Bottle, Aikmans, St Andrews. Orangey gold with a lacing white head. Nose is strawy and sour, but not all that much of it to be honest. Mouth is malty with a little bit of sourness to make me think yum, but with some fruit, giving it a sweet edge. Not great.

250 ml bottle, Best Before 05/07, via one of my many generous overseas traders. Pours a clear brownish orange to light copper body. A small beige head retains as a thin film. Light visible carbonation. The aroma is of light sweaty funk almost completely obscured with artificial sweetner. Very reminiscent of the bottled Faros available. Yikes! Sweaty grains and sweetness lead off with a very short sweet finish with some wheat, lemon flavored iced tea, and some rotten fruit. Mouthfeel is thinnish with a watery texture and soft fizzy carbonation. Overall, this was about as good as expected. Not really sure why this is a Gueuze and not a Faro?

Orange with a lasting white head. Hints of leather and barnyard and malt in a weak aroma. Sweet and malty with only a hint of geuze tartness. Faro? Disappointment?