St. Louis Gueuze

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

Bottle: Poured a medium clear amber color ale with a huge white foamy head with good retention. Faint barnyard aroma can be detected as well as subtle sourness. Taste is sweeter then regular gueuze with some sweetness but no acidity. Complexity is quite low and I guess this would be more of a beginner gueuze then anything else.

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.

[bottle] Woody coriander aroma with some strawberry, apricot, and peach notes. Complex and fruity. Thick, glossy, white foam over a foggy, orange-chestnut liquid. Sugary sweet lotus root malt flavour with some strawberry and white grape with a little horseblanket and only a tiny hint of sourness, that is definitely not sufficient. Medium body, moderate carbonation, fruity-sweet finish.

37.5 cl bottle, Fargo, ND. USA via Chicago. Hazy deep golden colour, frothy soap like head that quickly vanishes. Aroma of apple, coriander and yeast. Tastes like a weak cider without too much overt sweetness. Mellow and slightly earthy on the finish.

37.5 cL bottle. Pours clear and golden orange with a dense off-white head. Aroma is barnyard and light sweet. Flavour starts sweet and gains some caramel note into the finish. Ends caramel malty with a little sweetness.

Bottle. Amber colour. Small well lasting white ehad. Fair lacing. Sweetish yeasty sour aroma. Sweet, soft, yeasty, fruity sour flavour.

Not particularly ’gueze-ish’, but very refreshing. Sharp and crisp, plenty of candy. Quite sugary, which cuts the sourness. Still remains quite sour, a pleasant little tartness. Has a bit of earthiness to it, kind of like drinking from a natural spring. Palate is light, not a lot to it. Not an archetypical gueuze at all, but still like this one.

Tap in Antwerp at: Le restaurant Noorderterras on the harbor. Light amber color with a frothy beige head. Light sour fruit aroma. Tart, lightly sweat sox, lightly fruity. Medium body with mildly prickly carbonation. Finishes rather dry. Quite pleasant.