Gueuze Beers

Gueuze beers, according to the Brewer's Association Guidelines is "old lambic is blended with newly fermenting young lambic to create this special style of lambic. Gueuze is always refermented in the bottle. These unflavored blended and secondary fermented lambic beers may be very dry or mildly sweet and are characterized by intense fruity-estery, sour, and acidic aromas and flavors. These pale beers are brewed with unmalted wheat, malted barley, and stale, aged hops. Sweet malt characters are not perceived. They are very low in hop bitterness. Diacetyl should be absent. Characteristic horsey, goaty, leathery and phenolic character evolved from Brettanomyces yeast is often present at moderate levels. Cloudiness is acceptable. These beers are quite dry and light bodied. Vanillin and other woody flavors should not be evident. Versions of this beer made outside of the Brussels area of Belgium cannot be true lambics. These versions are said to be 'lambic-style' and may be made to resemble many of the beers of true origin."

I happened to come across an extremely rare keg of Gueuze and scoffed when the bartender mentioned the $600 price tag. "There aren't many of these in the States." he boasted. Fair enough. I had to have one. It's called Boon Oude Mariage Parfait and it was made by this fine man. 

Now that we have a frame of reference, let's drink it. 

Appearance: Deeply hazy burnt orange with carbonation clinging to the sides of the glass in blotches and haphazard lines. A 1/3rd of an inch off white head sits and fails to recede. 8.8/10

Body: Paper-thin body and almost no carbonation. Light, but in an intriguing way. Soft edges, but not watery. 8.1/10

Nose: Funky cheese, sour cranberries, pickles, damp hay, horse blanket, wet earth. Interesting in the sense that most beers primarily derive aromas form their ingredients and this Gueuze reeks of the place it was made. 8.7/10

Taste: This beer is all about the finish. It touches down sour, but not over the top with the aforementioned fruit giving way to a sour/liquid triscuit/cheesy finish that lasts for a minute or so before shifting gears into a beautiful sweet, nutty, cereal malt note that lingers delicately. 9.3/10

Overall: 8.7/10

Comment: This is one of the strangest and interesting flavors I've ever encountered. Bizarrely good. You can buy it here. I Would.