Boon Oude Geuze

Back to lambic land for a vintage effort from Boon.

This is traditional geuze, ie a blend between old and young lambics to create a referment and that harsh sour + clean fizz effect you get with these. It's somewhere between Fonteinen and the reigning champion 100% Bio in terms of sourness I think, so you get a fair bit of wheaty grain character, but also a burst of genuinely sour stuff to refresh you also.

It's good stuff but still makes me think wistfully of Cantillon (it's not the only thing of course. Everything up to and including frogs, bedsheets, and christmas carols make me want it). Still - this one retails for around $15 for the big bottle where I am at the moment, which is comparatively not bad. Well worth a go at that price, may be a nice intro gueze for people to have a try of at your end of year functions too. 7.5

Cantillon Gueze 100% Lambic Bio

A latecomer to the record as such - I've had this several times now and loved it on each occasion.

This is a bit of a classic in the world of lambic Gueze and with good reason. It's a beer-like pour alright, grainy light amber delivery with a snow white top. Still, you won't be in any doubt as to what's coming if you have any sort of olfactory capacity whatsoever: the sour nose really fills the room, sharp and vinous.

Make no mistake, this beer is sour, above and beyond the usual Flemish tartness. It is more crisp than others in this field, more sharp, less grainy and more extreme. All of this is delivered via a slightly fizzy carbonation, but that again works well with the beer itself.

The clean sour notes are maybe closer to vinegar than white wine and drive through any and all things that came before as the ultimate palate cleanser. Beyond that though I find it a compelling beer in its own right, hitting a crisp clear note of sourness that becomes a real obsession. "The Champagne of Belgium" indeed.

A delicious and eye-opening drinking experience. Highly recommended to all who can finance the crippling addiction drinking it will surely bring. 9.5

Lindemans Gueuze Cuvée René

A quick shared snifter of gueze mid session always clears out the tasting valves, or whatever they are.

It's a corked effort this one, always nice to see. Nice bottle all round in fact and pours with a low patina of crisp white head.

Definitive gueze delivery here: bitey nose and bitey taste, with slight alc and wheat present on the finish. It is sour - not as much as some other lambics but still enough for people to make faces when they drink it.

Good reliable stuff, balanced and dry. I like the look, and I like the nose - but I want more and more sourness from these! It's a growing addiction.. 7.5

3 Fonteinen Oude Gueze

Back on the gueze wagon.

The nose on this one actually has a bit of depth in it - sure it's sour town, but also something grainy like wheat husks in there too, I get the sense of discarded grind-off from a mill or something.

Looking at the label, there are a couple of clues. First, it's a mix of 1, 2 and 3 year old lambics here and maybe that explains the enhanced complexity. It's also actually 40% wheat, which probably explains the graininess. Finally, it's matured a year minimum after mixing and refermented in the bottle which explains the big champagney head.

Taste-wise this is a big sour alright, sour green apple peel, but also almost malty sorts of flavours, probably the most 'beer-like' gueze in my admittedly shallow experience to date. Yum.

Hard to rate this - it's far more drinkable than some other razor-edge lambics in that it's the sort of thing you could put away all night. But it's also less sharply sour than the others too. More beer like certainly; less sour.. hmm, makes it a bit hard to rate. To my personal taste I'd prefer something with a bit more bite.

7.0