It's been a while since a geuze has appeared here in the Nib. And the last time I had one I said the very same thing. It was also a Boon beer, the Mariage Parfait. This bottle was purchased at a local store and it looked a little dusty. How long had it sat on the shelves? Does it matter, since the best-by date is "end 2033"?
So, I bought a bottle of this, and now I'll take notes on it, and then share notes from 15 years ago:
To the eye: it's a murky, oddly amber hue, with a slim, and soon-gone whitish head. Some floating things hither and non.
In the nose: ripe, pungent, incredibly sour. Horse blanket ahoy! Funkadelic.
In the mouth: Incredibly sour. Twisted, wicked, weird. Sour and citric. Sharp, puckering, intense. And I like it, I like, yes, I do. Good and drinkable wild sour, but, oh, man. I'm just saying', oh, baby.
I wrote this in January of 2003 and posted it to BeerAdvocate, but I don't know if they are the same beer. Pretty close, though:
A caveat. I have a taste for the beers of Belgium, but am a little baffled by their taste for sourness in some beers. I mean, the guys who make gueuze. It's definitely not for everyone, and, maybe, not even for me.
Color: a hazy orange. Head: a tad off-white. Aroma: utterly unique, and not for the uninitiated. You have to be ready for this type of beer, for it's unlike anything else in the world. The wild yeast, the spontaneous fermentation. No wonder the lambic brewers are most successful when they introduce fruits to this incredibly demanding brew. Citrusy, sour, dry, medicinal, herbal, even a little vinegary. Texture is full, salty, body is medium, finish is quite lasting. Definitely takes some getting used to, but a solid, thirst quenching, even delectable beer.
No comments:
Post a Comment