The Open Work
Grimm Artisanal Ales

This was good, and a geuze on tap. My favourite of the four open work variants served at their birthday celebration was a bottle pour of the 2020 open work geuze.

Bottle from the brewery in Brooklyn. Pours a clear light amber/straw gold with a finger of rocky white head that sticks around, nice lacing, smell is floral and fruity white wine, lily, sour white grape, plum, pear, funky hay, and wet granite, taste is funky, mildly tart and sweet dry white wine, white grape juice, slightly sulfuric apple cider, wet gym socks, hint of lemon/lime hard candy on the finish, feel is light, medium carbonation, mild acidity, dry. An excellent, fruity, funky, and crushable spontaneous fermented delight. Yoorm.

2021-10-10
Maybe an 8oz pour at the brewery. I'm not sure if it was served from a bottle or a tap, but they didn't have any bottles to go. It was the 2020 vintage.

Pours fairly clear golden with a big frothy head. Smell is legit lambic. Lemon, oak, tartness, slight funk. Just perfect -- sent a shiver down my spine.

As far as the taste goes, they've done it. This is a convincing, excellent lambic made in the USA. Almost an unripe apricot tartness, light oak, and medium to light funk.

Mouthfeel is dry, light, and unfortunately kind of thin. Overall, this beer is awesome.

Pours from the bottle a slightly cloudy light orange, fluffy 1" head with very good retention. Nose has big oak notes, mentholated lemon rind and peel, white wine, a hint of mustiness. Taste is very oak forward as well, rounded lambic notes but no aggressive funk or sourness; mid-palate and finish is rather tannic, bitter, and dry; a bit of minerality as well. Mouthfeel is rather round with light and small carbonation. Overall, very approachable in terms of its sourness, but the bitter finish made it feel a bit raw.

Opened on 4-6-21 and poured into a white wine glass.

A: Brilliant gold color, not quite crystal clear. Quickly dissipating head. Small bubbles apparent throughout.

S: Oak and lemon rind funk. Some musty white wine and white raisin.

T: Lemon and kumquat, with a juicy and fresh white wine character (surprisingly more like a pinot and less like a chardonnay — its missing that butteriness of a chardonnay). Some cracker / unmalted wheat notes persist. Clean compared to most spontaneous fermentation beers like lambic and gueuze.

M: Spritzy and light bodied, with very low tannins. Wet on the palate and tongue.

O: A very mild spontaneous fermentation with a clean and fresh citrus and white grape character. Not very complex, which is its only mark. It's a very quaffable and refreshing beer that meets expectations.