Boon Oude Geuze A L’ancienne Vat 79 Mono Blend
Brouwerij Boon

Poured a dark liquid gold color, little carb and limited initial head. Beautiful color.
Smell was indistinct, but there.
Taste was phenomenal, not sour or tart, but tasty and sweetish.
Feel was medium, just right.
'Absolutely loved this, drank it way too fast.

 

RBESG 2016 in Barcelona. Shared bottle at Lambicus. Deep golden colour. Sourish farmhouse aroma. Medium sour flavour - but unfortunately served too warm, so I probably did not get the right impression. Will sample again if I can find another bottle.

 

 

 

06/27/2017. Ghent, Belgium.

Near perfect , complex, excellent mouthfell.
Would have been 5 but to leave room for Vat 44!

sensational lambic, one of those beers where the scores cant accurately reflect how special and good the beer is. bottled from the menu at monks cafe in philly, which if you havent been, go! this is apparently from a vessel they really like, and i can see why. there is still some of that slight malty sweetness we usually seen in the boon lambics, but the degree of maturity, actual wood flavor, and funk, is enormous, even more dramatic than it is in some of their older and finer gueuze blends. not a ton of head after the initial pour on this one, a classic but refined looking cloudiness, and of course the slight green bottle oxidized aroma that flatters the funk. some bacterial sourness churning here amongst the oak and the lemony newness thats also here with the parts that make it obviously old. wood tannins, white grapes, blunt wraps, honey, and aged hop leafy tea sort of dried herbalness. an approachable acidity level, moderate is all, with more of a ting than a tang, if that makes sense. wet earth and rotting hay or straw in the nose, ancient grains, funk. i keep coming back to the nose, its better even than the taste. it could be more carbonated, but that is lambic sometimes, and i appreciate its mellow nature, it is what it is. extremely delicious lambic from these guys, maybe their very best so far in my experience. wish it wasnt so hard to come by. well worth the 30 or 35 bucks we paid for the bottle in the bar...

 

 

A surprisingly rich head for a lambic but without much of retention or lacing. The nose is full of funk, and a smell that resembles sunflower seeds. Same goes for the taste, plus a nice bitter aftertaste that accompanies a mild sourness. A very nice lambic with a lot of unique characteristics.

Brewed 26-27 Oct., 2011 and bottled 24 Oct.,2013 with a best by date of 24 Oct.,2033.

The beer pours out into a Duvel glass a lightly hazed copper orange color with a 1" off white head that slowly but visibly recedes to a ring and thin layer of foam which never completely disappears but leaves no lacing on the sides of the glass. There's also lots of finely bubbled carbonation streaming to the surface. Sipping creates some scattered patches of lacing, most of which slide slowly back down to the liquid.

The aromas include some nice earthy, herbal funk tinged with citrus and a hint of green apples.

The flavors are much as expected from the nose with the earthy. herbal funk up front being backed up by the citrus and the apple. In addition there's a nice mix of tartness and sweetness backed up by some persistent light bitterness.

The mouthfeel is on the light side of medium bodied and slightly creamy with the active finely bubbled carbonation. The finish is medium length and begins as the funk in the flavor partly gives way to some citric sweetness which then also recedes into the background letting a bit of bitterness and tartness emerge as all fade slowly to dryness.

On the whole I thought this an interesting and complex gueuze with lots of layers of flavors and a surprising amount of sweetness that almost seems to be too much but which stays in balance with the rest of the flavors. While there is definitely more sweetness than in most gueuzes it doesn't overstep and dominate. I'm glad I have a second bottle since I'll be able to have another one that's been aged a while longer. There's a lot of time between now and the best by date of 24 Oct., 2033.

Side by side with vat 79.

White head with nice retention. Golden burnt orange color.

Kind of a bland lambic. Funky and musty. Very light fruit and herbal flavor. Oaky.

This one just doesn't have a bright fruit flavor or a huge funk to it. Very light flavors in general.

Overall, an alright gueuze but the 79 is stacking up better.

Too sweet.

 

Hardly any head, but shocking amount of carbonation, much like a champagne in the way that it fizzles off your tongue so fast you hardly taste it at first. But once you do, you realize what a special beer this is. Tons of cherry and strawberry in the nose and taste, with a hint of raspberry tartness, but not sour enough to really tweak out your tastebuds. Super oaky flavor with tons of tannins that turn your tongue into paper. I'm curious to update this page in a decade or so with my second cellared bottle (good until 2033...).

Slightly hazy golden color with off-white head. Aroma has really nice farmhouse funk with sour fruits and barnyard notes. Taste is really balanced, slightly malty and sweet at first but gets more acidic and slightly bitter on the finish. Medium body and carbonation. Really balanced gueuze but there's a metallic note in the taste which I don't like.

 

 

37cl bottle. Clear orange pour with a medium height white with better than average retention, a far as lambics go. Acrid smell, of apple cider, vinegar, barnyard funk and overripe apples. A mix of sourness, sweetness and bitterness, with notes of apple cider, vinegar, mould, barnyard funk, white grapes and sauvignon blanc. Medium body with medium-high carbonation and a pretty balanced bitter-sweet aftertaste.

 

This is wild and weird. A thick body, a little viscous and sweet, a ton of herbal funk flavors - from mint, to tarragon, moss, basil - with a citrus and funk finish. I feel like the residual sweetness on this will dry out with time and that bigger ABV gives it the guts to age. 5 years or 10 years down the road I'm fascinated to see what this turns into.

375ml C&C bottle, poured into a stemless wine glass.

Poured a light hazy, straw yellow body with a half finger white head, minimal retention, no lacing. Smells of heavy earth, herbal notes e.g. basil, sweet malt, oak, mild funk, lemon. It's sweeter on the nose than most lambic. Flavour is strange; sweet malt blends in with a mild mint/basil green herbal leafiness, oak, lemon, mild funk. Definitely a sweeter lambic. Mouthfeel is fuller, a bit syrupy, which is a bit disconcerting for lambic, mild heat comes across. A bit hefty. Overall, a weird lambic experience that was nevertheless fascinating. This is one that may be worth aging for the long haul.

 

 

 

375 ml shared bottle (thanks Matt).

Hazy orange amber with a minimal head.

More funky than tart, and about as bitter as tart. Funkiness dominates the aroma more than the flavor.
Wet leather and some barnyard in the nose.

 

 

Into a Boon tumbler it pours a slightly hazed but saturated deep orange, racing streams rise rapidly in the glass. Two fingers of foam initially, that subside to a ring and patchy skim after a few sips.

Fantastic aroma of saddle leather, wet barrel wood, musty barn straw, and ripe oranges.

Briny and citrusy, tangy, leathery, it shows a great range and depth of flavor. Dry oak tannins in the aftertaste. A prime example of what lambic can be. A moderate tartness, not a puckering sourness. Some residual sweetness. Light bodied with high carbonation at first that tapers slightly after a few swirls. This just goes to show 2 year old lambic can develop just as much complexity as 3 year, it's really good stuff.

Note: Vat 77 was used to age 3 year lambic since 1986, and reportedly one of Frank Boon's favorite foeders.

375 ml bottle dated 10/24/2013. Best before 2033. Poured into a gueuze tumbler

Appearance: Pours a darker golden yellow with a finger of a white creamy head with great retention. Body is mostly clear with lots of visible carbonation. Really nice looking gueuze.

Smell: Really funky with green apple, hay, basement, oak, stone fruit.

Taste: Similar to the aroma. Green apple, stone fruit, funk, cheese, oak, and a slight floral character. Low/medium sourness.

Mouthfeel: Light/medium bodied with medium/high carbonation. Finishes mostly dry, but there's definitely a higher level of residual sweetness than most traditional gueuzes.

Overall: Really nice and interesting gueuze. The increased ABV is definitely noticeable compared to other beers in the style, but doesn't make it a chore to drink by any means. Worth picking up if you see it on a shelf.

The oak was far too much in this one.

The beer is a light gold color. Small to medium fizzy white head. It’s a bit cloudy but that’s really dependent on bottle handling. Deeply earthy, funky lambic aroma. Fairly oaky. Peaches, apricots, grapes. The taste is similar and quite good, but the oak is more prominent and gets in the way a bit. There’s still lots of good funk and earthiness with some fruit. Maybe, a bit strong. Low to medium sourness. Easy to drink. Some body to it. Very good.

 

Big thanks to Thirstybird for the opportunity to try this beer. Per the label - brewed on the 26th and 27th of Oct. 2011, bottled 24th Oct. 2013. 375ml corked and caged bottle served at 45 degrees in my Allagash Coolship tumbler. Pours a dull straw gold with a huge, rocky, bright white head that quickly dissipates into a bubbly froth. Copious tiny bubbles are present effervescing in solution. Nose expresses horse blanket, sour green apples and a light, grassy quality. Taste consistent with nose; however, less funk and more green apple. There's also a hint of sweet and medicinal at the back, as well as slight metallic quality, albeit minimal, at the finish. Mouthfeel is light in body with a lively carbonation and a pleasant acidity - tart, but not puckeringly so; comes off a bit soft. Overall, a solid gueuze, but perhaps a bit young. I'm quite surprised at the abv which is very well-hidden.