Oude Geuze Boon Black Label
Brouwerij Boon

 

Edition 6, Batch 13309

L: opaque orange or gold, yeast floating everywhere with the carbonation, excellent white head
S: raspberries, cherries, passion fruit, and port wine
T: deliciously sour, dry finish, like an acidic white wine
F: fine carbonation and good mouthfeel

If you blindfolded someone and asked them to taste this, they probably wouldn't identify this as beer, but rather as a wine or a mild cocktail. This simply surpasses my expectation for what a beer can do and should be. One of the best, if not the best, beers I've had.

Poured from 750mL corked & caged bottle into my BeerAdvocate teku. This is Black Label edition #5, best before 11/15/2039.

Appearance: rich medium-golden hue with a lite dose of shimmery haze and a ton of effervescence. Head pours a couple fingers of frothy ivory foam and sticks around a good long time. Great!

Smell: sweet malt with a light dose of sour and a dash of funk. There's kind of like a "malt candy" thing going on here.

Taste: a little tiny bit sour and a bit funky up front, with a deeply earthy character overall. Malt is toasty and the funk and light sourness give kind of a loamy autumnal feeling. I'm into it.

Mouthfeel: medium-light body with a huge carbonation that is very creamy, though a bit ephemeral. Still, I love it.

Overall: just an absolutely solid beer. Could drink it all day.

A: Pours a hazy orange color. A noisy, spritzy, bubbly white head forms to about a finger. That recedes to a ring in a minute.
S: The nose is powerful and pungent. Ripe grapefruit and dried citrus peal. A musty and "funky" aroma that I love.
T: Oh, that pungent grapefruit is almost juicy up front with other citrus like components. That become wonderfully acidic and sour. Musty basement like funky again. A tiny amount of oak and vanilla. Finishes with just enough acidic bite. This is wonderful.
M/O: A medium body that is beautifully effervescent at first. Which becomes a bit softer as this breaths. The puckering acidity is perfect, and leaves a lingering dryness that just begs me to keep coming back for more. This is very drinkable.

Just an excellent example of an Oude Gueuze. This has all the flavors and characteristics you would want for the style. Though its also balanced, as the acidic sourness and funk never become the main show. Thats all I have to say, highly recommended.

750ml bottle into a tulip. Best by 3/26/35.

Quite a lively pour, massive loose bubbly white head, easily replenished by the next pour. Dark golden amber body, slightly hazy, not much lacing.

Tart aroma, good oak, even a light smoke.

On tasting, very pleasing indeed. Tart, sour, some mixed fruit. Mellow oak flavor, very dry.

Mouth medium, finish a slightly tart dryness.

Overall, best gueuze so far. Could drink this anytime.

2nd Edition. Batch # 80901

 

Brouwerij Boon "Oude Geuze Boon Black Label Edition N°2"
750 ml dark green glass bottle, corked and caged. "Best before 30 03 2036" and sampled on 02 04 2022.
$17.99 @ The Beer Yard, Wayne, PA

Notes via stream of consciousness: Labeled at 6.4% ABV. It's poured a clear deep golden/amber colored body beneath a finger's width of bright white foam. The aroma is fruity with apple, apricot, and dried orange & lemon peel but there's also some grainy malt, grass, dried hay, dusty earth, dried flowers, and a distant bit of cedar and dried pine needles. The flavor is grassy and straw-like, and fruity with apple, soft pear, and underlying lemon and nectarine. On the funkier side there's some wet leather, more cedar and oakiness, dusty dried earth, dull tobacco, metal, and a soft note of floral character that I'd describe as something like the smell of dried lilies. It's tart but not too tart, and it finishes dry and gently acidic as expected. As you work your way through the glass and it warms a bit different notes will linger. The mouthfeel is just a little bit fuller than most Geuze, clocking in at medium-light versus the usual light-medium. It's got a fine-bubbled, natural, and delicately zesty carbonation that softens as it warms in the mouth. I'm actually a little bit surprised by this because it is a little bit different than your standard geuze, or gueuze, however you want to spell it. I personally don't like it as much as the standard Geuze Boon but I appreciate that it is a finer, more balanced beer. I think that the Mariage Parfait is already a very well rounded and superbly balanced beer but this version is even more so.
Review #7,860

Delicious!

Good beer. Real good beer. I’m not sure if I would toss rocks at her window at midnight, but I’d shoot her an AM text just to say hey. All kinds of light, bright, and tart - get some, baby. Get some while the gettin’ is good.

Blend no 3, 2016 release?

A clear light orange with a dense white head with good retention and lacing this looks great. The nose is great. Bright, sharp, grapefruit, green apple, earth, mushroom, lemon. Funk. Lots of funk. Oak. The palate opens with a blend of bitter grapefruit, preserved lemon, quite a bit of funk with earth and dried mushroom. The high carbonation lends a mineral character. A light sharpness, a little bit like strawberry, is present. Drying, funky, sour on the finish. Lingering earth, dried mushroom. The high carbonation lends a unique acidity to the gueuze, but lightens the body a bitt too much for my liking. Allowing the carbonation to dissipate improves the experience but that's personal preference.

 

750 ml corked & caged green bottle, Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. ABV is 7%. Golden colour, large white head. Lovely aroma of brettanomyces / farmhouse, hints of lemons. The flavour is really bone dry, tart and astringent, with lemony notes. Noticeable hops.

 

 

 

Second edition (2016)

I'm not one to write long tasting notes.
This is a fantastic geuze from Boon.
Crisp, dry, apple-y, not too sour for a geuze but above all just a damn good geuze.

 

First Edition

 

Its well documented as a world class Lambic maker, Brewery Boon rolls out a premiere, and traditionally spontaneous beer that showcases the taste of Lembeek best.

Erupting from the glass, the exuberant pour of hazy gold hues race to the rim with a frothy, loose and lively lather. Slow to settle, a host of tantalizing aromas abound, ranging from citrus to cider, from earth and dust to pungency and fauna, all with a twinge of sourness to tickle the nose. Scant on sweetness, the Oude Gueuze (Black Label, Edition 3)'s wafer thin malts provide a thin veil of creaminess to soothe the awaiting brunt of acidity to come.

As the wily ale dances on the middle palate highlighting the beer's spice, earth and vinous nuances. The branch weathered taste of crabapple, white grape, lemon, grapefruit and gooseberry balance against the spices of white pepper, oak tannins and white wine spice, more earthen tones swirl with a retro-olfactory sensation of attic woods, cellar-like conditions and cave aged character. A soft element of brine decorates a straw-like hop taste late to ride alongside of its brazen acidity.

Piquant in its finish, the beer's supreme sourness is a mix of brightness and rusticity, bringing out the finer nuances of saddle leather, a dusty perfume and sandalwood in a fast-fleeting aftertaste.

 

Bottle: Poured a clear amber color lambic with a large foamy head with OK retention and light lacing. Aroma of funky yeast notes with some oak and tart notes and green apple notes is quite pleasant. Taste is also a mix of funky barn yard notes with some oak, tart notes light green apple acidity and a dry finish. Body is about average for style with excellent carbonation. Excellent dry gueuze that aged perfectly well.

 

 

 

Edition 3, May 2016 bottling. Appearance is golden pale, solid car and off white fluffy head. Smell is dominated by stone fruit (apricot and cherry), wet hay funk, mild barnyard, and oak. Taste leans toward the funk and oak. Body is thin, nice high carbonation, light-plus acidity, oak tannins, and dry finish. Overall very balanced like most all Boon Gueuzes. Great beer.

2014 bottle. Golden orange with slight haze and lasting island with some unfortunate floaties. Woody funk orange and leather aroma. Similar sweetness with some graininess and hay and clean refreshing fruity dry finish. Light and very lively.

 

 

 

 

Pours out a clear golden orange that turns cloudy as the yeast sediment is added. Fountains of rolling carbonation. A huge fluffy white head is created. Great retention and lacing.

Smells of funk, barnyard, musty mildew, green apple, lemon, hay, yogurt.

Tastes of green apple skin, lemon zest, green pear flesh, yogurt, cracker malt, hay, white wine vinegar, barnyard, dust, and funk. Champagne-like dryness on the finish. Crisp and tart. Moderate sourness.

Medium feel, very effervescent carbonation, clean, crisp, and moderately dry.

An excellent Oude Gueuze.

 

 

 

L: Poured from a bottle to a tulip glass. Had a yellow-brown color and a very cloudy consistency. There was a massive, foamy, extremely long-lasting head. Pretty good lacing.

S: A very nice aroma of Belgian yeast, light fruit, a little malt, and a vinous quality.

T: Tasted of a small amount of malt (mostly in the finish), a slightly funky bit of Belgian yeast (present throughout), a little of the vinous quality (white grapes), and some apples as well. An interesting flavor all around. It's not quite as sour as your typical gueuze, but it definitely packs a punch. There's an odd dryness to it that's a little off-putting, but this is a minor issue.

F: A highly carbonated beer (the cork went flying) with a super dry finish. Medium-bodied.

O: In general, a well done beer. Worth a try.