Boon Oude Geuze Mono Blend Vat 109
Brouwerij Boon

Copenhagen 27/1 2019. 37,5 cl bottle from Ølhandleren in Give (web-shop). Nice matted bottle with a cork cap and a serious looking black label informing me that this is a mono blend aged in oak.

Pours hazy, golden yellow with big, bubbly white head. Settles as fine, thin layer of foam covering the surface of the beer. No lacing.

Aroma intensely sour and acerbic. Sour green apples, unripe goose berries, vinegar, light funk. The cognac and oak is hard to pick up.

Light carbonation Slightly thick, oily, almost flat texture.

Flavor has a surprisingly evident sweetness. Medium sweetness followed by a stronger sour tartness. Aftertaste is bitter with light sweet undercurrent. Finish is dry and astringent.

Like all good lambics it reminds me of dry white wine. But then again - what white wine has such fine funk?!

Pours a light fizzy bubbly 1/2 finger head with good retention, fair lacing, hazy orange color

Nose big juicy sour funk, bright acidity, souring bacteria but super juicy, fair barnyard funk and Brett horse blanket, a bit of buttery oak and vanilla notes, general tart fruit, berry, cherry, grape skin, very nice

Taste brings more of the funk and less of the juicy and fruity up front, dry grassy wet hay and barnyard Brett funk horse blanket, then into the juicy fruit, a bit of berry and cherry like, grape skin tartness with a bit of tannin almost, hint of bitterness, some cheesy funk with bright acidity, a little buttery oak and vanilla spice, finishes a bit flemmy with some cranberry tartness

Mouth is med to lighter bod, med carb, big bright acidity, a bit flemmy, light warming alcohol tingle

Overall really nice, great blend

Poured from a cork'n'cage bottle into a Dogfish Head tulip

L: Cloudy golden copper pour. Some sediment at the finish... minimal fizzy white head. Negligible lacing.

S: Tart and fruity. Funk, oak, and vinegar.

T.F: Soft and funky. Apricot, peach, green fruit, and yeast. Oak and tannin... citrus rind and grass. Medium bodied... gentle carbonation. Surprisingly not overly acidic. Dry finish.

O: A very tasty geuze... low key and super drinkable.

 

 

Really nice to see what a lambic can be without a ton of blending.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cage actually serves a serious purpose here--as soon as I unscrewed it, the cork loudly popped off. Luckily it didn't overflow, but in pouring, the head builds to a very large but airy khaki fuzzy foam, leaving sticky spit bubbles all over the glass. The body is amber-orange with a uniform sandy haze.

Smell is toasted sesame, quite toasty actually, with cannabic and pungent accents among the sharp lemon and grapefruit rind, with a sharp, sweaty funk and straw.

Taste leans bitter with a sort of veg-onion-wild weeds character, as tart grapefruit and lemon meet cannabis, burnt rubber and a splintery, slight oak. Toasted sesame comes out in the swallow and as it warms. This has a very unique funk and complexity.

The medium round body is quickly cut and lightened by a soft fizz before a cotton dry finish.

Legit.
Puts me in mind of an LPG. Hides the 8% very well. Integrated funk and subtle sour makes for a very well balanced and refreshing drink. Finishes with that crisp champagne like from be carb.

Don’t understand or care why the numbered vats should be much different, I’ll buy every one I see

Pours a clouded amber-orange color with a huge, white head, which shrinks to a fluffy film of lacing.

The beers aromas are defined by a leathery, wooden funkiness, creating a great complexity by adding blue cheese, wet straw and lime zest. It appears a little sweeter on the nose than a regular lambic would, due to the wooden, spicy Cognac the barrel once held. Offers an additional layer of musty wet basement and moldy woodbark among sweet, old caramel malts.

Tastes of a bitter funkiness in which matured hops and dried flowers get entangled into lemon juice and unripe apples. A bright tickle, reminding of old spirits, gets woven into this foundation, adding a huge amount of wet wood, more herbs and sunflower weeds. Finishes almost smooth with its bitterness dying down, adding a drop of honey, which pronounces old malts and the subtle sweetness of the barrel outstandingly well, while its floral note still manages to cut through.

This is two things for me. First of all, the beer manages to unload an incredible complex flavor profile on the tongue with very unique and well working edges to it. Secondly, its mouthfeel, as well as its balance is superb. The beer stays on the palate for a truly long time, without becoming too sour, bitter or overly mineralic - it is masterfully crafted with a fantastic intensity once it unfolds on the tongue.