Mueuze
Meuse Brewing Company

Pours a hazy, golden orange with no head, very clear, but effervescent looking bubbles running up the glass. Looking closet, you can see little droplets shooting up as the bubbles hit the top. This is quite a unique look. I aspirated the yeast back in as I love yeasty beers, and Meuse brewing likes to leave quite a lot of sediment behind. This is top tier local.

Wow, yes. Yeast is is the nose but so is leathery, hay, funky notes. Citrus, apples, wooden and barnyard notes as well. Sour is present here, but it is remarkably blended into all the other notes. The sourness is not predominant, instead, the fruit notes have a little spin. The apples smell like green apples. The yeast is doughy, like sourdough bread that’s still fermenting before it’s final shaping before baking. Very enjoyable.

While taste follows the nose, fruit notes are sparkling and wonderful here. Not only do you get apples, lightly tart, grapes are here as well. Juicy but also slightly vinous. Without a doubt some apricot as well, as well as some orange and grapefruit. Gently sour throughout, but not quite puckering. Doughy malts and yeast come through on the back end towards the finish as the tartness recedes into a lovely, yeasty-malt ending. Just a little bit oak-y as well.

Light-medium bodied, mildly sour and tart without being overwhelming, tiny bubbles provide effervescent carbonation, but in a gently prickling way. I would describe the finish towards the dryer side, fairly crisp, pleasantly long and subtle finish of bready malts, yeast, very lightly astringent flavours of fruit.

Finding a balance in Gueuzes is hard — harder for North American brewers without hundreds of years of experience, in a very, very niche style. I would wager Meuse is probably not just one of the only breweries making Lambics in Canada, but all of North America. Mixed cultures, aged for years is a tricky wicket, and they hit a home run as far as I am concerned.

NOTE: the Mueuze Cuvée on BA is listed as a wild ale. Technically true, I think it’s likely a Lambic/Gueuze. Not just the name which is a portmanteau of Meuse (brewing) and Gueuze, but this is the description: “Mixed culture sour ale aged for three years in oak barrels. Inspired by blended lambics of Belgium”. Also, it tastes like a (very well blended, complex) Gueuze as well. Take from that what you will.