Oude Gueuze
Hanssens Artisanaal bvba

 

 

Look - orange syrup not head ing lacing
Smell - very earthy tart citrus grainy slight chemical
Taste - funky dry earthy grainy
Feel - medium body light carb slight syrup
Overall - this must be old and wonder how much better it could.be young

12.7oz corked and caged bottle. Dating badly smudged, but at least 4 years old.

Looks okay in the glass. Hazy dull orange body. Head dissipates very quickly, no lacing.

Somewhat funky on the nose, even a little cheesy. Barest hint of green apple.

On tasting, a little dry, quite sour. Mild funk, more green apple than the nose suggests.

Mouth barely reaches medium, finish a lasting dry sourness, spikes of bitterness now and then.

Overall, has its merits, but not as good as I was hoping for. Cork was a bit grubby on the edges, perhaps a mild contamination issue?

12.7oz green corked & caged bottle notched BOTTLED IN D 2016 (nearly 6 years old) poured into a teku glass at fridge temp 6% ABV. The beer pours mostly bright, soft medium amber in color with short lived, nearly white head. The head recedes to a few scattered bubbles about the perimeter of the glass. No lacing. The aroma is intense (like you can smell it while taking the picture) lemon, orchard fruit, horse blanket, funky cheese and vinegar. The taste is sour, overwhelming so to my palate, but I don't generally care for sour beer. Digging past my initial instinct to quit this bottle immediately, I get waves of citrus, big vinegar, and funky ass bleu cheese. Mouthfeel is thin bodied, highly carbonated and bone dry. Overall, I will capitulate to the BA overall rating of world class for a Lambic Gueuze and rate it accordingly. However, I would not serve this to a sworn enemy dying of thirst...

 

12.7oz green bottle. Label has bottling date as 'D' (December) '2018'.
Cloudy, pale amber/apricot colored body. Brief off white head. No lacing.
Aroma is leather and grass. Very fragrant. Like its body color there is a hint of stone fruit apricot.
Taste is sour, with tobacco and leather flavors. Also some cut hay. There is the apricot fruit here. The intensity mellows in the aftertaste, with a hint of fruit and oak remaining.
Tart mouth feel, with a drying sensation. Very good carbonation.
Somewhat like a sour white wine, but still somewhat complex.

 

 

 

 

 

Sample from bottle at RBNAG 2014, Halden, Grand Tasting. Golden colour. Lovely brett aroma, lemony and farmhouse notes. Even better sour flavour with loads of brett and lemony notes.

Bottled: April 2016

L: Pours a deep gold with light to light-medium haze. A slightly aggressive pour produces a white 2 finger head with some slight retention. After about 2 minutes the head has faded to a 3 mm ring around the circumference of the glass while the middle of the glass has a thin splotchy sheet of bubbles.

S: Lots of lemons, a hint of green apple, acetic acid, and some earthy and woody funk.

T: I get lemons riding throughout the whole palate with the barnyard funk coming in mid palate and riding to the back end. The back end is the aforementioned lemons and funk but accented by some green apple, oak, and a hint of earth. The finish is pleasantly tart.

F: Light to light-medium body with medium-light carbonation. The mouthfeel is prickly with a bit of dryness on the finish.

O: Complex and well balanced between the fruit and funk with a bit of oak to tie it all together. One of the better gueuzes I have had the opportunity to try. If Iambics are your thing this is highly recommended.

 

 

Blend of 2016, 2017, and 2018 lambics, so this was likely blended in 2019

New year, new beer! I'm very excited to try my first Gueuze, and planned to open it for New Year's Day 2021 (more like New Year's Night at this point). Let's just jump straight into this

Pours a cloudy orange gold with just a thin white cap that quickly fades to a ring and leaves no lacing, the carbonation is very visible

A lot of fruit and funk dancing around in the nose. I get notes of apricot, underripe peach, lemon, horse blanket, sharp oak, sweet malt, and a small touch of tobacco, oddly enough for a beer like this

The flavor evolves quite a bit throughout the sip here. What starts off smooth and balanced in sweet and sour, turns into a funky dry tartness. It starts with notes of lemon, white grape, crisp but full malt, and buttery oak that reminds me of chardonnay. The swallow brings notes of sharp oak, leather, tart and funky apricot, apple skin, vinegar, and a light floral character

A light body pairs with moderate carbonation for a very refreshing drinking experience. It feels light than the abv, but finishes a touch too sticky

This was a damn good beer, and I'm happy to have tried the style! I know there's better ones out there, and I'd love to have more. Happy New Year's BA, cheers to a better 2021!

L: Crystal clear amber color, massive four finger but quickly dissipating white head, no lacing to speak of, good carbonation.

S: Fruity, sour.

T: Fruity, lemony, sour, quite smooth, very dry.

F: Medium bodied, nicely flavored, smooth.

O: Nice sour.

 

 

 

375ml bottle from Beers of Europe (£4.99):
Sort of orange amber & cloudy with a 1cm, foamy white head that settles at a thin circumference lacing with a single patch in the middle. Sour with tart & fruity esters upfront but it's not as overpowering as some, I got a little orange & peach with a subtle acidity with apple & a white wine aroma towards the middle but it has a nice balance with some lemon & yeast at the end. It's more tarty with the taste, a lot of grapes & vinegar acidity with some funky flavours, lemon & strong floral flavours. It's yeasty & sharp with a sour, tangy finish. It's strongly carbonated & crisp with a light medium body that looses some of the initial balance as things go on.

 

Strong Carbonation and sour predominant taste. Lemon notes. Not as fruity as Krieg lambics I’ve had. Very nice beer though. Bottled 04/2016. Opened 8/2020.

 

 

Golden wheat with slight fizzy head, a loose ring persists

Sour oak, citrus yeast, lemon and orange peel, apricot, faint whiskey.

Tart, light-medium body, drying, leaves a nice oak fullness

Very good, even better with some age, this was about 2 years after bottling. Worth a try if you like sours

 

 

 

375 mL Bottle. ABV 6%.
Appearance: veiled peachy orange, soft carbonation, no head, simple but inviting.
Aroma: sour fruit, barnyard funk (straw, grass), lime, Apple, vinegar, slight sweet stone fruit,
Mouthfeel: medium body, low-moderate carbonation, mouth coating, puckering,
Flavour: lime, stone fruit, barnyard funk, very well balanced
Overall: outstanding Gueuze all around! This is just simply well done.

Review: 163

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hanssens Artisanaal bvba "Oude Gueuze"
750 ml green glass bottle, corked & caged; bottled in November 2015
$13.39 on clearance @ Roger Wilco, Pennsauken, NJ

Notes via stream of consciousness: Removing the cork I got a whiff of that funky, vinegary beauty. How can something that would normally smell really bad be so good? It's poured a hazy golden orange body beneath a short cap of bright white foam. I'm surprised that the head is holding up so well because they normally just drop away to nothing in sour beers. It's on its way out though. Back to the aroma, it's musty, sweaty, acetic, oaky, horsey, earthy, and fruity with sharp apple, dried apricot, pear, white grape, and lemon juice. It's pretty impressive, although if you've never tasted a gueuze before you might turn your nose up at it. On to the flavor... well I hate to tell you, but it's pretty much exactly as the aroma suggests it will be. Beyond some doughy malt it's a little leathery, softly peppery (black pepper), and there's some wet straw to it, but I'm not really finding more beyond that. As you might expect there's really no bitterness to it but it still finishes quite dry, with a bit of earthiness, crushed granite, and pepper lingering. In the mouth it's a touch astringent, and light-medium in body with a gently caress of very fine-bubbled carbonation which is all that's needed along with the pinch from the acidity. It's been a long time since I've had another gueuze of this caliber so it's hard for me to say where it might fit into the world of gueuze but it's pretty damned good.
Review #6,738

16.9 fl oz bottle from November 2016. Poured into a tulip glass, a hazy orange with little to no head after the initial bubbling wears off. Aroma is tart and sour, with pear and apple notes. The flavor is right in line. Oak. Carbonation is slightly above medium. First I have had of the style, so I don’t have much to judge it against. Seems pretty good if you like sour , pear/ apples.