Oud Beersel Bzart Lambiek
Brouwerij Oud Beersel

 

April 2014: Shared 750 ml bottle at local tasting. Golden colour, pours fizzy with a white head. Lovely brett "farmhouse" aroma. The flavour is not quite as intense as the aroma, but still good, quite dry. Some hops in the aftertaste.

 

 

750ml bottle poured into a small tulip taster.

Dull golden color. Musty and funky nose with notes of oak and lemon meringue. Taste follows suit with a little more of a pronounced cheesy funk and barnyard. More vague fruitiness. Crackery malt and absolutely bone dry. Moderate tartness and acidity. Highly effervescent and aggressively scrubbing. Very interesting to have a lambic made in the champenoise method. This really aged like a champ.

 

 

 

Bottle: Poured a hazy bright yellow color ale with a large foamy head with OK retention and some light lacing. Aroma of tart notes with light oak and green apple notes is quite exquisite. Taste is also a wonderful mix of tart notes with some light oak and green apple notes with a dry finish with subtle funky finish. Body is about average with great carbonation which is reminiscent of champagne. A wonderful beverage that is in my opinion better then lots of sparkling wine out there.

Note: Brewed 03/2012, bottled 04/2013

A: Pours a pale to medium golden yellow in color with heavy amounts of fine active visible carbonation rising quickly from the bottom of the glass and faint apricot colored highlights. The beer has a two finger tall fizzy foamy white head that quickly reduces to a large patch of thin film covering a little more than 75% of the surface of the beer and a thin ring at the edges of the glass. Light amounts of lacing are observed.

S: Moderate to strong aromas of funkiness - definitely barnyard and straw with an almost cheesiness to the funk. Light to moderate aromas of lemon citrus, light fruit (white grapes), oak, white wine vinousness, and hints of stone fruit/peach + apricot.

T: Upfront there is a light to moderate flavor of pale malts with minimal, if any, sweetness associated with it. That is followed by moderate flavors of lemon citrus and light fruit (white grape). Next there is a slightly stronger than moderate flavor of stone fruit/peach + apricot, white wine vinousness, and oak. Finally there is a moderate to strong flavor of funkiness - wet straw, barnyard, and almost cheese. The funkiness is present through the entire taste and lingers for quite a while beyond the finish.

M: Just shy of medium bodied with heavy amounts of carbonation. Crisp with moderate amounts of acidic prickliness. Just a hint of dryness in the finish.

O: Picked up this bottle a little over two years ago when my son was born and have been waiting to open it, the end of 2016 seemed like a good time and it was definitely worth the wait. Definitely a funky smelling and tasting beer so definitely not for someone that does not appreciate the funk. Alcohol is pretty well hidden and this is an interesting beer - almost a hybrid of a Gueze and a Biere de Champagne.

this beer is woefully underrated, maybe it wasnt quite as dynamic and compelling when it was newer, but revisit it, it is drinking incredibly well right now, one of my favorite not fruited lambic experiences in a long time, and although maybe not as amazing as the kriek, still pretty incredible. made in the champagne method, so super dry and bubbly, almost clear, with a two inch head of big white bubbles, as pretty as the kriek in the glass, with an absolutely ridiculous nose, more funk than sour but a good mix of both. its oak and white wine, mature brett, melon, lemon rind, and farmy straw and hay in the summer. its rustic and amazing. the flavor is almost as good as the nose, but the aroma here is insane, especially right when its poured, almost snaps the head back, mouthwatering to the max, exactly what good lambic should be. it tastes a lot like their better lambics in terms of the base beer, its just the bottle conditioning process and maturity that has brought this thing to the next level. lemons, acidity, wet musty wood, hay loft, and white grape tannins are all there in the taste, which ramps up more and more intensely toward the finish. wheaty base has body, epic carbonation level, scary dry, just snappy as can be. i have to remind myself this was 55 bucks and to slow down and savor it, it really pretty much just wants to be poured right down the pipe. this is as good as anything out there in the lambic world right now, and if you can find one, pony up and treat yourself, you will not be disappointed. elite level lambic, im not sure why more producers dont finish them in this way, it really takes it to the next level!

 

 

Bottle. Pours a rich golden yellow. Frothy, bubbly head. Pretty looking. The nose is very saturated and intense. Super funky. Cheese and rind. Earth. Sour, nearly spoiled fruits. Oak and feral yeast. Flavor is musty and powerful. Such a rich Gueuze flavor. Really ramped up. Cheesy, earthy, woody, yeasty, incredibly tangy and tart. Lighter woodiness. Lemons and champagne. Full bodied for the style. Pungent and potent. Pretty cool actually. Probably the most concentrated and intense Gueuze as in the flavor and aroma is in no way light or soft. I have had ones more sour or tart but none so purely rich.

Beautiful brew, topped with a cloudy white head with good retention. Pale straw yellow and bubbly.

A fairly straightforward lambic in most respects: tart and slightly funky. The finish, however, gives it extra character: pears and apples. There's a touch of extra bite, too, likely due to the champagne yeast.

Active and lively brew. For anyone unfamiliar with a Gueuze, this likely doesn't even seem like a beer at all.