Drie Fonteinen Oude Geuze (2010): OPEN WITH CAUTION

I always open my C&C beers under tables for this exact reason.

 

I recently opened a Fantome that left my dog hiding in the laundry room.

 

I had a 750ml St. Bernadus 12 in my fridge for about a month and opened it immediately after removal and almost hit my friend's face. A lesson learned. I always assume the worst with bottle-conditioned beers.

 

Did it pop when you took the cage off? Try the bartender's trick.. put a towel over it when you open. That way the towel will catch it. I do this for champagne and it works like a charm.

 

Use a towel to open the bottles.

 

I had this happen with a De Cam Oude Gueuze except that it flew off with the cage and cork together.

 

Any time I suspect a cork is going to fly, I just point it away from anything fragile and let 'er rip. I'm kind of surprised there are people who don't like corks flying around.

 

A friend of mine whom I recently introduced to the wonders of Geuze recently sent me a panicked email: he untwisted the cage of a 3F Golden Blend and had an instantaneous cork rocket on his hands (but not a gusher). He was afraid he had done something wrong, or that there was something wrong with the beer (although he said it tasted great, of course). I simply assured him that this is to be expected from time to time with this style.

 

The other safe way to open a C&C bottle is to not pull the cork up, pull the bottle down in a twisting motion. It's a rarely powerful pop that will lead to trouble in that fashion.

 

I once made the mistake of leaning over a C&C bottle while opening it, and came within a few inches of getting hit in the eye by the cork (which easily hit the 20-foot ceiling above me). Never again.

 

I had that happen to me a few weeks ago when opening a bottle of Odell Singularity. The cork bounced off of the ceiling and the popping noise literally scared the shit out of one of my dogs.

I also have a few bottles of the Nov. 18, 2010 bottling of 3F Oude Gueuze. Thanks for the heads up, jegross2. I'll be extra careful when opening those.

 

You could kill someone with a brooklyn local 1

 

I always saber my c&c bottles off the back patio.

 

This is exactly why I always aim a corked bottle at someone I don't care for upon opening, generally at their chest.