Getting into lambic and gueuze

I like the fruited lambics, but I can't get into the gueuze's at all. The ones I tried were drain pours

 

Having Allagash nearby was definitely a plus for me, but the beers that really got me headed into sours full on we're the dry hopped sours like Lagunitas Aunt Sally and Sorry Chicky (Burley Oak? Can't recall the brewery off the top of my head). And sour reds/Flemish ales like Monks Cafe. Eventually moved along to Hannsens Oude Kriek and Allagash Coolships. Hand me a sour now and I'll drink it and enjoy it or tell you it's not great. Was definitely a jump from my IPA fascination. I'd stick to Grimm and decent imports like Monks Cafe or Silly Sour since they are good and pretty easy to find.

 

Lindemans Gueuze Cuvee Rene is very good.

 

I would hold off on trying anything from Cantillon, if you didn't like the Tilquin. Agreed that you need to work your way into it. I suggest trying Flanders Red and Oude Bruins first. They have the malty backbone you would prefer, with balanced funky/acidic wild yeast characteristics that don't get too sour or tart. Grab a 4 pack of Ommegang Rosetta. It's an Oude Bruin that is really well balanced, and a personal favorite of mine. Very affordable and well made for the style. Kind of similar to the Lindemans fruit lambics you've had, but less sweet with more yeast complexity.

 

Definitely a solid beer to get started with, and even when you're up and running. But for the op, the price, availability and more 'user friendly' blend makes it a great choice to keep going back to in order to acclimate to the tartness and flavor profile of the style.

 

It's commendable that you're trying to expand your horizons by trying new styles, but why dwell on those two styles when there are so many other good ones? I've recently endeavored to try all 104 styles recognized by BA, now stuck at 97. As I approached each new one, I studied them on BA by going to the BA list for that style, sorting first on score, then find the top five with the most number of reviews. You need to do this to avoid the ones that only have one or two reviews, and high scores because they are likely one-offs or tap-only which you probably would never find. Take that list of the top 5, and see which are distributed in New Jersey and nearby states. Some will argue that tastes vary, etc - but if you're talking hundreds of reviews and an average score over 4 then the beer is certainly noteworthy.

Lindemans lambics, and Ommegang Rosetta are indeed good.

 

If you don't like Tilquin, please don't waste your money on Cantillon or Drie Fonteinen just yet. Cut your teeth on available cheaper lambics like Lindeman's Cuvee Rene and Cuvee Rene Kriek, Girardin 1882 Black Label, Hanssens, Oud Beersel, and Boon.

Tilquin Oude Gueuze is my favorite straight gueuze (and many respected palates in the industry agree, discounting crazy one-offs of course), and if you didn't like it, you won't like Cantillon or Drie Fonteinen. Fruited lambics from these real lambic producers ("real" meaning unsweetened) are hardly similar to Lindemans Framboise. Certain vintages of Fou Foune have been some of the most sour beers that I've ever had (though they had nuance beyond that, but the price of entry that you pay in pucker is steep), and it sounds like that is not what agrees with your palate at this point. Cantillon fruited lambics have loads of fruit character but very little sweetness.

The cost of entry for heavy hitters like Cantillon and Drie Fonteinen (and even Tilquin I would say) is just not worth where you're at in your lambic journey. Grow to like the style more in its true, unsweetened form, and then come back for the big guys.

As a sidebar, I don't recommend that you seek out any American lambics. The ones that are anywhere close to even second tier genuine Belgian lambics are way too pricey and rare to be worth your while.

While Rodenbach Grand Cru and the rest of the great Flanders beers are wonderful, I am not sure that they (or Berliner weisse, American wild ale, or gose) are really going to help you get into lambics. Lambic is much more than just sourness, and I find that no other beer style contains such intense funk (barring some extreme saisons, like Fantome for example).

Learn lambic through lambic, and accept no substitutes.

Honestly, just drink Lindemans Cuvee Rene Gueuze and Cuvee Rene Kriek until you embrace the funk.

 

as a lover of lambics who HAD to take use training wheel lambics before i got my hands on 3f and cantillon because they just are not available to me at all. i had to start with cuvee rene kriek and the gueuze then went to hanssens and then boon(so im just jealous you can go right to fou) if you can jump right into the deep end go for it and spend all that cash or you can just go to a good bottle shop and find the producers i mentioned for 10 bucks a bottle and play with those with ageing and taste tetsting.

 

If you get the chance to try anything from Cantillon, I'd say take it. And if you don't like their beer at first, don't sweat it ... chalk it up to experience and keep trying! I gave up on Jester King about four beers into trying their stuff in 2013. I came back in 2015 and now JK is my favorite brewery.

Goses are a great gateway to sours, but you're right -- they're not farmhouse funky. Cuvee Rene is a better litmus test. If you like that beer, you're on the path to the farmhouse. If you don't like Cuvee Rene, you're probably only going to enjoy fruited lambics/farmhouses/wilds.

An open mind and the heart to fight through a few pints in the early going will get you to the land of sours. As a full convert I can testify that once there, you won't go back.

 

Honestly, I think if you have the disposable income along with the opportunity to get your hands on Cantillon I would take it. Even if it's not love at first taste it's worthwhile to try any world class beer when the opportunity presents itself.

 

... Hmm. Are the relatives buying?

Kidding aside, it's an interesting question, and I see both sides. I visited Russian River long before I was a craft beer fan, and I'll always wonder what I drank (and didn't drink) that day. You're aware enough to appreciate that there's a rare opportunity here. Good problem to have. I think I'd go for it, so long as the sticker shock won't turn you off sours forever should something go wrong.

One other suggestion: I had to open my mind to sours, too, and an accessible Flanders Red along the way was Duchesse de Borgogne. Not so sweet as the Framboise, but there's a lot of fruit influence, and a lot of sour, too. I found it flavorful without being so "farm-y." Then again, as has been pointed out, a traditional lambic has a certain degree of funk. Good luck!

 

Not sure which styles you've come to enjoy, but as mentioned above there are "easier" ones to appreciate (gose, Berliner Weisse, etc). Of course you gotta go for it, but drinking the Cantillons might be like taking your 10 year old to the Louvre

 

The most recent batch of Fou Foune was not great, and contained some pretty undesirable odors and flavors. If your palate is not refined to this style of beer, you could either be really turned off, or not notice the difference at all. I wouldn't spend the $50 if that's what they have. If they have the Classic Gueuze, that's what I would go for. Drie Fonteinen Oude Gueuze is pretty special as well, and that is far easier to come by. If you really want to appreciate these styles, I would recommend getting away from the fruited stuff to start. Building an appreciation for the base beers will only make you love the fruited stuff even more.