Which Gueze?

ok ok ... buy a ticket and drink them all in Belgium :-)

 

They're not bad but I think of them as more of a gimmick.

 

I'll defend Boon, if need be, too! Seriously, several of the good products are blends (De Cam, Tilquin, and until recently 3F) or lean on outside production to round things off (3F still brings in goodies from its compatriots), so there's no shame in that game as long as it's not covered up. Recall that OB was brought back from the dead not long ago.

Varies but single-digit euros for the standards.

 

Does it say on the bottles of Oud Beersel that almost everything is brewed and stored at Boon. I know that stekerijen usually don't say what blend they used but at least it's done by the steker. I'm not too sure how that works at OB these days.

 

I had the 2013 Megablend fresh at the tour De Gueuze and it was good. I have a 09, 11 and 13 to try against the 15 and see how the different blends stack up down the road.
I personal don't think anyone relying on Frank Boon is a bad thing. While he may not get the status of other blenders his beers are good and relatively easy to find. The Cora 10 minutes from my house always has Boon in stock (occasionally Cantillon, but that's another story). I often use Boon to teach someone how Lambics and Gueuzes should taste. I start with Lindemen's so they get the feel of the style, though sweetened. Then I move to Boon to hit them with the sour and slight funk. If after a beer or two they are still interested I move on to Cantillon and Drie Fonteinen. Dismissing Boon and what they do with Lambics is like looking down on Sierra Nevada, both are there, both are good and I am never ashamed to buy either.

 

Boon Oude Geuze Mariage Parfait is one of my favorite geuzes. So drinkable, and various vintages are out there to be found.

 

De Cam Lambiek Special even more so. Have offered it up plenty of times in trades but zero interest. I'm down to my last bottle so hopefully it gets made again.

 

That's hands down my favorite fruit lambic.

 

Well, Boon Mariage Parfait may not have the complexity of a 3 Fonteinen, but it is pretty damn good, and more readily available and cheaper than most of the others (at least in Belgium). Ages nicely, too.

 

Can't recall tasting it. I have one bottle of '11, unopened. Any notes out there, always welcome.

 

Get the Drie and cantillon classic and figure out what one you like. Tilquin is putrid to me and oud beersel is ok but not worth cantillon prices

 

Sounds like a good deal. Sure it wasn't the Golden Doesjel? I remember that one being a little cheaper.

 

You mean a 4 year old lambic.

Of the 4 in the original post the Drie Fonteinen Oude Gueze is the best bet, the slightly incremental funk in the Golden Blend isn't worth the cost.

 

Curious to hear people's thoughts about Girardin gueuze in general, and their white label vs black label. Is the difference that the white label is filtered?