1001 Beers

   

Beer No: 1/1001
Page No: 885
Category: Specialty

Welcome to beer #1 of 1001.  I could find no better way than to start out with a recently purchased gueuze from my refrigerator.  The suggested serving temperature is 50-57°F and my fridge is luckily kept at exactly 55° thanks to a wonderful temperature controller.  It's no secret that my favorite beer style is that of lambics or gueuzes.  I love my beers sweet, yet sour.  I love that wonderful tart, bitter finish to a perfectly carbonated beverage that is able to balance the sweetness of the malts and fruits and the sourness of spontaneous fermentation.  Lambics and gueuzes are, in my opinion, true standouts in the beer world - something that most people have never tried, nor will they want to try without some prodding.  Most people expect the same old swill every time they sit down to the bar, why go out of their comfort zone to try something new?  And if they are willing to try something new, why go so far outside the norm to a sour beer like this?

Well, quite simply, sour beers are amazing.  They are truly god's gift to us as beer lovers.  And the test of a truly amazing beer is the ability for it to balance the sweet with the sour, balance the malts with the hops, and put forth a consistently amazing product.  For those new to the beer world, I will copy the definition of both lambic and gueuze from the glossary of 1001 Beers:

Lambic: Spontaneously fermented beer whose traditional home is in the Pajottenland area around Brussels.

Gueuze: A blend of young and older lambic, which produces a sprightly champagne-like freshness; different spellings refer to the French (geuze) and Flemish (gueuze) variations.

So here we have a Flemish (gueuze) variation from Belgium.  It was first brewed (obviously) in 1882 and is 5.5% ABV.  1001 Beers goes on to give some background on this once-secret brewery located on a hill in the remote Flemish Brabant village of St.-Ulrkis-Kapelle.  This amazing aerial view reminds me once again why I must visit Belgium some day.  It goes on to explain that the former brewer, Louis Girardin, ran a closed-off enterprise and very few were able to glimpse inside the brewery and see the inner workings.  After his death in 2000, his two sons, Jan and Paul took over and have moved to open up the brewery a bit more, which benefits us all.

And now, on to the rating.  All my ratings are being cross-posted at the wonderful RateBeer.com.

Girardin Gueuze Black Label from Brouwerij Girardin

Aroma: 9/10
Appearance: 4/5
Flavor: 9/10
Palate: 4/5
Overall: 17/20

Rating: 4.3 / 5.0

The beer has ample carbonation as the cork easily pops out and the beer almost fizzes over out of my glass. The head does not care to stick around though and quickly dissipates. All that is left is a thin ring of white bubbles around the edge. The coloring is a beautiful golden orange with small, fizzy bubbles.

Aromas of flowers, apples, and citrus. Smells absolutely amazing. Taste is sweet initially with a sour finish - hints of citrus, apples, salt, and bitterness. Finishes bitter, a hint of vinegar, with a refreshing aftertaste. I could drink this every day for the rest of my life and be happy. A fantastic start to my journey.