+1.
BTW, I think I have a TN for the Cantillon Brouscella somewhere up-thread. My thoughts/impressions of it mirror Doug’s.
EDIT: my Brouscella TN is post #8 of this thread.
Yes, I saw it. In fact, it is why I jumped on the Brouscella when I saw it yesterday!
interesting… very interesting… my first Gueuze
I think I like brett in beer way more than in wine.
Maybe a touch more sour than I prefer but I’m
digging it. Is there a lactic acid thing going on here?
there’s a milky sourness coating the back of my mouth
Biere Trois Dames Oud Bruin “Grande Dame”
What an incredible aroma of tangy fruit and wheat! In the mouth you have to search out sour notes as this is brilliantly balanced.
$23/750ml
Totally worth it, my Thanksgiving beer this year!
Peter:
Who’s the importer?
Shelton Brothers
Seattle heads - what shops have good beer selections around here? Just relocated from Boston and so far haven’t found anything with the depth / breadth of choice found in the Boston area…can haz Gueuze in Seattle?
Today in Barcelona … Cantillon Lambic … 25 cL … for 3.5 euro … on tap … hand-pulled cask!!! Signifiantly better than the bottle of the same that I had a couple weeks ago in Paris. Furthermore, at the same place, was able to snag a 17oz. of the new Schlenkerla Helles Lagerbier for 3.5 euro, and a 750 of the 2005 Cantillon “Lou Pepe” Kriek for 15 euro!!!
I love this city! 
nice! I’ve been wondering if Cantillon (or other Lambic producers) did any cask conditioned stuff. I’d love to try some. I’ve never seen it in this country, even at my outstanding local beer bar that seems to get all kinds of rare stuff like the Cantillon Cuvee des Champions (all out of that, though, and I never tried it being the foolish person I am).
Knowing how good it is from ccask, I’d be willing to drive a couple hours to taste it again (if I had to). That ’05 Lou Pepe Kriek is getting uncorked in T-10 minutes. 
Epic night at Naja’s yesterday — maybe the most OTT beer day I’ve ever had there.
I brought a 5-year vertical of Drie Fonteinen Oude Gueuze, along with my two J.W. Lees Lagavulin Cask barleywines (which I will post about in the Barleywine thread).
The Drie Fonteinen vertical consisted of the following bottlings:
2004
2007
2008
2009
2010
The ‘07 and the ‘10 were in 750mL; the other three were in 375mL. All were caged and corked, although the ‘07 stood alone as the only one under artificial cork.
Ashley’s rankings of the vintages, from favorite to least favorite (non-blind):
2004
2007
2010
2009
2008
Z’s rankings of the vintages (non-blind):
2004
2008
2007
2009
2010
Z’s rankings of the vintages (blind): (he drank his glasses down to an equal level, and we hid the vintage markers on the bottom of his glasses, and rearranged them while he went to the bathroom, per his request)
2007
2009
2004
2008
2010
My rankings of the vintages (non-blind):
2004
2008
2009
2010
2007
Some thoughts:
This beer ages well … very well.
The ‘04 offered more depth than any of the other vintages, as well as more complexity (but for the stunning-but-young 2008).
The 2007 was flat and somewhat uninspiring – I wonder if the fact that it was under artificial cork somehow affected the beer in some way.
The 2008 was absolutely stunning, and I imagine that, four years from now, it will be better than the 2004 was today.
The 2009 and 2010 were nearly identical, and still showing lots of youthful brashness.
The 2004 and 2007 had little-to-no head, the 2008 had a very active, frothy head, and the 2009 and 2010 had a light mousse head.
Other tasters (bartenders and patrons) similarly preferred the ‘04 and the ‘08.
As far as I am concerned, this is still my favorite beer in the world.
Naja’s Facebook page should have some pics of this portion of the evening’s debauchery, for those of you whom might be interested.
Sounds like fun, Brian! Just curious. Was this the regular Oude Gueuze or the Oude Gueuze Vintage?
I think it was the regular Oude Gueuze, since I’ve never heard of the Oude Gueuze vintage. Each of my bottles had a bottling month and year stamped on it, but no vintage was otherwise indicated on the label.
Cantillon Cuvée Des Champions - 2010 bottling
2 year old, & dry hopped in barrel.
WOW! Amazing stuff!
I’ve been looking for a beer like this ever since I thought it might be nice to taste some hops in my Gueuze - pretty much after my first one.
This is the best brew of it’s type I’ve tasted. Drier & hoppier than Iris.
Cheers!
![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
Damn! A Sour-Lovers dream tasting!
Love the 3 Fronteinen brews, too. Never had more than 1 at a sitting.
Can’t profess to liking these 3 F Oude Gueuze better than the Boon Mariage Parfait, Cantillon Grand Cru 1900, or Girardin 1882 Black Label, but they are certainly among the best of the best in the Sour World.
Big Cheers to OTT with Sours!
Local pub has a slew of the Boon - Oude Gueuze “L’Anciene” (2007-2008) 375mL’s that they sell for 4.55 pound (approx. $8). I can easily see myself drinking through their stash. It’s an excellent brew, and is the first time I’ve seen the “L’Anciene” designation on this beer.
Mikkeller - “Spontanale” Gueuze
– tasted non-blind from a crown-capped 750mL bottle –
Found this bottle in Beer Temple in Amsterdam, probably one of the five best beer bars I’ve ever been in. Quite expressive on the Nose and Palate. This does have a lot of sourness going on, as one would expect from a gueuze, but it was incredibly disjointed, indicating that more time in bottle is needed. There was lots of pear and tart apple on the Nose. On the palate, flavors similar to that of the Nose, along with a strong dose of cigar spice. 5% alc… Very well done, but not as good as the “real deal” gueuzes coming out of Belgium. For a gueuze, I score this 7.0/10 (I’m tempted to go a bit lower for lack of typicity, but I think going down to 7.0 is well enough). As a “beer,” I’d score this 8.5/10.
Had the St. Louis Gueuze on draft at lunch today and agree - I really enjoyed it. I think this is only the second gueuze I’ve had so I’m still learning, but I have a few at home including the Cantillon that I’ve been hesitant to try until I get a little more exposure to the style. I might have to go for it after reading these thoughts, though.
someone at the shop today recommended this Gueuze
anyone had it?
brought one home but it was pretty $$
Never heard of that one, Mel. If you don’t mind saying, how much $$ was it?