Mike Loves Beer

Name – Gueuze Girardin 1882 Black Label
Country – Belgium
Type – Gueuze

It’s a Saturday afternoon and I just finished work.  Yes I’m working on the weekend.  But a small price to pay to have next Thursday through Sunday off to go to Colorado for the Great American Beer Festival along with nearly countless other beer related activities.  But again my work day is over and it’s time for a beer.  This treat is from a trip to Tampa.

We don’t get many sour beers down here in South Florida.  We especially don’t get any gueuzes so when I saw this bottle it just jumped into my hands as if it was a puppy that I spotted at the humane society that just knows I am his rightful owner.  And who am I to say no to a cute little puppy, or I mean beautiful gueuze.  Yeah I’ll leave the beautiful in there.

I poured it into my Bruery tulip carefully as there was a good amount of sediment on the bottom.  I’ll save that for later.  It was a slightly cloudy orangish color that starts collecting a large bubbly head.  But before I can even finish saying “large bubbly head” it disappears into a thin white line across the top of the brew.

The aroma is very forward but not harsh in the slightest bit.  Apple cider vinegar is the primary scent I pick up with a backing of sour funk and lemon.  Phil from Dos Beerigos had mentioned to me that the bottle of this that he had contained a very unpleasant smell to it.  You might even say he thought it smelt like shit.  Not in this bottle Phil.

I was a bit surprised by the taste.  Of course it is funky and sour but I get a distinct hay taste in there along with sour apple.  It has some wood like qualities in the back and then there is an almost medicine like after taste to it.  I can’t really decide whether the wood makes it pleasant or the medicine taste makes it a bit off putting.

While I found this to smell a lot like other gueuzes I have had before the taste was different.  It is much more funky with a lot of strange flavors than it is just sour and tart.  I like this but it has an off after taste.  I know saying a lambic has an off taste is a lot like saying that a curry is spicy.  It comes hand in hand but there is something stranger to this.  I can’t quite completely like it but I also can’t completely dislike it.

It’s like back to the dog.  He’s so cute and loving but he eats my flip flops.  He is so good around other people but when they leave he takes a crap on the floor.  Maybe we were destined for each other but we are just going to get by living with each other.

Grade – B-

Name – Lindemans Gueuze Cuvée René
Country – Belgium
Type – Gueuze

Appearance – Pours mostly clear but with some haze to it.  Nice orange color with a big, fluffy white head that laced the glass nicely.

Smell – The Belgian yeast and slight farmhouse funk to it but with a malty sweetness

Taste – Sour and funk. Very nice hints of lemon and green apple along with the yeasty and funkiness you would expect.

The first of my beers reviewed from when I was in PA.  Sure we get Lindemans down our way but I have never seen the Gueze before, probably because Gold Coast doesn’t want to carry it.  It was a wonderful treat that I had on a Friday afternoon getting ready for the Philly Beer Week Opening Tap ceremony.  The sour and the funk mix well together without one overpowering the other.  This is a great beer for the season and just a great beer overall.

Overall Grade – A