As a law student on both a budget and a diet, I decided to indulge once a week in my love for craft beer. The result was a weekly ritual involving an in depth look into the specific beer I chose. The following are my picks for The Beer of The Week. I urge you to go out and support craft beer, both locally, nationally, and internationally. Most importantly, find that time during the week to sit, relax, and indulge! Cheers!
![Beer of the Week 108 - 2/15/2012: Brouwerij Girardin Gueuze 1882 (Black Label)
I am trying more and more to find good gueuze to review, but with so few really good producers of the style, it makes it hard to track down a good one. However, Girardin’s 1882 Black Label was worth tracking down.
As I have pointed out on a previous Beer of the Week, gueuze is “[a] traditional Belgian blend of young and old Lambics, which are then bottled after blending, then aged for 2-3 years to produce a dryer, fruitier and more intense style of Lambic. There is no hop character, some are filtered and force carbonated if not pasteurized as well. Some say that this is the more harsh lambic as the sourness is pretty intense.”
Girardin’s Gueuze was certainly not a departure from that description. The aromas were a mix of dry, musty, barnyard scents. An aroma of what I can only describe as a “horse blanket” was also present adding to the musty, funk that was there. Fruity scents of lemon and orange zest also mixed in nicely adding a sour sweetness to the aroma. There were also faint hints of apple and pear - light white fruits - that added a bit to the sweetness. There was an ever so slight vinous quality to the aroma as well.
The flavor was really what blew me away. Sour apples, pears and peaches rolled around my tongue mixing nicely with the dry, musty funky flavors that were present as well. There was a really nice balance between the sweetness and the sourness. The sourness is acidic that is really highlighted when you catch the fruitiness from the lemon and orange zest. I think balance was the name of the game here. It was not too tart and funky, and it was not too sweet and acidic; making this one one of the better gueuze I have come across.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lzg19mMAdO1rnbaqro1_1280.jpg)
Beer of the Week 108 - 2/15/2012: Brouwerij Girardin Gueuze 1882 (Black Label)
I am trying more and more to find good gueuze to review, but with so few really good producers of the style, it makes it hard to track down a good one. However, Girardin’s 1882 Black Label was worth tracking down.
As I have pointed out on a previous Beer of the Week, gueuze is “[a] traditional Belgian blend of young and old Lambics, which are then bottled after blending, then aged for 2-3 years to produce a dryer, fruitier and more intense style of Lambic. There is no hop character, some are filtered and force carbonated if not pasteurized as well. Some say that this is the more harsh lambic as the sourness is pretty intense.”
Girardin’s Gueuze was certainly not a departure from that description. The aromas were a mix of dry, musty, barnyard scents. An aroma of what I can only describe as a “horse blanket” was also present adding to the musty, funk that was there. Fruity scents of lemon and orange zest also mixed in nicely adding a sour sweetness to the aroma. There were also faint hints of apple and pear - light white fruits - that added a bit to the sweetness. There was an ever so slight vinous quality to the aroma as well.
The flavor was really what blew me away. Sour apples, pears and peaches rolled around my tongue mixing nicely with the dry, musty funky flavors that were present as well. There was a really nice balance between the sweetness and the sourness. The sourness is acidic that is really highlighted when you catch the fruitiness from the lemon and orange zest. I think balance was the name of the game here. It was not too tart and funky, and it was not too sweet and acidic; making this one one of the better gueuze I have come across.
-
pirate1397 liked this
-
xxthesmittenkittenxx liked this
-
thebeeroftheweek posted this
