Hi Belgian.Belgian wrote:Right, the Belle Vue Gueuze the LC had some 15 years ago was well worth the $36.00 for a twelve-case. These simpler Gueese have a place, sadly not the St. Louis for me (*shudder*) and the Belle Vue is made no more (got to say it really kicked some ass alongside Tex-Mex food from Coyote Willie's at Queen and Broadview...)admviolin wrote:I LOVE the St. Louis. US prices are around $3-4, Volo is about $12.
A better Gueuze than the Cuvee Rene, really sour up front but not alot of complexity like more expensive gueuzes.
Anybody have experience/opinions with good "everyday" Gueuze that are solid amazing beers just not overpowering? I still haven't even tried the DreiFonteinen ones I picked up...
I think I'm understanding your question correctly, but I'm not sure.
Lambics (and by extension Geuze which is a blended Lambic) are generally classified in two categories.
1. Traditional Lambic
2. Commercial Lambic
Of the beers you mentioned in your post, the Bellevue Geuze is a commercial Lambic, all of Girardin products fall firmly into the Trad Lambic category and judging by your reaction to the St-Louis ("yeesh"), you could have had either their sweet commercial Geuze or their wonderfully sour traditional Geuze Vieille Provision - depending on your predilections. Trois Fontaines, or Drie Fontenen only exports Traditional Lambic but they have the most delectable /remarkable sweet commercial Lambic in their café located in Beersels, just south of Brussels). In fact, their little kriek I had there was an aha! moment as in... "That is why that style exists!"
Traditional and commercial Lambic are so different from one another that there is virtually no chance even an amateur beer drinker could not recognize both styles independently once they've had one of each.
Traditional Lambic are characterized first by a very potent sourness that can be off putting the first few times you have one (especially if you start off with some of the more robust examples - ie. Girardin or Cantillon products). This is lent to them by the microbiota that pervades the air in the Senne River Valley in the coldest months of the year - read a blend of some 300+ organisms that inoculate the wort, most notably lactic acid producing bacteria and a variety of wild yeast. Next they are ALWAYS dry because the blend of organisms in the beer will ferment the base beer down so much that it becomes perfectly safe for diabetics (SPG 1.001-1.003 for the home brewers out there). Then it is never hoppy. They use old stale hops, only in the boiling (primary hop) process to extract their antiseptic properties, and a 3 hour boiling of the wort virtually guarantees that none of the herbal hop character remains. Finally, they are typically amongst the most effervescent beers produced in the world.
A Geuze will be produced by blending old Lambic (typically 18-24 months) with young ones (6 months) to the desired acidity.
Commercial Lambic used to be produced by taking a young Lambic and sweetening it with surgars or fruit varietals, and serving them very shortly afterwards. The sugars would ferment out fairly quickly, and the beer would become dry as the microbiota would consume them, rendering them more like a traditional Lambic if not drunk soon enough. What the commercial Lambic producers have been doing, is killing the base beer (heating it up) so that the microorganisms are dead and cannot ferment out the added sugars so that the beer remains sweet. I believe the common practice now is to use either a very young Lambic, or I suspect more likely they are blending a young Lambic (5-10%) with a lager. Then they sweeten it with their chosen sugars/fruit and carbonate it. This results in slightly sour (if you look for it) beer that is characterized by a predominant sweetness.
So to answer one of your questions, I no longer like any of the commercial Geuze, but I do remember when I did. I remember Boon Geuze as being slightly better then Bellevue, Liefman's (edit:sorry-I meant Lindemans), Mort Subite, Chapeau and the rest of their gang. Of the commercial Lambic, Leifmans (edit: sorry - Lindemans) is generally noted as the best producer, but Chapeau made excellent ones - in fact my fovorite ones- i think they use a reasonable young lambic before sweetening it.
The commercials is a path many of us go through until we discover and start to appreciate the traditional variety. I agree with you that there is a room, a place for these types of beer. I often serve it to women who don't like beer (commercial fruit Lambic) and it is a good path to discovering their true crown jewels, the traditionals.
