The Bar Towel

I recently recieved a wonderful gift from the owners of a restaurant in Hull, Quebec. Found in the bottom of a an old dusty wine cellar, a dusty, and somewhat damaged bottle of Belle-Vue Gueuze dated 1981.

I am debating whether I should open it up and give it a try or not. I know that Lambics have great shelf life, but 25 years?

The bottlecap is a tad rusty on the outside, purely superficial as I can tell. There is also a healthy amount of sediment in the bottle.

What do you guys say. Should I open it, or shouldn't I? I'm curious about the taste, but I am also a bit worried about the health issues...

How could you not? I've got a 96-97 bottle of Boon Gueze that's got a best before of 2020. It'll never survive that long without me drinking it. In fact, it'll most likely go as soon as I get another batch of Boon.

You are extremely lucky! Enjoy it.

My 2 cents:

If you're not interested in keeping the bottle full as some sort of souvenier, then I'd say crack it open, pour it into a glass, and I think the aroma alone will probably give you a really good indication as to whether it's drinkable or not, my guess is it would be pretty nasty, not sure what the alc% is, I'm not expert in aging beers, but I think it would probably have to be _at least_ in the 8-10% range to be able to survive that long...

But if the nose is Ok, then try some, I seem to remember reading that regardless of what happens to the beer in the bottle, it wouldn't kill you, and as I say, you'll know before you swallow it anyway, if it tastes fine, go for it, if it's nasty and vinegary, then of course chuck it...

I've got a full, unopened bottle of Newcastle Brown Ale from 1984 that my wife picked up at a garage sale! (clear glass ~ 650ml) I have ABSOLUTELY NO INTENTION of ever cracking it open, I'm sure it would be NOT GOOD!

Let us know how it works out...

Drink it. If it's been kept cool & dark, there no reason why it wouldn't be drinkable, I think.

-Josh

If it smells at all sour you better dump it right quick

if youre not drinking it you could probably sell itfor some nice coin.

I'm not sure of the timing, but if that was made before Belle Vue became part of Interbrew, you may have something very special on your hands. Although JWalter is right that most lower abv beers aren't built for aging, lambics are a different beast entirely. Belle Vue has proved with its Selection Lambic that it can make the genuine article, so if this was made before Interbrew started tinkering and dumbing down, it could be really good.

If you really want a good opinion, try messaging JorisPPattyn on Ratebeer (I assume you're the same iguenard that's on RB, apologies if I'm incorrect). He'd likely be able to tell you what kind of quality it was to begin with and what 20 years may have done to it.

I say do it, what can heppen?! Get some Tex-Mex grub to go with it.

I didn't mind Interbrew Belle Vue, it was a terrific quaffer compared to other lightweight Lambics. This one can only be better, let us know.

Salut Ian,

I would actually raise the question to Joris Pattyn on ratebeer. I myself tasted a 1987 Kriek Hannsen from his cave, and it was a delight! Joris is very knowledgeable about these things!

Luc

Thanks for the replies all!

I've decided to postpone the experience. I will definitely drink it, but only on a special occasion. Looking at what's left of the label, I can discern the following:

BRUXELLES - ANCS ETS PH.VANDENSTOCK - R.DELAUNOY STR - BRUSSEL

GUEUZE LAMBIC BELLE-VUE - OSCAR EXPORT 1981

250 ml (Looks like the centilitre fashion started later)

The obvious BIG unknown is the conditions the bottle was kept in. If it was perfectly cellared then it might still be drinkable...please do post what advice you get from Joris Pattyn, I'm curious now.

It was cellared along with high quality wines in a french restaurant. Bought in 1981, it was stored in the humid wine cellar vertically and forgotten for a few decades in the corner of the room. The high humidity of the cellar made the top of the bottlecap accumulate some rust, but the integrity of the cap itself seems to be just fine.

I daresay, its close to perfect conditions. But goes to show, maybe a wine cellar isnt perfect for storing beer with an alluminum cap. or has the materials changed since then?

Interesting.

It will be interesting to open it and see what lies within. Last thought...have the glass ready right beside the bottle. If it froths out on opening you'll want to catch as much as you can...if it is drinkable it would be a shame to lose some to spillage.

That bottle of Hardys 1968 was up in the 110.00 range when I looked at it on E bay, maybe you should hang on to it for another 15 years. Will it ever fetch a price like this?

Just don't forget that it is only a belle-vue product. There is a slight possibility that 25 years ago, the beer was not as dumbed down as it is today. Perhaps it was not filtered and pasterized and if so, it might actually be quite good (sour!).

I opened a 5 year old belle vue kriek (or was it mort-subitte but same difference) and it was a tad more dry and a little better than the young one. Certainly nothing to write home about.

I can't imagine why you would not open the bottle. It has no commercial value, it is likely a very average beer, with presumably low to no carbonation (seeps out of the cork with time). It is highly unlikely to have gone bad. The worst thing that can happen is that you won't enjoy drinking it and so be it.

Stop losing sleep over the question, open it up and drink it. I highly doubt the product will warrant all this broue-ha-ha. It is just a sweet commercial lambic that has yet to be openned. The best case scenario might be that Bellevue actually made a good product in the early eighties, and then you would get to find out...

One other thing. If it is good it WILL smell acidic, vinegary, with barnyard type aromas as well. DO drink it if it does smell like this, even though in other beer styles, these would be faults.

Happy drinking.

dhurtubise wrote:The best case scenario might be that Bellevue actually made a good product in the early eighties, and then you would get to find out...

Don't forget that Belle Vue actually made a decent product into the late 90s - MartinT's review from Ratebeer of 1999 Belle Vue Selection Lambic sampled this year:

A 1999 bottle was as enthralling believe it or not, intense mustiness, fat oranges, very aromatic, proud developing tartness, and nearly balancing fruity sweetness...Carbonation was somewhat of a deception, appearing almost tired, but the organization of flavors, complexity, and intensity scream authenticity...Same superb scores...

So Belle Vue can do the real thing. They just choose not to anymore.