Oud Beersel Oude Geuze

[redsturgeon]

I was drinking this stuff yesterday, very nice. I'm not a huge fan of geuze/lambic style beers but I have to say this stuff was very drinkable indeed.

One think that amazed me though...looking at the best before date...2035!

How can that be right?

John

[Slarti]

Filtered and pasteurised?

Or in other words, dead.

Slarti

[redsturgeon]

Filtered and pasteurised?

Or in other words, dead.

Slarti

I'd be very surprised if it was.

I'm sure Hal will know.

John

[redsturgeon]

I did my own research

from:

http://www.milkthefunk.com/wiki/Gueuze

Some gueuzes are filtered and force carbonated if not pasteurized as well. There is some legal protection in the EU to differentiate sweetened gueuze from the traditional version, but not all producers follow this nomenclature. According to EU law, the term "Gueuze" denotes a blend of spontaneously fermented lambic which is inoculated by ambient air during cooling. Gueuze must meet certain OG, color, pH and bitterness standards and the oldest component of the blend must be aged in oak for at least 3 years [1]. The terms Oude and Vielle are associated with a more traditional product, although not all traditional g(u)euzes follow this nomenclature (for example, Cantillon and Girardin). "Oude" or "Vielle" Gueuze must additionally be a blend of lambics which are on average of more than one year old, undergo a secondary fermentation on the sediment in bottles, have a minimum volatile acidity and a minimum total acidity [2]. Some examples of traditional gueuze exist without being labeled as "oude" or "vielle" however sweetened, pasteurized and/or filtered examples will not be called "oude" geuze.

So it would appear not pasteurised.

John

[JMN2]

I would assume when aged that beer would get some even more sour notes, perhaps thin out a bit more ie more character, sames as an imperial stout might get more bretta, lactose and even port like flavour. I drink my beers young and fresh although I did invest £2 a bottle for two Hardy's Ale at Redhill Beer festival, one from 1980(?), the other from 1981. I will crack them open next Christmas at my new home and will report any sherry or port like "bucket" and flavour notes.

[Hallucigenia]

I was drinking this stuff yesterday, very nice. I'm not a huge fan of geuze/lambic style beers but I have to say this stuff was very drinkable indeed.

One think that amazed me though...looking at the best before date...2035!

How can that be right?

John

I'll never miss an opportunity to get out one of my favourite charts, the ratings from a vertical tasting of 14 vintages of Stille Nacht by Dolle :
http://www.dedollebrouwers.be/media/ima ... 6_0001.jpg

As you can see it peaks after about 5 years and is still drinking as well after 10 years as it does when fresh, although it's clearly in decline.

Now it's not a fair comparison in that Still Nacht is a big heavy Christmas beer of about 12%, but it makes the point that like wine just because a lot of light beer is made for early drinking, it doesn't mean that a small fraction of it can be cellared for a long time.

However wine doesn't have to have a best-before date. I get the sense that the Belgians tend to the view that they will treat the law on best-before dates with the degree of contempt it deserves and just slap 20 years or more on anything they think will keep - I think the furthest out I've seen is 25 years. Or they just put a bottled on date.

"Or in other words, dead."

Define "dead". When you leave lambic to ferment in cask, the ale yeast is dead within 3-6 months as the alcohol and acidity kill it off- but that doesn't mean there's not a whole zoo of other organisms fermenting away that can tolerate more extreme conditions. So there's usually some fermenting organisms left in the bottle of a lot of good Belgian beer, but it may not be traditional brewers' yeast.

I'm not the greatest fan of sour beers in general, but some of the barrel-aged krieks can be absolutely stunning.

http://web.archive.org/web/201604210500 ... g/317.html