As the years have slipped away, my passion for beer has waned a bit but the cellar still has remnants of my passions of yesteryears that scratch the itch when needed. I still have alot of respect and admiration for some of the "OG"s in the New England scene like Allagash, Hill Farmstead, Maine Beer Co., Oxbow and the Alchemist among a few others that I am probably blanking on, and if I find myself at a restaurant or event with a crappy wine list, outrageous spirit prices or slim choices, one of my old "stand bys" will always come from this camp of OG's. Recently, while sipping a few wines with a friend from the wine industry, he glanced at the beer shelfs in my cellar and stated he had never tried a vintage beer... and as I mentioned back in the Chinon post, we cracked a De Struise Pannepot Reserve 2011 and it was everything I hoped it to be. After this moment, I began to wonder how some of these lambics and gueuzes were doing as some have crested into the 10-15yr old time frame. Knowing the same wine industry buddy along with a longtime tasting partner and friend that has wandered through similar journeys of beer, wine and spirits were converging on the homestead for a tasting I though it apt to do a cellar check on some bottles I had multiples of and see where they are at.
I'm happy to report each and every one proved to be expressing itself beautifully with even more grace and complexity then both of us expected, I leave my wine bud out of this equation of assessment as he has had limited experience with any lambics and my longtime tasting partner is just as versed if not more than myself in tasting these funky Belgian gems. In fact the Framboise was from his cellar!
My Brief Thoughts:
Brouwerij Boon Mariage Parfait 2011 (88pts)
(Dusty old wood, earthy mushroom, limestone, lemon pith, dried apricot, tangelo oils, dry floral hay)
Bzart Lambiek 2012 (86pts)
(Dried straw, floral grass, horseblanket, lemon peel, lavender, extra dry still but evolving with some nice oxidative orchard fruit undertones)
Hanssens Oude Gueuze 2013 (93pts)
(Juicy tangerine, citrus bomb with bright acidity, great supple stonefruit interplay of sweet nectarine and fuzzy peach, wet basement stones, med plus mouthfeel adds some nice weight to this one making is a standout with the bright acidity and layers of citrus punch!)
De Cam Oude Lambiek 2015 (92pts)
(Old wood, earthy mushroom, tangy citrus, nectarine, slight herbal sage, pineapple, soft and supple with no bubble on release but a touch of prickle now at 10yrs old. Nice balance and focus from start to finish)
De Cam Framboise Lambiek 2015 (86pts) *not pictured
(Musty old raspberry fruit, tomato leaf, funky wood, lemon peels, the acidity and the old stewed raspberry kind of leans into a ketchup hint that I couldn't get away from, but there was some freshness and brightness that was highly enjoyable, just a lil wonky)
Overall, as I spoke about at the start of this post... these were all showing beautifully and I feel like they are only getting better with age. It will be interesting to watch them mature even more as the years of rest seemingly bring a cohesive balance between funk and acidity!
What is the oldest Lambic or Gueuze you have sipped?
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