Girardin Gueuze 1882 (Black Label) - Brouwerij Girardin

aracauna

Georgia

4.47/5  rDev +3.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Easily the best gueuze I’ve had. The beer pours a beautiful pinkish amber verging on copper with a moderate, but dense, white head. The aroma is very fruity -- underripe peaches and apricots, horse blanket musty. The flavor is definitely sour, it comes across as salty by somehow activating those sensors on the tongue, but the saltiness turns into a puckering tartness on the back of the tongue. The tartness doesn’t overwhelm the rest of the beer, though as gree peach/apricot fruit mingles with a slight bit of sweetened toast malt. All of these flavors meld wonderfully into a complex and tasty lambic. Easier to drink than I expected, actually.

Serving type: bottle

02-22-2005 23:51:06 | More by aracauna

ThePorterSorter

New York

4.05/5  rDev -6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Picked up a 2013 bottle in DC

The beer pours a hazy golden yellow-amber with a thin, loose white head that dissipates down into a white halo without lacing. There appears to be ample carbonation without much visible sediment. The nose is mildly sour, non-skunky, with a very slight fruitiness reminiscent of tart cherries. The taste is just as mild mannered and drinkable as the nose packing in an initial malty, grainy sweetness, some back-end funk, and finishes with a semi-dry, tart, bitterness. This is certainly one of the most drinkable gueuzes I've had, and I'm liking how approachable and balanced this is compared to some of the funk-bomb gueuzes I'm used to drinking. Its mouthfeel is initially sweet, well carbonated, slightly funky and bitter in the finish. As the beer warms it packs in a bit more bitterness in the finish, which contributes to the beer's crisp, refreshing mouthfeel. I'm impressed with this $10/375mL shelf-gueuze over Hanssens and Tilquin alternatives and due to its superior drinkability. However, I'm not sure I'll try too hard to acquire more bottles (i.e. trade for more). If it were available in my area I'd gladly indulge.

Serving type: bottle

05-21-2013 00:41:54 | More by ThePorterSorter

nataku00

California

4/5  rDev -7.2%

05-19-2013 18:20:09 | More by nataku00

DStoked

Ohio

5/5  rDev +16%

05-16-2013 17:12:45 | More by DStoked

Texasfan549

Texas

4.25/5  rDev -1.4%

05-15-2013 22:55:50 | More by Texasfan549

kjkinsey

Texas

4.5/5  rDev +4.4%

05-15-2013 22:47:27 | More by kjkinsey

hatfulofhollow

Pennsylvania

4.5/5  rDev +4.4%

05-13-2013 16:11:20 | More by hatfulofhollow

MCImes

Minnesota

4.75/5  rDev +10.2%

05-12-2013 19:06:00 | More by MCImes

geedub11

United Kingdom (England)

4.25/5  rDev -1.4%

05-12-2013 08:54:07 | More by geedub11

Danny1217

Florida

4.5/5  rDev +4.4%

05-12-2013 08:47:50 | More by Danny1217

thebouch01

Pennsylvania

4.25/5  rDev -1.4%

05-12-2013 03:38:40 | More by thebouch01

YobroitsJoe

Maryland

4.75/5  rDev +10.2%

05-11-2013 06:32:32 | More by YobroitsJoe

SStein

North Carolina

4.5/5  rDev +4.4%

05-09-2013 09:49:51 | More by SStein

beernads

Florida

4/5  rDev -7.2%

05-08-2013 07:48:07 | More by beernads

ObeMaltKinobee

California

3.75/5  rDev -13%

05-08-2013 07:30:44 | More by ObeMaltKinobee

cadaugherty

Illinois

4.5/5  rDev +4.4%

05-07-2013 23:53:21 | More by cadaugherty

StPaulSuds

Minnesota

4.25/5  rDev -1.4%

05-07-2013 16:35:32 | More by StPaulSuds

cnbrown313

Illinois

4/5  rDev -7.2%

05-07-2013 14:09:16 | More by cnbrown313

chippo33

Vermont

3.5/5  rDev -18.8%

05-06-2013 19:07:40 | More by chippo33

Maxwell

Massachusetts

3.98/5  rDev -7.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

The beer pours a dark and hazy copper color with golden yellow highlights. The beer pours with a quarter-of-a-finger’s-width, creamy white head of tiny compact bubbles, and is replenished by a steady stream of bubbles coming from throughout the glass. The beer’s body is a cloudy haze of proteins and such, and the other side of the glass can only just barely be seen. On the nose, the beer smells properly barn-yardy, with touches of cherry fruit leather and salt. The funk is nice and dominant in the nose, and provides a nice spiced feeling to the nose, perhaps briefly suggesting peppers. Beneath the salty funk lies a nice citric smell, somewhere between lemons and grapefruits with a touch of pineapple thrown in. On the tongue, the beer tastes sweet up front, and then quickly dries into bitter and savory flavors with a medium strength acidity washing through the mouth. In flavor, the beer begins as salty fruity, almost like a pineapple. The fruit flavors grow in the mouth and introduce barnyard, cherry fruit leather, and some nice herbal grassy flavors in the finish and aftertaste. The finish moves towards a funky lemon flavor and has a nice long length. The lemon lasts into the aftertaste, blending with the grassy herbal flavors to leave a pleasant taste in the mouth. In the mouth, the beer feels on the light side of medium in body and crisp with a nice snappy and rough carbonation that scrubs the tongue free of any of the more cloying funk flavors. The mouth is left clean except for a nice pool of acid neutralizing saliva. Overall, this is a great gueuze with proper depth and complexity. If anything, I would call it a bit subdued in flavor though. It has all of the right components, but is too muted. The grassy bitters are also a little too strong and hold back some of the other flavors in the beer. This beer is a nice solid gueuze overall, though, and definitely worthy of a try.

Serving type: bottle

05-03-2013 17:24:16 | More by Maxwell

FliryVorru

Alabama

4.75/5  rDev +10.2%

05-02-2013 20:14:48 | More by FliryVorru

SPRichard

New Jersey

4.25/5  rDev -1.4%

04-26-2013 20:31:18 | More by SPRichard

ystazi

Illinois

4.75/5  rDev +10.2%

04-25-2013 22:47:13 | More by ystazi

Immortale25

Florida

3.98/5  rDev -7.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured into a Saint Somewhere wine-style glass. Cork says Ref By 2013.

A- Pours an orangeish amber color with a 1/4 inch off-white head that doesn't retain long before slipping down to a thin ring around the edge of the glass a small sliver of surface foam on the side.

S- This is gonna be a sour baby for sure. Notes of peach, granny smith apple and lemon with some sharp acididic undertones. Fumey,

T- Starts off tame on the palate with not much sourness but begins to transform slowly going from oaky to vinegar-like to funky all the while making the tongue salivate. Strange but admittedly complex. There's a very acidic aftertaste but it doesn't dry out the tongue like most gueuzes seem to do. The strangely medicinal aftertaste starts to catch up and make things even weirder.

M- A surprisingly slick mouthfeel to go with the tartness. Sharp, almost stinging from the acidity. Low carbonation with a lightish body.

O- I wanted to rate this one higher, but the lack of carbonation made me take points off the mouthfeel although I felt it was otherwise nicely balanced. And the flavor was also complex and well-balanced but the aftertaste kind of ruined it. I had to eat a slice of havarti cheese to tone down the intensity which I highly recommend because it was a nice pairing.

Serving type: bottle

04-21-2013 00:19:42 | More by Immortale25

gueuzedreg

Colorado

4.25/5  rDev -1.4%

04-20-2013 18:33:38 | More by gueuzedreg