Timmermans Oude Gueuze Limited Edition - Brouwerij Timmermans-John Martin N.V.

kojevergas

California

3.25/5  rDev -16.9%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

2012. 1 pint 9.36 fl oz brown glass bottle with hood and wire cap over a cork served into a Gouden Carolus stem-goblet in high altitude Castle Rock, Colorado. Reviewed live. Expectations are fairly high; I'm in the mood for a sour and like John Martin. Acquired at Tipsy's Liquor World in Colorado.

Served a fair bit warmer than refrigerator cold and allowed to warm further over the course of consumption. Side-poured with standard vigor as no carbonation issues are anticipated.

Not paired with food.

A: Pours a three finger beige colour head - fairly thin - of no real cream but of above average retention. Lacing is decent. Colour is a hazy nontransparent pale yellow. No yeast particles are visible. No bubble show. Nicely vibrant.

Sm: Biscuity floral wild yeast, bacteria, bretts, floral background hops, orange peel, lemon fruit, and a general tone of funk. A mild to moderate strength aroma.

T: Funky tart fruit. Orange and lemon peel do come through, but seem to emerge from the otherwise floral hops. The bretts are nice and funky, lending it pleasant but drinkable lightly sour character. It isn't horribly complex, but it certainly has some subtlety. Very enjoyable to drink. I like it, but I've had better in the style. The sweetness aids it. Not particularly pucker-worthy, but certainly sour in a timid sense.

Mf: Fragile and light on the palate. Smooth and wet, aiding its drinkable yet sour feel. Nicely thin.

Dr: Drinkable and enjoyable, yet lacking the complexity and subtlety of far better sours. I'd have it again, sure - but it's far from amongst the best sours I've had. Affordable as an import. It's a good introduction to sours for beginners, but true sour fans can skip it.

C+

Serving type: bottle

07-15-2012 03:18:20 | More by kojevergas

GONZALOYANNA

Spain

3.93/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

750ml bottle -2008 ltd ed-. Timmermans Flute glass. Enjoyed several times since dec´09. Looks like a lemon candy in color. Foggy. Short & fading froth –just a thin layer lasts on surface. Barrel aromas: moldy wood, fresh grass & moss. Sour fruit flavor yields to an sparkling explosion, no bitterness. Dry palate. Lasting acidic sensation does no lingers to throat. Tastes like Ribeiros & Alvariños – Spanish Galician acid white wines- without sourness associated with grape tannins. Excellent company for parties & celebrations. Should be served at a very low temperature. Suggested pouring: short drops into a Pint glass. Perfect pairing: “lacón con cachelos” – cooked jam with red hot pepper baked potatoes-, barbecue ribs or spiced grilled meat. Note: bottle could be aged in cellar for 25 years .

Serving type: bottle

04-19-2012 08:24:08 | More by GONZALOYANNA

hooliganlife

Missouri

3.58/5  rDev -8.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

bottled on 12/10

pours a slight golden and straw yellow, a bit pale. lots of effervescent head.

very oak and mineral forward. dry and tart with a hint of funk.

taste is rather weak, nice sourness and lemon flavor up front but very faint and subtle flavors through out. lacks any complexity. lemon flavor is pretty spot on though.

nice moderate carbonation really brings out the sourness.

overall, meh. not really impressed. i would not actively seek out more.

Serving type: bottle

03-21-2012 22:20:58 | More by hooliganlife

thagr81us

South Carolina

4.23/5  rDev +8.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Shared with caSSino the night before Brewvival! Bottled 12/16/10! Served from bottle into into a Drie Fonteinen gueuze glass. Poured a hazy golden yellow with a two finger pure white head that subsided to a minimal amount quickly. Maintained decent lacing throughout the lacing. The aroma was comprised of sweet malt, earth, funk, lemon, citrus, lemon rine, tart, and sour. The flavor was of sweet malt, funk, citrus, lemon rine, tart, sour, and earth. It had a light feel on the palate with high carbonation. Overall this was a really nice brew. The aroma on this one was pretty inviting and really nice. The flavor was the standout on this brew as it was really nice and acidic as you would expect from the style. All the right flavors were present and made themselves known. A definite must try if you get the opportunity.

Serving type: bottle

03-10-2012 04:03:16 | More by thagr81us

orangesol

Pennsylvania

3.73/5  rDev -4.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Thanks to Kramer for sharing this one at our recent gueuze tasting.

A - Pours clear straw yellow with a fizzy two finger tall white head leaving light lace down the glass.

S - Smells of light sourness, lots of barnyard funk, fresh cut grass, lemons and some light sweetness. Decent balance but it really laced the wow factor.

T - Starts off with a big sour kick slowly giving way to light funkiness, lemon zest, wet oak and a touch of sweetness at the end of each sip. More sour, less funky than I thought it would be. Finish is pretty dry, lingering on the pallet for some time.

M - Medium body and flavor with moderately high carbonation. This one tastes like a sour spritzer thanks to all that carbonation.

O - Compared to some of the other gueuze's we were drinking this one was not up to par. It had some good qualities but I doubt I would spend a bunch of money to get one for myself.

Serving type: bottle

02-10-2012 17:59:58 | More by orangesol

MasterSki

Illinois

4.08/5  rDev +4.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Randomly encountered this at Binny's and figured I'd give it a shot. Bottled December, 16th, 2010. Served in a tumbler while watching football with friends.

A - Quick-dissolving white foam settles to pretty much nothing - no lace, cap, etc. Slightly hazed dark apricot body.

S - Mushrooms, hay, earthy and musty, with some surprising oak, a touch of vanilla, wheat, and pale malts. Only faint lemon and acetic sourness present.

T - The taste is significantly more sour than the aroma suggests, with a hefty dose of lemons, white wine vinegar, and under-ripe stone fruits. Less oak and mustiness here, although there's still a low level. I like this more than the aroma by a significant margin.

M - Pretty dry stuff. Medium-light body, pleasant, zesty, moderate carbonation. No alcohol, and fairly restrained acidity.

D - Really drinkable, and shockingly good for a Timmerman's product. My friends liked this quite a bit even though they were lambic n00bs. It lacks the complexity of some of the best lambics, but it's competitive with Boon, Hanssens, et al.

Serving type: bottle

01-16-2012 15:58:11 | More by MasterSki

falloutsnow

Illinois

3.93/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Bottle purchased from Binny's in Schaumburg, IL
Bottled on 12/16/2010.
Poured into a bowed pint glass on a stout glass column.

Pours a spritzy, ~3cm head off medium-sized bubbles that are white to off-white in color. The large bubble size makes the foam look fairly insubstantial, and the head dissipates to virtually nothing within a minute or two, leaving no lacing. Body is a hazy yellow-orange out of the light, mostly hazy yellow when in light. Carbonation is active and readily visible.

Aroma is, at first, sweet, then offers a slight bit of cheese and barnyard funk-scent before culminating in a bit of old citrus (that is, lemon or grapefruit rinds that have been left out in the air for a bit too long), tart apples, and apple cider vinegar.

Opens, taste-wise, with fairly strong sourness/tartness from acidity, mimicking essence of lemons, limes, and green apples in a bath of apple cider vinegar (acetic acid). At times, I even pull in a faint and short-noticed coconut flavor. Quite delicious, with an undetectable level of alcohol, very easy to put down an entire 750cl bottle.

Medium-light bodied with a carbonation level that is a bit too high and aggressive for the beer's heft and the style in general. Over time, this becomes less off-putting, though, and the beer is quite pleasant on the palate perhaps 30 minutes after uncorking the bottle. Prior to waiting, the mouthfeel is prickly and foamy on the palate; after waiting, the carbonation generates a mildly prickly, then fairly foamy and smooth-flowing feel. Finish is quite dry, slightly tannic appropriate for the style.

Overall, this seems to be a fairly underrepresented and underrated gueuze. Pleasurable and generally on target across the board, though not "perfect" compared to Cantillon, Drie Fonteinen, etc. Would definitely pick one up again if available and in the mood. Retailed $14.99 for a 750cl bottle, whereas a bottle of Girardin, Drie Fonteinen, or other gueuze are that price for a 375cl bottle.

Serving type: bottle

01-13-2012 17:29:26 | More by falloutsnow

stakem

Pennsylvania

3.7/5  rDev -5.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Consumed along side the reviewer below me. Thanks to Kramer for sharing.

Poured from a 750ml bottle into a tasting glass. The brew appears a clear yellow with a solid 4 finger's worth I white head. The cap is comprised of large bubbles an a light swirl easily agitates more bubbles from solution back to the surface.

The smell of this brew is grassy with some minor inclusion of earth and peppery notes. A faint note of funky cheese blends with some vinous aspect of white grape skins. As it warms, it goes to a light citrus zest aspect and then back to grassy and dry.

The taste mimics the aroma fairly well with earth and funk along side some citrus zest tartness. Unlike the aroma, there is a fairly solid inclusion of sulfur that is present and breaks things up a bit. Across the back, this brew has a greenness about it that blends into mild vinous aspects.

This is a light bodied brew with an excessive amount of carbonation. It is very lively and bubbly in the feel. The alcohol is seemingly nonexistent. Fairly decent across the board but on a day like this, it paled in comparison to some of the other geuze offerings sampled.

Serving type: bottle

01-10-2012 18:24:43 | More by stakem

Slatetank

Pennsylvania

3.93/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

I enjoyed this at a recent tasting hosted by foofaa, thanks to whomever contributed this. enjoyed chilled in a tulip.

The color is golden blonde with a light haze and thin ring of beads with subtle spotting on the glass. The smell is gentle sour with subtle fruit notes and mild floral sweet ester with light melon and general funk. The feel is good with subtle dry and acidic aspects, but mild tannin and gentle sweetness balance things out with moderately high carbonation level and very crisp dry finish.

The flavor is mild yet pleasant in most ways with dry wheat sourness with lemony sweet tart and low puckering flavor. There is a mild sweet pineapple tinge with gentle spice accent and slight hint of honey along with the sour notes. Overall a very good beer, I was pleased to try the drinkability is pretty high even if it is not over the top in the sour department

Serving type: bottle

01-10-2012 14:56:06 | More by Slatetank

beerwolf77

Wisconsin

4.22/5  rDev +7.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Golden orange yellow hue. Solid mouth watering lactic sour nose. Good amount of funk. Wet wood and mold straw. Lemons and dusty library books. Flavors are mouth puckering and tasty. Lemon and modest funk. Medium body. The rest of the Timmermans line is garbage but this is a shining star. Very worthy gueuze in my book.

Serving type: bottle

12-29-2011 20:03:01 | More by beerwolf77

snaotheus

Washington

3.68/5  rDev -5.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

750ml bottle poured into two large snifters

Pours straw yellow, cloudy, with a pretty creamy looking head that fades into a little clumps. Smell is sour grapes, sour apple, yeast.

Taste is super sour. Makes my jaw clench a little. More green apple flavor, a little grape flavor.

Mouthfeel is dry and smooth. Overall, pretty good.

Serving type: bottle

12-23-2011 22:35:50 | More by snaotheus

BradLikesBrew

Missouri

3.73/5  rDev -4.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.5

Bottled on 16/12/10

Pours a clear gold body with a white head. Acidic, funky aroma with notes of green apple. The flavor is nica and sour. The acid is medium soft which keeps it from being overly aggressive. Crisp carbonation perfectly pairs with the acidity. Not the most complex or layered Gueuze, but is has an enjoyable sourness to it with some nice fruit character. Would make an excellent intro to the style.

Serving type: bottle

12-21-2011 21:59:43 | More by BradLikesBrew

SkeeterHawk

Texas

3.85/5  rDev -1.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

I picked this bottle up at the Kirkwood Spec's a week or so ago. It is a little cold now, but I will let it warm as I am drinking it as I have no intention of finishing this 750mL bottle in a hurry. Here we go...

Appearance: Pours a clear yellow color and is quite carbonated, though not too many are sticking once they make it to the top...this is not unusual for this style IMO. The bubbles are small and white and are pretty solidly collecting at the glass edge. There is no lacing to speak of when

Aroma: The aroma of the very cold beer is still showcasing the funk and it seems to be giving me as much green apple as anything right now. As it is sitting a little bit, you can pick up some sweetness in there that is quite malty, so I am assuming that the wheat additions are minimal for this example. As the beer sits, it is getting a little more of the wet-straw aromatics that make a gueuze nice, but there is a little bit of cardboard in here too that hints of oxidation somewhere.

Taste: The flavor is pretty much in line with the aroma in that you are getting some fruitiness from the sour beer and yet there is a strong malty backbone to this beer to keep it from drying out. There is some lemon in the flavor that wasn't noticeable in the aroma at first. As the beer warms, it is getting a little more funky, but overall it is staying pretty well behaved. The mouthfeel is light, but it is pretty heavy for this style. The balance in the finish is provided as much from the acidity as anything else.

Opinion: Overall this is a pretty decent example of the style. I certainly prefer a gueuze that is more on the wild side and makes you pucker. This one is not quite a sweet as Lindeman's Gueuze (Not the Cuvee Renee), but it is getting close. I guess this one is made more to appeal to the masses, which is fine. I will stick with Girardin and such if I want a Gueuze to savor.

Serving type: bottle

12-20-2011 01:31:49 | More by SkeeterHawk

AleWatcher

Illinois

3.93/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Light hazy yellowish body. Big white head. Good retention, nice lace and legs.

Smells a bit lactic, but otherwise quite nice. The lactic note dissolves into the rest of the rest of the flavor profile to give it a nice sour bit on the end of a decent little flavor profile. It isn't the best gueuze around by a ling shot, but it is very nice for being able to buy it on the shelves anymore I go.

A hair overcarbonated.

Overall, pretty impressed. This is much better than the fruit lambics released by this brewery!

Serving type: bottle

12-10-2011 22:38:40 | More by AleWatcher

IdrinkGas

Pennsylvania

3.78/5  rDev -3.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Produced 16/12/10

Pours a very clear golden color with a bright white fizzy head. It stuck around for less than a minute.

Smell some funk with some citrus and sweetness.

Funk up front with a sharp puckering sourness. Finishes with a white grape sweetness and apple tartness. High acidity and sourness kinda forced me to savor this one.

Thin body with bubbly carbonation. Very dry finish.

Serving type: bottle

11-29-2011 01:10:36 | More by IdrinkGas

phichifiji00

California

3.98/5  rDev +1.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured into tulip glass.

Appearance: Hazy straw colored. 1 finger of white head that fades slowly. Moderate lacing.

Smell: funky, earthy, grapefruit, lemon, peppery.

Taste: tart, grapefruit, lemon, acidic.

Mouthfeel: Tart, super crips, high carbonation, light bodied, acidic.

Overall: A very tasty gueuze. Very acidic, lots of citrus.

Serving type: bottle

11-16-2011 17:54:56 | More by phichifiji00

nppeders

Minnesota

3.75/5  rDev -4.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Appearance – yellow orange hue a little hazy. Very nice color. Some head that dissipates but is retained due to the high carbonation

Aroma – funky cheese, sour, wheat

Flavor – starts out tart, hits you real hard in the middle with citric acid and/or lactic acid that lingers long and then turns into a sweetness like the candy, lemondrops. A little one dimensional in that the flavor is so acidic with the citrus. No idea how they get it to finish sweet…back sweetened? Very interesting.

Mouthfeel – spritzy, and mouth fills up with extremely high levels of carbonation. This may be the highest carbonated beverage that I have ever had. It tastes great though!

Overall – An interesting lambic for sure. Never had one with so much citrus acid. Not as funky as I thought it would be. Not getting much funky brett. It’s definitely a great great extremely acidic beverage! I think that the high level of carbonation takes away from the depth of flavors that may be deep in this beer. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy this again when I want something extremely acidic!

Serving type: bottle

11-11-2011 03:08:59 | More by nppeders

TexIndy

Texas

3.18/5  rDev -18.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Poured from a 750ml corked and caged bottled into a Duvel tulip. Bottled on date of 12/16/10 clearly marked on back label. It was a very hazy golden yellow with massive carb streams...but it barely had any head it - just short burst of fizzy that disappeared quickly. No sheeting.

The smell was mix of lemon and other citric fruits and some brett funk. Would have liked more of the funk and less of the lemon. The taste was very tart and sour from the lemon with a bit of the funk to keep it from being a total tart show. Even less of the funk in the flavor than the aroma - not a good thing. Only had a few gueze so not sure which ones truly represent the style but I tend to believe the others one were more like it. This is overly lactic acid with not enough brett and too much tart to it. Mouthfeel was light with way too much carbonation which fills you up quickly and makes you way too gassy.

Overall, I really wanted to like this one but it's a bit of a mess IMHO. Going to try some other gueze here next and hope they are better. Don't recommend. Rotation - avail now in TX. Rotation - one was enough [N;N]

Serving type: bottle

11-09-2011 02:02:22 | More by TexIndy

Mora2000

Texas

4.22/5  rDev +7.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

The beer pours a yellow color with a white head. The aroma is full of wheat with some tart lemons, Belgian yeast and some light funk. A very nice smelling gueuze. The flavor is very tart and acidic. I get a lot of sour lemons notes, as well as some horseblanket funk, wheat and Belgian yeast. There is also a little bit of white pepper mixed into the flavor. Medium mouthfeel and medium carbonation. A very nice gueuze. Glad to have this one available here in Texas.

Serving type: bottle

10-18-2011 04:31:01 | More by Mora2000

Thorpe429

Illinois

3.33/5  rDev -14.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Picked up this bottle at State Line in Maryland. Bottled on December 16, 2010. Served in an In de Verzekering Tegen de Grote Dorst mini gueuze tumbler.

Pours a clear golden straw color with plenty of visible carbonation. Fizzy white head pops up and goes away quite quickly withOut leaving any lacing behind. The nose brings a light acidity plus some lemon rind and general citric character. Slight mineral quality and faint earth and funk.

The flavor is overcome with a strong citric and lactic acidity. Green apple is strong as is the lemon rind character. The funk is basically gone, leaving behind an acidic brew without any real complexity. Light body and high carbonation. Brisk acidic finish. Decent enough, but not something I would go after again.

Serving type: bottle

10-13-2011 00:16:34 | More by Thorpe429

MbpBugeye

Ohio

2.48/5  rDev -36.6%
look: 2 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

I'm pretty sure this is the correct listing. It's the only Gueuze under Timmermans that matches (almost) the label of the beer we had. I'll put it here, unless I find out that they changed the label on one of their other Gueuzes. Shared by Komondor.

Appearance
Not a pretty looking beer. I said that my pour looked like diabetic piss. It was really cloudy, to the point of looking white. Its a very pale, ghostly yellow with no head at all once the foam faded down.

Aroma
Quite lactic and cheesy. Stinky socks and vinegar.

Taste
Lactic sourness and a little bit of moldy funk. The sourness is very sharp and abrupt.

Mouthfeel
Very prickly. Even though the glass had no head or bubbles this stuff feels painfully carbonated.

Overall
Not a very good gueuze. I don't prefer the lactic, cheesy stuff and this beer had other crazy things going on.

Serving type: bottle

10-09-2011 22:04:52 | More by MbpBugeye

rye726

Colorado

4.28/5  rDev +9.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Poured from a 750 into a wine glass. Pretty nice for just over $10. Much nicer than their Tradition Gueze. Pouirs a nice golden tan with a thin white head. Nose has a mix of sour yeast and funks. Palate is well balanced, but also has a good amount of tartness. Crisp, clean body drinks well.

Serving type: bottle

09-23-2011 03:03:14 | More by rye726

bluejacket74

Ohio

3.5/5  rDev -10.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

750 ml caged and corked bottle, bottling date of 12/16/2010. Served in a flute, the beer pours a hazy light gold color with a couple inch fizzy carbonated white head that went away quickly. Aroma seems light to me, the brew smells like tart apples, oak, straw, lemon peel, funk and a bit of an earthy aroma. The sour lemon/lemon peel taste is dominant, and there's also some green apple, oak and funk noticable. But overall, I think the lemony flavors overpower the other ones. Mouthfeel/body is light/medium, it has high carbonation and also a dry finish. I think it's a decent enough brew, but there are other gueuzes I would buy again before this one. $14.99 a bottle.

Serving type: bottle

09-17-2011 23:40:14 | More by bluejacket74

7ways

Georgia

3.73/5  rDev -4.6%
look: 3 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Pee yellow. Loud white head.

Raw, salty aroma. Lemon, apple, eye-watering funk.

This thing immediately grips the tongue and does not let go. Like biting into a lemon and a crab apple at the same time. So dry and sour it's hard to swallow. Not nearly as sweet as the other Timmermans available here. I like it, but it is a little too much. It's like it is still in the test stages, because with some tweaking, this could be awesome.

Vicious carbonation, needs to breathe a few minutes. After that it's quite nice.

I don't know if I can finish this 750 by myself, but every sip leaves me wanting more.

Serving type: bottle

09-08-2011 02:52:07 | More by 7ways

wisrarebeer

Wisconsin

3.95/5  rDev +1%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

$14.99 for a 750ml bottle

A: clear, dirty light amber color that poured with a nice head that quickly dissipated
S: traditional gueuze with musty horseblanket lactic acid
T: decent beer, spritzy, horseblanket middle of the road but respectable, not incredibly dry but good late taste pucker factor

Serving type: bottle

09-03-2011 15:33:33 | More by wisrarebeer