Oude Gueuze - Hanssens Artisanaal bvba

putnam

Michigan

5/5  rDev +18.2%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Served in a Maredsous glass. Ice cold.
Barely fizzy. Golden, sunlit peach color.
Concrete and new steel aromas combine with dried leaves, snow, juniper, currants and green tobacco.
There is an industrious, disciplined display of flavor, attacking with notes of Meyer lemon concentrate and pot-purri-like fresh herbs. Brazilian rubber, fermented apples and mace occur within the expansive mid-palate. Very sour. Raw, as nature intended it. Bred for greatness.
Now my sinuses are clear. I wonder how the Horseradish eaters among us might like this great beer?

Serving type: bottle

11-07-2002 12:37:44 | More by putnam

FievelGoesWest

Illinois

5/5  rDev +18.2%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Had this on-cask at the Fountainhead Anniversary night.

A: Goldeny orange haze. Looks like what an alcoholic apricot nectar would be in a big soapy bath.

S: The smell lends itself to fermented fruits at the bottom of a sterile garbage can bag. It's cloyingly sweet and sour smelling with some hints of oak and vanilla.

T: All those smells hit your tongue at the same time for an overwhelming bombardment of sour, fruit, and vanilla.

M: The first sip will pucker your lips and make your cheeks rosey.

O: This was one of my few gueze experiences, but it was a great one. I had this in bottle format not 3 nights later and it was still an amazing brew.

Serving type: cask

05-05-2011 02:52:53 | More by FievelGoesWest

gyllstromk

Belgium

4.97/5  rDev +17.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Pours a nice pale orange with a very small amount of haze for a gueuze. Nose is lemon, melon, sour and a very nice and deep bouquet of earthy, musky funk. Flavor is a fruit blast: pineapple, lemon, kiwi, with a tart, tangy, and peppery finish that leaves a beautiful exhale. Very vinous with a pinot grigio quality. At once both sharp and refreshing. An excellent example of the style and one of my new favorites.

Serving type: bottle

01-02-2010 03:07:38 | More by gyllstromk

kruse

Minnesota

4.97/5  rDev +17.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Gueuze is an acquired taste; I feel sorry for those who have not acquired it.

This is an excellent, world-class beer.

Poured from a magnum, it had a golden-yellow color with a quickly-dissipating head of lovely while bubbles.

Aroma was tart with a background "funk."

Taste was quite tart with a bit of leather and barnyard in the background. VERY refreshing.

True, this isn't a beer for wimps or neophytes, but it is one of the great ones.

Serving type: bottle

10-08-2010 19:59:30 | More by kruse

TheLongBeachBum

California

4.93/5  rDev +16.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

A few weeks ago I picked up a 12.7 fl.oz. green glass bottle (Texas BA's need not fear - this one definitely will not get skunked!!!!) of the Oude Gueuze.

As the cork is popped, the air is filled with malt vinegar and battery acid aromas.

It's a hot Independence Day night here in Long Beach, so I served this well chilled, which I found really added to its immediate bite and tartness.

Superbly dry, sour, biting Gueuze, which has a very strong acidic taste. A real cheek-puller. As the flavors rescind a slightly sweet-tart finish transpires in the end. This only begs you to take another mouthfull. Older versions will loose this sweet tartness in the finish.

A true Classic, and a true Oude Gueuze. Oude translates literally as 'Old', but does not refer directly to its age, it is merely a term that can only legally be applied to traditional Gueuze under EU law, and is meant to help protect it. Hope it protects this.

Very Traditional, Supremely Good, Extremely Drinkable and Highly Recommended for Hard-Core Lambic Lovers who have yet to try it.

One of the Best. It doesn't get much better than this!

***Highly Recommended***

Serving type: bottle

07-04-2003 20:44:22 | More by TheLongBeachBum

DCon

Missouri

4.93/5  rDev +16.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Bought a 12.7 oz Bottle of this from Kahns Fine Wines and Spirits in Indianapolis, IN for $12.99. Was told this is the best Gueuze you could find in Indianapolis (Brennan says) and so I'm trusting his word! Poured from the Corked bottle into my Schlafly Tulip Glass and enjoyed with the woman who loves sours the most! Has Lotnr: E on the side of the scroll like label.

Aroma- Now I understand what the "horse blanket" aroma is like! Very sour/tart and has a rhubarb and honey finish to the scent. May have even a bit of oak in here but very mild.

Appearance- Pours a less than .5 finger head (the stays for almost half the drink!) with dark golden color body. May be hazy but can't tell because of the dark color. Lacing is huge and covers the entire glass.

Flavor- Starts very, VERY sour but then has the oak flavor here. Has a bit of a wheat flavor and extremely acidic. Barnyard character here? Yes indeed. Perfect!

Mouthfeel- Light Bodied, High Carbonation, Puckers the tongue and cheeks at the finish, and full of complexity!

Overall Impression- Gueuze! Wow! What a treat. I don't care how much this one costs, I'm looking for this one high and low. Such a great sour, it reminds of my first Gueuze with my cousin Mark but much, much better and now I can really appreciate this style. While it is tougher to drink because of the goaty/barnyard tastes, it is enjoyed sip by sip. Would love to push someone onto this style, but may be tough for some to understand how this could actually be a beer!

Serving type: bottle

06-23-2011 04:16:08 | More by DCon

marburg

Michigan

4.85/5  rDev +14.7%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Admittedly, if you dislike sour beers, it's hard to say this is "near perfect." Fortunately, I don't have that problem.

This is simply spectacular. Gorgeous golden hue with a champagne-like swirl of carbonation that just does not quit. Pungent, wild, beastly aromas hit the nose from the second the cork pops out of the bottle. Fluffy white head helps carry these notions of vinegar and rotting <insert anything here> to the nose. Just damn potent.

Flavor is similarly intense -- though sweet enough and restrained to a point where it seems like it might be a bit more drinkable for some.

This is total sour candy. One of my all-time faves for sure.

Serving type: bottle

09-08-2003 16:58:29 | More by marburg

orfeu

New Mexico

4.85/5  rDev +14.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

33 cL punted green bottle, corked and caged. Golden amber orange with a sticky, fluffy head that soon becomes a thin cap. Aroma is of tart apples, horse barn grass -- somewhat reminiscent of a dry white wine. The taste is dry, "farmy," and acidic. A very dry fruitiness, like Granny Smith apples mixed with, unbelievably, caju -- the Brazilian fruit cashews come from. The juice from one of these things will give you the most intense cotton mouth ever. It's insane, but this beer totally has this back of the palate dessicating effect going on that is only comparable to caju juice. Refreshing and mouth-puckering. Excellent stuff. I will definitely seek this out again.

Serving type: bottle

12-03-2005 00:59:18 | More by orfeu

beveragecaptain

New Jersey

4.83/5  rDev +14.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

I've been craving gueuze the last few days. At last I went into the closet today and got the 750 ML bottle of Hanssens Oude Gueuze that I've been saving. This beer has a slightly hazy apricot color. The head is initially large, but subsides after a few minutes. I spent at least that long sniffing the beer before I even took a sip. I love the funky, musty, acidic vinegar aroma. Am I the only man who gets a perverse pleasure from watching his friends smell this beer? The flavor is as good as the aroma. Sweet at first, but only for an instant before the sour kicks in. Flavors of grapes, straw, citrus, funk, and honey. Funky, but not the funkiest of gueuzes. Certainly among the most sour. For anyone who ever finds himself in a beer drinking rut where all beers seem boring, I would recommend drinking a gueuze. Hanssens is a great example of the style.

Serving type: bottle

03-30-2005 02:08:02 | More by beveragecaptain

wheelinshirt

Pennsylvania

4.83/5  rDev +14.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Another fantastic find from Abe's in Bethlehem. Saw a busted up cardboard box on the floor with 5 or 6 dusty 750mL bottles--just had to pick it up and see. It was a couple old, and i mean old, bottles of hanssens Oude Geuze for $12 a piece! The cages were rusty and the labels were all beat up but i couldn't find a year or anything on the bottle itself. The cork had SB12 written on it, don't know if that means anything.

The beer pours out a hazy gold/apricot/amberish color, a bit cidery in fact. Very interesting. The head doesnt last long and leaves no lacing, but a ring around the edge of the flute remains the entire time.

The smell is amazing--very tart and funky. So complex, there really is nothing like a good sour beer. The taste is very sour, tart, some granny smith apple and what tastes to me like sour milk. Kind of hard to drink becuase it is so sour, but if you are a fan of sour beer, you will like this a lot. Definately something to try.

Second Impression: I bought a three more bottles for a ridiculous $9.99 when they became available at Abe's again some months ago. Decided to pop one open to drink at Vegan/Vegetarian thanksgiving at Moravian College. Poured a slightly hazed orange/gold color, quite a bit of bubbles, nice white head with suprisingly good retention and lacing. What more can you ask for?

Smell is sour, fruity. There is a lot going on here and I am not really equipped to describe it. Very nice and inviting, not overly aggresive.

Taste is similar, the sourness has a real rounded edge balanced by some tart lemon, citrus, and even grape.

Mouthfeel is light, refreshing. Plenty of CO2 but isn't overdone with no gusher risk. Puckering with a bit of a drawn out finish.

Drinkability is very high for a sour. I could probably drink a whole 750 but I think it would be a sin to hoard such a wonderful beer experience (beer-sperience?). If you see any old style bottles with rusty cages and torn up labels, pick them up because this is an awesome beer. I hope to be able to keep my paws off of the last two bottles for some time to see how this one ages even longer.

Serving type: bottle

11-11-2007 18:14:37 | More by wheelinshirt

cooch69

Pennsylvania

4.83/5  rDev +14.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Poured into my Poorter Tulip glass, and it comes with barely any head. Just really large and loose bubbles float atop a bright copper beer with some dark golden yellow hues on the bottom.

Nose really gets the glands drooling. Nice pungent sourness followed by many esters mainly those resembling cider. A faint mustiness as well.

Taste comes through with a nice assertive but balanced sourness. Strong but not really strong. An old hard wood must. Some 4 month old cotton socks and a lovely hint of apple cider and perry. This one is'nt as big with the funk as some others I've had but more of an all around well rounded Gueuze experience. Comes initially dry but than finishes semi sweet and really juicy. Almost like having a starburst explode in your mouth.

Truly a Gueuze for connoisseur's and probably one of my favorite sours.

Serving type: bottle

06-18-2011 15:30:48 | More by cooch69

Murph

Arizona

4.8/5  rDev +13.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Pours a clear, deep golden orangish color with a huge bubbly, champagne like head that settles down eventually. Smells of some slight grass clippings, musty basements and the inside of a barn. I swear if you close your eyes you would think you were in the cobweb strewn basement where this is fermented. Extreme dryness and some cheek puckering tartness. The only taste that can even be said to be near it would be some extremely tart apple cider. Light on the tongue and very refreshing. There is also some more of that musty basement in the flavor. Excellently bitter and tart. Extremely easy to drink and extremely tasty. I cannot say enough about this brew. They say you either love gueuze or hate it, count me as one of the first group. This is one amazingly complex and awesomely tasty brew. A big thanks to thelongbeachbum for his inspiring gueuze articles and his excellent recommendations.

Serving type: bottle

09-27-2002 17:43:43 | More by Murph

ikats

New Jersey

4.8/5  rDev +13.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

This is a wonderful brew! I tasted it first time at Spuyten Duyvil in Brooklyn. Was recommended it by a bartender when I mentioned that I am looking for a gueuze. It was excellent then, and it is excellent now in a bottle.

It's golden color, maybe a bit reddish. I've never been in a real banyard, but I can definitely imagine how the aroma and the taste of this ale are described as banyard. The aroma is also full of sour notes - the kind of sourness you get from sour cherries or grapefruits or lemons. There's a bit of sweetness on the tongue. The finish is dry; the body is light. I keep catching myself smacking my lips.

Part of my attraction to this brew specifically and gueuze style in general is the feeling that you are going back in history. This was the enjoyment of life on a farm in Europe centuries ago. Looking for information about this beer, I've learned that the term "old" in the name implies that it was blended the same way done for hundreds of years. It's even protected by an EU law. Some people visit old battlefields, I enjoy old gueuze.

It's definitely an acquired taste. I enjoy it and even I won't drink it just any time. You need certain conditions to enjoy it fully - maybe a special occasion. I am keeping it in my cellar for those moments when I crave something sour. Life is not all sweet, and neither should be beer. It's a wonderful brew!

Serving type: bottle

11-20-2005 03:30:41 | More by ikats

drabmuh

Maryland

4.8/5  rDev +13.5%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Beer is yellow and is completely hazy. There is a white head of medium and large bubbles that leaves a lot of lacing on the glass.

The aroma is super strong, really strong. Really punches you in the face. Strong sulfur, strong funk, strong yeasty / lemon sour.

Beer is thin with great carbonation in the mouth. Drinkability is high. Lots of citric not so much acetic its really really great. I love this beer.

Serving type: bottle

03-22-2010 22:34:20 | More by drabmuh

TriGuy20

Illinois

4.8/5  rDev +13.5%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

From 375ml bottle poured into tulip glass.

A: Burnt Orange with a small white that quickly fades.

S: Very intense nose. Bitter Lemon/ Menthol/ Goat Cheese (French)/ Granny Smith Apple/ Forest Floor-Twigs/ Pepper

T: The bitter lemon hits you up front followed by clove on the mid palate with the goat and granny smith apple hitting you on the finish with some nice woodnotes.

MF: Nice carbonation with great balanced texture on the mouth.

D: I could drink this all night your mouth keeps watering for more.

Overall:
This is one of my favorites! Near perfection.

Serving type: bottle

02-04-2011 00:58:55 | More by TriGuy20

tprokop7

Massachusetts

4.8/5  rDev +13.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Poured from a green 375. No date, but I believe it's recent as these bottles just made their way into Boston. Cork came out with a pop, no noticeable sediment in the bottle.

Golden color with a hint of copper. Slightly cloudy. No head to speak of, even with a decent pop from the cork.

Aroma is cleanly acidic, slight citrus fruit and pear. Very slight must/hay.

Incredibly balanced gueuze. Wonderful lactic acidity at the start, little to no acetic. More carb than I expected based on the pour. Finish is fruity - cherry, pear, lemon - and gives way to slight must and goaty flavors.

This is a gueuze I've never heard hyped, but I think it's one of the best I've had. Great surprise, need to track down some more of these...

Serving type: bottle

02-07-2011 01:45:40 | More by tprokop7

rowingbrewer

Massachusetts

4.8/5  rDev +13.5%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

This beer is absolutely phenomenal. This beer pours a nice clear straw color with a nice white head. There is a lot of carbonation here and the beer looks almost like champagne because of it. The smell is wonderful lactic sour and some funk as well the sourness lends to an almost fruit scent. The taste is out of this world as this is the most sour beer I have ever had in my entire life. The funk is almost undetectable because the sour is so overpowering and Puckering. The mouhfeel is perfect, light very carbonated and extremely sour. The drinkability is only hurt because the beer is so sour I don't know how much I could drink even though I had no problem finishing my glass.

Edit: I had this beer again recently beside 3F, tilquin, cantillon, and Oude Beersel and hanssens was my hands down favorite. I plan on acquiring more bottles of as many gueuzes as possible and do a blind tasting with friends to see if that had anything to do with it.

Serving type: bottle

03-10-2011 13:13:11 | More by rowingbrewer

BeardedBoffin

Minnesota

4.8/5  rDev +13.5%
look: 3 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

The beer coming out of this small green corked bottle sloshed around in the glass and settled into a rusty orange color brew with very little foam. Some foam could improve the appearance of this thing.

The aroma is amazing: citrus, sourness, tartness and tons of earthy tones. There is funk here too. The waves of aroma foretell complexity and invite the drinker in. It evolves into a little more cellar funk as it warms. Leather, cherry, cellar and lemon all explosively mix to produce funky goodness on the palate. The intensity of this brew would shock even the most lethargic palate to life. Fruit, tart and sour again and again. The acidity cleanses the palate and leaves it alive, begging for more. Sour cherry and green apple mix with funky undertones to produce a really impressive beer. The palate is dry and refreshed. There is lots of complexity and depth here. A wondrous thing.

Serving type: bottle

10-26-2011 00:22:13 | More by BeardedBoffin

AylwinForbes

Illinois

4.78/5  rDev +13%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4

This is a wonderful beer which is certainly an acquired taste. On my introduction to the Gueuze style I was astonished, shocked even at the radical departure from conventional beer. The only place I would score lower than top is drinkability; it is not something you knock back, but really sip and savour. From the satisfying pop of the little champagne style cork, through the nice soft foamy pouring into the glass, the complex, musty, slightly pungent aroma, through the searing, withering, puckering tartness, it is really something to ponder. I particularly love the tart apple merging with nutty, earthy notes. I have to thank a chance meeting with a beer geek at Hop Leaf for this awakening.

Serving type: bottle

08-20-2009 02:41:28 | More by AylwinForbes

Seanniek91

New Hampshire

4.76/5  rDev +12.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75

Served from a 12.7oz bottle into an Allagash coolship glass.

Appearance- Golden/orange with a quick bubbly white head. Lots of carbonation.

Smell- I don't even have to stick my nose up to it to smell the funkiness. Meyer lemon. Vinegar. Some vanilla oakiness. Sweet grapefruit.

Taste- Oh wow thats tart. Getting goosebumps. Lots of lemon and grapefruit. Not vinegary tasting. Some oakiness. Very earthy funkiness.

Mouthfeel- Very carbonated, but not as much as certain other geuzes I've had. Super crisp with an awesome mouth-cleansing finish.

Overall- This is a damn fine geuze. I would get it more often, but it is slightly more expensive than Tilquin or even 3 Fontenine. This will be a nice treat every now and then.

Serving type: bottle

02-12-2013 17:29:48 | More by Seanniek91

alcstradamus

Illinois

4.75/5  rDev +12.3%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Pours an effervescent golden color with a quarter finger of head.

The aroma is a beautiful melange of lemon zest, attic must, dirt, pear, sunflower seed, shoe sole, and peach. Classic gueuze deliciousness.

And the flavor does not disappoint. A musty lemon profile dominates with subdued notes of earth and apple skin. Huge pear notes as well as a tongue bracing sourness that really hits the spot. Leans towards the fruit/acidic realm more so than the funk/earthiness.

The body is medium and the carbonation is low after it sits in the glass for a little bit.

Overall, this is a world class beer and even more proof (in my opinion) that gueuze is the pinnacle of beer. I would put this right up there in the conversation with any other classic.

Serving type: bottle

09-13-2010 16:51:17 | More by alcstradamus

timtim

District of Columbia

4.75/5  rDev +12.3%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

slightly hazy burnt gold and relatively still with a small white head that fades pretty quickly. not too pretty, but standard for the style. now it gets good. nose is lemon, preserved lemon, earth, mushroom, cellar, cobweb, wet rock, pepper and spice and more. taste is champagne/cider like almost and it is all is rounded out nicely by the wood, which lends itself to the flavor instead of overwhelming and tasting like you just drank off a fresh slab of wood. this may be my favorite geuze to date (i'm enjoying it much more than cantillon classic). the light carbonation really gives the beer time to sit on the palate, and then zips it away. yum. world-class.

edit: older vintages have much better head, retention and lace and become very grapefruity funky. grapefruit hits the back of the palate and tastes more like real grapefruit than any taste i've ever tasted in beer. awesome. bumping my appearance score to 5 because the last bottle i poured just had the best head/lace of any geuze i've poured. and bumping taste because i now see how epic this one is with some age on it, and because it truly is exceptional.

Serving type: bottle

10-05-2010 11:56:53 | More by timtim

ambluhm

Massachusetts

4.75/5  rDev +12.3%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Poured from bottle:

This beer poured right on the verge of golden and amber with a thin white head and noticeable beads of carbonation drawing up the rim of the glass.

The nose was UNREAL! Smelled like bright cherries and the slightest hint of cedar or coconut. Really interesting. Perhaps it was mental, but I could almost smell the acidity as the aroma made my mouth water (a very cool feeling, like when you think about pepperoncinis or pickles).

The taste was spot on for what I was hoping. Having said that, it still shocked me when it hit my tongue. The acidity was so bright and crisp. The beer was dry and refreshing with that stunning fruit quality coming through fully.

Overall, this beer was very, very cool. I love Pinot Noir, so this beer, in some weird way, kind of reminded me of that. It was the stunning and super food-friendly acidity and bright cherry aroma. Really awesome, but something that requires food and would be best on a special occasion!

Serving type: bottle

10-12-2011 00:55:47 | More by ambluhm

chanokokoro

Illinois

4.73/5  rDev +11.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Poured from a 375ml green bottle into a Hanssens Gueuze-Kriek branded gueuze glass

Pours a beautiful golden amber with a one and half finger bright white fizzy head. Superb retention and some splotchy lacing is left behind as the brew is consumed. The aroma has hard cider and champagne notes. Perfect level of tart and sour, fruit notes that resemble apple and pear peel as well very light citrus accents and grassy notes. Finishes dry and lip puckeringly sour. An elite top tier gueuze.

Serving type: bottle

08-17-2012 04:11:02 | More by chanokokoro

Jason

Massachusetts

4.72/5  rDev +11.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

An exceptional brew to say the least, big earthy and herbal flavours jump out on to the palate first ... then quickly to the tartness. A nuttiness from middle to end keeps you thinking.

Fruity and tart with a complex dryness, throughly enjoyed this brew with a cheese and bread snack in Brugge.

Serving type: bottle

10-21-2001 00:46:04 | More by Jason