Oct 14, 2016

Oude Geuze Boon Black Label

A small wine/beer shop near Barley Blog headquarters happened to pick up a case of Oude Geuze Boon Black Label back in early August. It’s not typically a style of beer the owner generally carries, so I made sure to pick up a few bottles — one to sample relatively fresh and the others to be consumed later, sometime prior to the “best by” date of March 26, 2035. It’s also a beer touted by the brewery to be the “…driest gueuze we’ve ever made.” Let’s see, shall we.

This 7% ABV gueuze originally spawned from a collaboration that Brouwerij Boon originally worked on with Mikkeller called Bone Dry, using the same foeders and same lambic vintages. Boon has reworked the blends of 1-, 2- and 3-year old lambics to craft a brew that is fuller and less dry than the original collaborative effort. And it is a tremendous blend. Smooth and carrying a moderate sour tartness, Black Label provides a wonderful array of flavors — grain, a musty oak presence, a mild funk and light lemony notes.

This beer is outstanding. It hits all the points that I particularly look for in a gueuze and brings a solid amount of tartness without the palate-wrecking fatigue associated with brews that are too tart. I cannot wait to see how this beer develops in the bottle over the next several years.