REVIEW #74: Cantillon Gueuze 100% Lambic Bio (Brasserie Cantillon)

Pours golden orange with a plain white head. Smells of sour apples (or Apple Sourz) and of faintly spiced oranges and apricots. It goes a little beyond tartness to a vinegar-like sourness which then mellows slightly in the mouth and transforms into a creamy, woody, almost sweet finish. But mostly its dryly sour with a vinous grape-like character. An excellent gueuze, which I found more enjoyable/drinkable than Boon's Oude Geuze (solely a personal preference).

Brasserie Cantillon are regarded as one of the very best lambic producers. The Van Roy-Cantillon family have kept their brewery in a kind of stasis since 1900, changing it very little so as not to offend the wild airborne yeasts. They specialise in the style and have created innumerable blended and unblended variations on the spontaneous ale theme. As for this Gueuze 100% Bio, which is often thought of as the one to beat, it was first released in 2003 and the 'bio' part indicates an organic beer. The beer was designed to be a celebration of a time when artificial pesticides were not the norm; before the word organic had a need to exist. It is a blend of three lambics, aged at 1, 2 & 3 years. It is stated on my 2010 bottle that it will mature well up to the year 2030 in a good cellar!

• MALTS: 35% wheat malt

• HOPS: AGED & DRY
• IBU: LOW
• ABV: 5%`
• BOTTLE-CONDITIONED, UNFERMENTED, UNPASTEURISED

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