Cantillon Lou Pepe - Gueuze
Thanks to Steve for this one. Sampled the 2001 and 2000 vintages side-by-side. Review is for the 2001 vintage though there will be comments about the 2000 throughout. 4oz. pours from capped and corked 750ml bottles into matching wine glasses. Reviewed at a tasting 2/19/11. From notes. A: Pour generates a small ring of white head that dissipates quickly. Beer is a slightly cloudy yellowish-white peach. Lacing is minimal and with little stick. The 2000 vintage is surprisingly much more carbonated. More head, more lace and darker beer color overall also. Still, pretty much what I'd expect from a Gueuze. S: Nose is sharp cheese, overwhelming horse-blanket and Brett funk, wet wood, and notes of tart lemon pulp and ripe sour peaches. Very aromatic and impressive overall. 2000 vintage is much more earthy and grassy with a much more woody presence and significantly less sharpness and funk. T: Opening is accented by a sharp, lemon and sour apple tartness. Notes of stale and damp air, wood, and blankets of Brett funk. Mild sour peaches at the middle and end with a building sourness right at the end. Finish is moderately dry and puckering with no aftertaste. Very well done. 2000 vintage is much less sour and with more of a bitter, grassy, yeasty presence. M: Light to medium bodied and near still. Oily and silky in the mouth. Saliva-generating. Puckering and moderately dry. Very slight graininess going down. Crisp, clean, and dry finish. No aftertaste. Very appropriate and the combination of dryness and a slightly prickly finish is what makes this one. D: What is surprising about this beer is the stark contrast between the 2000 and 2001 vintages. 2001 was, in my opinion, far and away, a superior beer with more funk, more tartness, and simply more character. Still, regardless of the vintage, seek this one out and sit on it. A gem of a beer.