Gueuze And Grilled Fish
Gueuze is a unique style of beer (wikipedia) that combines older, aged Lambic (2-3 year old)with new Lambic (1 yr old). The mixture is then bottled where it “conditions”. The smell and flavor are very unique and different from any typical beer most people have had.
I had my first Gueuze a few months ago and really liked it. So, I was at one of my favorite beer stores here in Atlanta, Greens Beverage and picked up a bottle of the Girardin Black Label Gueuze(map) & (Info), which is unfiltered. The While label is filtered. I wanted to try the beer with some food off of the Big Green Egg (surprise, surprise). So, I paired it up with some Mahi Mahi that I marinated in orange, lemon, and lime juice and then grilled on the Big Green Egg. I also fixed some Orzo pasta, and Arugula salad to go with it along with some Prosciutto wrapped Honeydew. Much thanks to “Chef Chris”, better known as CMcTwisty on YouTube, for suggesting the menu.
Appearance: The beer pours a dark, cloudy straw color with a very nice, creamy white head. The lacing is excellent and there is good carbonation.
Smell: The smell is unique among any other beer I have had. Musty barnyard with sour cherry and sour apple pretty much describes it. There is basically zero hops in the smell. There’s a lot going on in the smell.
Taste: The taste is mostly like the smell. Think of walking through a barnyard in the morning before the dew has evaporated with a sour apple Jolly Rancher candy in your mouth and that pretty much describes it. There is an earthy, musty taste along with the prominent Sour Apple and Cherry flavors. I also got a bit of vinegar. Once you get past the sour flavor there is some sweetness that greets you. It is a unique taste, one that many people won’t like, but it is worth it in my opinion to try one for yourself just to experience it.
Drinkability: This is a fairly easy drinking beer, once you get past the sour flavors. The carbonation helps cut through the flavors to make it easy to drink. The ABV is only 5%. The beer goes well with food as well.
This is an excellent beer as long as you take into consideration the style. This does not taste like “regular” beer. Gueuze is an acquired taste and many people won’t like it. I love it and that is reflected a bit in the score. It went very well with the meal I prepared, especially the Prosciutto wrapped Honeydew. Gueuze supposedly pairs up well with many types of food so I will “experiment” a bit next time I have it. I could drink this a lot if it wasn’t $8.00 a bottle. But, I will grab one of these every few months to give myself a treat.
1. Appearance- 9 points (out of 10)
2. Smell- 9 points (out of 10)
3. Taste- 18 points (out of 20)
4. Drinkability- 9 points (out of 10)
Total 46 (out of 50) Points- 5 Mugs
Good score! I’ve never quite *got* lambics or gueuzers yet, it’s a style I’m quite unfamiliar with. I should hop on a train and head over to Belgium for the day (I’m in the south-east of England so it’s less than 3 hours door to door to Brussels!) to try and taste then as fresh and local as possible.
Have you had any US wild beers? I hear that Russian River do some really good ones.
As for pronounciation… I thought it was Jer-Zer. I don’t think anyone knows the real way to say it!! Haha!
Ah, I get the pronounciation now! Taking into account the accent, I think it’s Ger(rhyming with ‘her’)-Zer. Ger-Zer. something like that
Good plan for the anniversary! How about coming to London for a week or so, visit a few breweries, see the sights, drink lots of cask ale, then jump on the Eurostar from London to Brussels for a few days, then on the way back have a day or three in Paris (a little bit of romance for the occasion!) before returning to London to fly home? Done!
Excellent! The Tour de France was re-routed a few years back to pass right by where I live – my girlfriend can walk to the end of her road and watch it all from there!
I’ve got a good beer guide to the West Coast USA and there’s a chapter on Hawaii in there and they seem to have some decent beers, so either way I think you’ll be alright!
One of the best things about Brussels is that the Cantillon brewery is about 5-10 minutes walk from the Eurostar station and is open for self-guided tours. I’ll be off there soon!
Don’t go the Brussels without me! I really want to get there, if only for a day or two, to tour/try the beers. Maybe I can convince my wife to go next year for our anniversary. I can hear the conversation already “but honey, you wouldn’t want to deny me the pleasure of visiting the source of these fine beers, would you? If you loved me…”. On second thought maybe I don’t want that conversation
I haven’t had any US versions yet but I will search them out for sure because I really like the style.
The pronunciation is definitely a bit strange. I think I got closer with my adjusted version. Here’s where I found the pronunciation I’m pretty sure it’s closer than the “goo-zay” I said in the video.
You’ve just planned our trip! Sounds good to me. We’re actually going back and forth between a UK/Europe trip or Hawaii. Either place would be great but there’s better beer in your part of the world for sure. Plus, all the bike racing. I’d love to see one of the Spring Classics or perhaps part of the Giro or Tour De France. We’ll see, we’ve got plenty of time to hash out the trip.