Lambic Discussion Thread

[JBP]

Hanssens is great if you like a healthy dose of nail polish remover with your lambic. I don't understand if they are purposefully cultivating acetone as a house characteristic or if they just can't figure out how to avoid it.

 

[matedog]

I generally find Hansenns much too sour for my palate.

That was probably why, it stuck out as the most in your face. We weren't exactly lambic experts.

 

[Gestalten]

Speaking of Hanssen's Gueuze, I think their general impression over here may have something to do with bottle stability. They're the least technological of all the producers, and I got the impression speaking with people in Belgium, that Horal was putting a bit of pressure on them to control quality more. I have definitely had some ripping sour gueuze from them in the past, and it erroneously defined the style for me. However, when I was in Belgium, we went to In de Welkom in Dworp, right down the road from Hanssen's, and had two bottles of the most incredibly complex and soft gueuzes there that I have been able to enjoy. Absolute game changers. I feel like it HAS to have something to do with proximity and careful storage. I mean, who the **** knows what happens in transit to the bottles that get imported. That's my theory anyway...

 

[Gestalten]

And fwiw, the paint thinner, acetone, vinegar problem is likely oxygen based. They are still very "old school" at Hanssen's; not topping casks, not using CO2 in tanks or transfers, using old machinery that is rough on the beer, not bottling under CO2 pressure. All of these things affect flavor stability. More modern practices would (imo) mean their beers would stay less sour longer.

 

[stupac2]

Speaking of Hanssen's Gueuze, I think their general impression over here may have something to do with bottle stability. They're the least technological of all the producers, and I got the impression speaking with people in Belgium, that Horal was putting a bit of pressure on them to control quality more. I have definitely had some ripping sour gueuze from them in the past, and it erroneously defined the style for me. However, when I was in Belgium, we went to In de Welkom in Dworp, right down the road from Hanssen's, and had two bottles of the most incredibly complex and soft gueuzes there that I have been able to enjoy. Absolute game changers. I feel like it HAS to have something to do with proximity and careful storage. I mean, who the **** knows what happens in transit to the bottles that get imported. That's my theory anyway...

I dunno, I had a bottle of Hanssens from the mid-90's at Toronado that was amazeballs. I doubt that their QC has gone downhill, so there must be more to it than that.

 

[Gestalten]

I dunno, I had a bottle of Hanssens from the mid-90's at Toronado that was amazeballs. I doubt that their QC has gone downhill, so there must be more to it than that.

I don't think you understood my post. It's not that the poor QC, (and they have pretty awful QC) means all bottles ever made will definitely go bad, it means that it's likely a certain percentage will. No other producer has bottle variation that's that broad, suggesting it has to do with methods is not really a crazy assertion. Especially given Hanssens history/situation.

 

[stakem1]

Looking for any commentary about fresh girardin - specifically cork stamp b x 2016

I looked at untappd and saw a checkin and the guy describes it as brett and lactose. I cant help but giggle at that. (Surely he means lactic, right?) So I click his profile and I **** you not he is self proclaimed cicerone certified. So I look at some of his other checkins and every one is a selfy with him and his beer. I found "that guy" he lives in florida...

God bless america. Anyway...anyone here have real commentary on the latest batch of girardin? I know some of you had to have jumped on volume packs considering the latest with biab getting cut off.

 

[stupac2]

I don't think you understood my post. It's not that the poor QC, (and they have pretty awful QC) means all bottles ever made will definitely go bad, it means that it's likely a certain percentage will. No other producer has bottle variation that's that broad, suggesting it has to do with methods is not really a crazy assertion. Especially given Hanssens history/situation.

If I misunderstood you then you said something you didn't mean. I don't know how to interpret, "I feel like it HAS to have something to do with proximity and careful storage" besides eliminating the possibility for imported bottles to age well, which is clearly false. Unless you just meant that storage condition exacerbate whatever issues they have in production, but that seems obvious to the point of being meaningless to say (storage conditions can ruin anything).

 

[matedog]

Saw some interesting discussions on lambic.info's fb group regarding the latest Cantillon gueuze being bottled September 1st and already being released. Has anyone tried it yet?

 

[bsc]

BiaB has a 1 bottle limit on Bio. And it's not 1 bottle per transaction, it's 1 bottle per person period (or some extended period of time).
I purchased 1 bottle of bio last week, then it sold out, now it's re-listed but I'm unable to add it to my cart when I'm logged in (it says max amount already in cart, when I have 0 in my cart). However if I log out of my account and add to cart as guest I can add 1 bottle. But if I try to log back into my account it removes it from my cart.

Thus, it appears that here are the days when Bio is 1 bottle limits per person for some extended amount of time

that's what it comes to when people cherry pick bottles and f5 all day then add only the 'limited' things to their carts, which they only ship when it is full of 'limited' things.

if the online stores acted like every other retail store and didn't hold boxes for people until they were full of 'limited' things then it'd be just as easy to get bio as it ever was.

 

[stakem1]

Saw some interesting discussions on lambic.info's fb group regarding the latest Cantillon gueuze being bottled September 1st and already being released. Has anyone tried it yet?

Havent tried it yet. But I think its safe to blame global warming on that too.

 

[Quatz]

A Bottle of de Cam geuze is slightly less than €10. Drie Fonteinen is about 6 or 7 so it's not too bad yet. Girardin goes for €3,50. The prices aren't rising that quickly over here.

Prices for regular geuzes are still allright but new special releases like Mure and Zenne are becoming very expensive. And Drie Fonteinen prices in general have been increasing steadily. De Cam is still more expensive but I'm not sure how long that will last.

Speaking of Hanssen's Gueuze, I think their general impression over here may have something to do with bottle stability. They're the least technological of all the producers, and I got the impression speaking with people in Belgium, that Horal was putting a bit of pressure on them to control quality more. I have definitely had some ripping sour gueuze from them in the past, and it erroneously defined the style for me. However, when I was in Belgium, we went to In de Welkom in Dworp, right down the road from Hanssen's, and had two bottles of the most incredibly complex and soft gueuzes there that I have been able to enjoy. Absolute game changers. I feel like it HAS to have something to do with proximity and careful storage. I mean, who the **** knows what happens in transit to the bottles that get imported. That's my theory anyway...

I'm not sure how old they were (probably pretty fresh) but the Hanssens bottles I've had have all been sour bombs (except for the Schaarbeekse kriek which was awesome). Seems to be more bottle variation than storage/shipping.

 

[tommyguz]

Looking for any commentary about fresh girardin - specifically cork stamp b x 2016

I looked at untappd and saw a checkin and the guy describes it as brett and lactose. I cant help but giggle at that. (Surely he means lactic, right?) So I click his profile and I **** you not he is self proclaimed cicerone certified. So I look at some of his other checkins and every one is a selfy with him and his beer. I found "that guy" he lives in florida...

God bless america. Anyway...anyone here have real commentary on the latest batch of girardin? I know some of you had to have jumped on volume packs considering the latest with biab getting cut off.

I will let you know when I drink your half....

 

[Gestalten]

If I misunderstood you then you said something you didn't mean. I don't know how to interpret, "I feel like it HAS to have something to do with proximity and careful storage" besides eliminating the possibility for imported bottles to age well, which is clearly false. Unless you just meant that storage condition exacerbate whatever issues they have in production, but that seems obvious to the point of being meaningless to say (storage conditions can ruin anything).

Oh dear god...

 

[SinH4]

God bless america. Anyway...anyone here have real commentary on the latest batch of girardin? I know some of you had to have jumped on volume packs considering the latest with biab getting cut off.

I've opened one of the Bx2016 fresh. Tasted quite classic, with a good amount of ripe apples and the girardin-typical bitterness in the finish. Not as stellar as some of the older bottles I've had but very delicious. I'll try not to drink them up too soon though

 

[Gestalten]

I'm not sure how old they were (probably pretty fresh) but the Hanssens bottles I've had have all been sour bombs (except for the Schaarbeekse kriek which was awesome). Seems to be more bottle variation than storage/shipping.

That's funny, the two we had in Belgium were both exceptional, it was the Schaarbeekse kriek that was a sour bomb.

I wasn't saying storage/shipping is the problem, but that it could be that it exacerbates the QC problem, and leads to far wider swings in bottle variation than the other producers. As I said before, It's likely an issue with oxygen getting into the finished beer during packaging. That then gets "converted" into acetic and lactic acid in the bottles.

That's all just an educated guess though. The Hanssen's folks definitely do have a taste for sour, their Oude Lambiek on cask at TdG was a face melter.

 

[wyatt1]

Is 3F Golden Blend 2014 ever going to make it stateside? It is probably my favorite lambic to date.

 

[FTowne1]

Its not surprising why lambic is going up in prices. Demand for product from Cantillon and 3F, arguably the best lambic out there, topped with the limited capacity from both has really caused the perfect storm for prices to increase. It also doesnt help much that distribution to the US is just not on a grand scale as it should be for such demand.

This is the exact reason why ended up importing 200+ bottles of Cantillon/3F before leaving Germany. My wife thinks im crazy but Ive tried to convince her its like a wine colllection.

 

[JulianB1]

according to cantillon:

"In Brussels, the average night temperatures for the begining of November are around 5°C.
We programmed two brews for this week but we have cancelled them because of the warm temperature. Night temperature for this week will be between 12°C and 14°C, too warm for a correct cooling.
We just began the season and we already have to stop it for a week, traditionnal Lambic is also victim of the global warming."

Ugh.

Weather. Is Not. Climate.

 

[callmemickey]

Looking for any commentary about fresh girardin - specifically cork stamp b x 2016

I've opened a few 750s of Bx2016 so far. Pretty prototypical batch of Girardin. Subtle, with nice must, minerality, and funk.

 

[callmemickey]

Saw some interesting discussions on lambic.info's fb group regarding the latest Cantillon gueuze being bottled September 1st and already being released. Has anyone tried it yet?

That was me. I found it to be muted with not much depth. Hence why I started that thread. TLDR version of that thread... Cantillion gueuze ain't what it used to be (in my opinion).

 

[rodzm]

Yeah dont show this gif to my wife. You dont know know how much i got reminded of the amount of beer. All i heard was you spnding money on all that beer now i want my wine barrel, my coockoo clock, my nutcracker, my christmas decorations, oh and the list goes on. But hey its my hobby and i savd for it so what th hell you only live once right?

 

[Cruize4Gueuze]

Ugh.

Weather. Is Not. Climate.

Get out of here with your science.

 

[SinH4]

Ugh.

Weather. Is Not. Climate.

yeah, but towards the Guardian, he formulated it in a much more serious manner:

Ideally it must cool at between minus 3C and 8C. But climate change has been notable in the last 20 years. My grandfather 50 years ago brewed from mid-October until May – but I’ve never done that in my life, and I am in my 15th season.

this most likely is climate.

 

[Pneill3161]

Nooooo.... Not Tilquin too!

 

[BadJustin]

Nooooo.... Not Tilquin too!

stupid work image blocker, what is it?

 

[JulianB1]

stupid work image blocker, what is it?

All Tilquins are listed as "not for export to USA".

 

[ineedbeer1]

stupid work image blocker, what is it?

A certain site is now restricting export of Tilquin to the US as well as Girardin.

 

[Pneill3161]

stupid work image blocker, what is it?

Tilquin not to be exported to USA now.

 

[Pneill3161]

A certain site is now restricting export of Tilquin to the US as well as Girardin.

It appears girardins bottle are ok to export though.