Pittsburgh

[dadavat]

Gueuze are probably the most microbially complex beers around, so those flavors could've come from any number of critters. Gonna pull a Nate & try to draw on something I read without having it right in front of me, but I think I just read that enterobacter (poopy-smelling germs) are usually the first to post up in cooling lambic wort, so maybe that blend just had a particularly resilient or dormant strain that survived fermentation, blending, & then aging for two years. Maybe?

I don't think enterobacter can live in an alcoholic environment, and also i think you'd probably experience symptoms of food poisoning. I've had many bottles of 3f gueuze, its one of my favorite beers and i haven't had a bad one yet, that being said, i feel like anything is possible with wild ales so i'm not too surprised. 3f gueuze is probably the oakiest of all that i've had so its possible you're not a fan of really oaky beers. Have you ever had any other really funky beers preluderl ?

 

[Matthouse3]

Isn't Untappd just Pokemon Go for adults?

Gotta tick em all

 

[OneDropSoup]

I don't think enterobacter can live in an alcoholic environment, and also i think you'd probably experience symptoms of food poisoning.

That's a good point. Something else then?

 

[preluderl]

I don't think enterobacter can live in an alcoholic environment, and also i think you'd probably experience symptoms of food poisoning. I've had many bottles of 3f gueuze, its one of my favorite beers and i haven't had a bad one yet, that being said, i feel like anything is possible with wild ales so i'm not too surprised. 3f gueuze is probably the oakiest of all that i've had so its possible you're not a fan of really oaky beers. Have you ever had any other really funky beers preluderl ?

I've had a lot of AWA's and brett'd saisons and such, but this was only my second gueuze. Obviously they're different breweries and I expect differences, but this didn't even taste like the same style to me as LPG. It was just really strange.

And obviously I can't attest to how this bottle was handled before I got it. Some jagoff could have kept it out in 100 degree sun for a week for all I know. It just tasted really, really strange.

 

[preluderl]

Here's the bottle and pour, by the way.

 

[PSUMike]

Side note, do any of you degenerates have bottles of either Bourbon Barrel Black Maple or Champion Ground laying around? I have a trade lined up and I said I had a BBBM left but looking through my stash, I'm out. PM me if you can spare one of either (or both). Can repay in sexual favors if needed.

 

[dadavat]

Here's the bottle and pour, by the way.

very well could have just been a bad bottle, but it looks normal to me from this picture. if it were kept at high temperatures for an extended period of time, i'd suspect you would have had overcarbonation. what was the carb like? if it was low the cork may have not been sealed all the way. was there any mold on the cork?

I haven't had too many american wild ales with the level of funk that i've had with some lambics, so my guess is that you may just not like an extremely funky beer or there was some bizarre infection. The thing that throws me off is the garlic though. I can't say i've ever had any sort of garlicky note from a beer that wasn't hop related (summit hops can be oniony/garlicky i think). I had a bottle of cuvee rene kriek that smelled very strongly of manure, but in a pleasant earthy-farmy kind of way. Not everyone was a fan of that beer. We all have vastly different palates.

 

[HeadHunter]

Faith No More is amazing. Mike Patton has never made a bad song. All 3,700 of them including the voice effects for the creatures in I Am Legend.

1992 me was an *******. Although I hadn't really paid attention to how prolific Mike Patton had been.

 

[preluderl]

very well could have just been a bad bottle, but it looks normal to me from this picture. if it were kept at high temperatures for an extended period of time, i'd suspect you would have had overcarbonation. what was the carb like? if it was low the cork may have not been sealed all the way. was there any mold on the cork?

I haven't had too many american wild ales with the level of funk that i've had with some lambics, so my guess is that you may just not like an extremely funky beer or there was some bizarre infection. The thing that throws me off is the garlic though. I can't say i've ever had any sort of garlicky note from a beer that wasn't hop related (summit hops can be oniony/garlicky i think). I had a bottle of cuvee rene kriek that smelled very strongly of manure, but in a pleasant earthy-farmy kind of way. Not everyone was a fan of that beer. We all have vastly different palates.

The carb was pretty low, but it was still present. I didn't notice anything out of sorts with the cork, but I didn't closely examine it either. I still have it though so I'll look at it when I get home.

 

[shuggy1]

 

[uvm2003]

So I have a question for you nerdz who know the beer sciences much better than I. I posted this in the drinking thread last night looking for some opinions, but I didn't get any unfortunately.

Opened a 3F Oude Geuze 14' last night. The oak aged version, gold label, bottled January 2014, 375ml bottle. It's been in my bar fridge since I got it about six months ago in a trade, but before that obviously I cannot attest to how it was handled.

Looked normal on the pour. The nose was burnt oak, sulfur and garlic. My palate isn't for ****, so I apologize I can't give you anything more sophisticated, but as I can best describe it both smelled and tasted like a garlic spiked fart. I couldn't even come remotely close to finishing the bottle and ended up dumping it.

My only previous gueuze experienced was with LPG and it tasted NOTHING like this. Not in the same universe.

So, any idea what gives? Surely this is not what this beer was intended to taste like.

Ryan - can you post bottle details? Maybe put it in the lambic thread? I've personally never had this issue with 3f OG, but sadly I'm not swimming in bottles.

Someone like SeaWatchman will have thoughts on this, I'm sure.

 

[SeaWatchman]

So I have a question for you nerdz who know the beer sciences much better than I. I posted this in the drinking thread last night looking for some opinions, but I didn't get any unfortunately.

Opened a 3F Oude Geuze 14' last night. The oak aged version, gold label, bottled January 2014, 375ml bottle. It's been in my bar fridge since I got it about six months ago in a trade, but before that obviously I cannot attest to how it was handled.

Looked normal on the pour. The nose was burnt oak, sulfur and garlic. My palate isn't for ****, so I apologize I can't give you anything more sophisticated, but as I can best describe it both smelled and tasted like a garlic spiked fart. I couldn't even come remotely close to finishing the bottle and ended up dumping it.

My only previous gueuze experienced was with LPG and it tasted NOTHING like this. Not in the same universe.

So, any idea what gives? Surely this is not what this beer was intended to taste like.

It could be that you just got an off bottle. I've never experienced anything like that and 3F OG is one of my favorite beers. Point of clarification though: all 3F is aged in barrels (as are all genuine lambics), and there's no difference between the gold and green labeled versions.

 

[MooseLang]

Definitely would chalk it up to a bad bottle.

Funny thing is, 3F OG is arguably the most consistent out of Cantillon, Tilquin, etc, etc

 

[PSUMike]

It could be that you just got an off bottle. I've never experienced anything like that and 3F OG is one of my favorite beers. Point of clarification though: all 3F is aged in barrels (as are all genuine lambics), and there's no difference between the gold and green labeled versions.

Can you elaborate on this a little more? Seems like there is an ABV difference from the quick glance I took.

Side note: I had a green label 3F OG a few weeks back and it was pretty outstanding.

 

[preluderl]

It could be that you just got an off bottle. I've never experienced anything like that and 3F OG is one of my favorite beers. Point of clarification though: all 3F is aged in barrels (as are all genuine lambics), and there's no difference between the gold and green labeled versions.

Appreciate this because I was confused on it as well. The gold label specifically says "aged in oak barrels" on the front and the green label I have (which is newer, and a 750ml) did not say that... So, I wasn't sure if it was just an oak aged version vs not.

uvm2003 I posted the only pic I have on the previous page, but I can snap another when I get home of the back and such if anyone wants to see it.

 

[MooseLang]

Appreciate this because I was confused on it as well. The gold label specifically says "aged in oak barrels" on the front and the green label I have (which is newer, and a 750ml) did not say that... So, I wasn't sure if it was just an oak aged version vs not.

uvm2003 I posted the only pic I have on the previous page, but I can snap another when I get home of the back and such if anyone wants to see it.

One is just the US label, and the other is the Euro label.

The Shelton Bros have to make sure everyone knows it's aged in oak, because it's for US beer geeks.

http://www.lambic.info/3_Fonteinen_Oude_Geuze

 

[preluderl]

One is just the US label, and the other is the Euro label.

The Shelton Bros have to make sure everyone knows it's aged in oak, because it's for US beer geeks.

http://www.lambic.info/3_Fonteinen_Oude_Geuze

Ahhh, okay. Interesting. Thanks for the clarification, appreciate it.

 

[Beerwanderer]

I love the sour talk. Wish I had tile to actually comment. After work hopefully.

 

[preluderl]

Should I expect the same sort of "funk" from the lambics as well?

 

[tommyguz]

Ryan - can you post bottle details? Maybe put it in the lambic thread? I've personally never had this issue with 3f OG, but sadly I'm not swimming in bottles.

Someone like SeaWatchman will have thoughts on this, I'm sure.

ugh I am. just ordered 32 off the interwebz. hope they aren't infected.




joking about infection.

 

[dadavat]

Should I expect the same sort of "funk" from the lambics as well?

The type and amount of funk varies due to a multitude of reasons, vintage, age, and brewery being the three biggest in my opinion. You need to keep in mind that gueuze is a blend of (typically) 1,2,and 3 year old lambic. Generally, the older a lambic gets, the less sour and more funky and refined it gets, so a fresh gueuze with a higher percentage of 3 year lambic in the blend may be funkier than a 2 year old gueuze with higher percentage of new lambic. The magic of it all is that these master blenders can pick from hundreds of barrels and produce thousands of bottles a product that tastes relatively consistent from year to year. That being said, its completely possible to get two completely different tasting bottles of the same vintage due to the complex interactions that occur after bottling.

In short, there's a lot of variables. Drink as many bottles of gueuze as you can and you'll be happy.

 

[preluderl]

The type and amount of funk varies due to a multitude of reasons, vintage, age, and brewery being the three biggest in my opinion. You need to keep in mind that gueuze is a blend of (typically) 1,2,and 3 year old lambic. Generally, the older a lambic gets, the less sour and more funky and refined it gets, so a fresh gueuze with a higher percentage of 3 year lambic in the blend may be funkier than a 2 year old gueuze with higher percentage of new lambic. The magic of it all is that these master blenders can pick from hundreds of barrels and produce thousands of bottles a product that tastes relatively consistent from year to year. That being said, its completely possible to get two completely different tasting bottles of the same vintage due to the complex interactions that occur after bottling.

In short, there's a lot of variables. Drink as many bottles of gueuze as you can and you'll be happy.

That's more or less what I thought.

I do appreciate the info from everyone. All the Belgian stuff is still pretty new to me, but I've been lucky enough to trade for some nice bottles, so hopefully I've got some nice examples to get me on my way.

 

[dadavat]

That's more or less what I thought.

I do appreciate the info from everyone. All the Belgian stuff is still pretty new to me, but I've been lucky enough to trade for some nice bottles, so hopefully I've got some nice examples to get me on my way.

There are plenty of nice bottles to be had at market district in shadyside as well (and for reasonable prices). I think Hanssens' gueuze is up there with 3f and cantillon and that always seems to be in stock there. St. Louis Fond Tradition is a great one as well, especially for $7.

 

[OneDropSoup]

There are plenty of nice bottles to be had at market district in shadyside as well (and for reasonable prices). I think Hanssens' gueuze is up there with 3f and cantillon and that always seems to be in stock there. St. Louis Fond Tradition is a great one as well, especially for $7.

Tilquin can be found around, too, maybe even more readily now that 12% is distributing here. And don't sleep on Cuvee Rene.

 

[AnotherPint4Ole]

Just traded a MBP for 2 Axl Rose steroid syringes

You totally trade-[redacted] that guy! Hah!

 

[HeadHunter]

All the Big Bad Baptist!

 

[troygreer]

All the Big Bad Baptist!

Speaking of Epic, has anyone seen the Sour IPA around town? AnotherPint4Ole and I tried it a few nights ago and I really dug it.

 

[bren4220]

I don't think enterobacter can live in an alcoholic environment, and also i think you'd probably experience symptoms of food poisoning. preluderl ?

Certain strains of enterobacter can survive fermentation such as E. cloacae which is found in normal gut flora. Pathogens have not been found in fermented beer, so illness wouldn't occur unless you were immunocompromised and aspirated some beer or were on a bunch of antibiotics and got an opportunistic infection. Changes in fermentation and taste/aroma can occur, however.

 

[preluderl]

There are plenty of nice bottles to be had at market district in shadyside as well (and for reasonable prices). I think Hanssens' gueuze is up there with 3f and cantillon and that always seems to be in stock there. St. Louis Fond Tradition is a great one as well, especially for $7.

I've thought about buying Cuvee Rene a few times, just haven't pulled the trigger for whatever reason.

I love all of this info. It's extremely helpful.

 

[MooseLang]

I almost always have Cuvee Rene on hand. Some bottles of Cuvee Rene have been (to my taste) better than recent batches of Cantillon Classic. I probably haven't had enough of the WHALESZS American Wilds, but that won't stop me from making the blanket statement that Cuvee Rene is *probably* better than most of the best American Wilds. There is something about the balance of funk, fruit, and lighter acidity that the Belgians pull off, versus the HOLY **** THAT'S SOUR of American Wilds.

Girardin Black Label used to be relatively easy to find, but that's not the case anymore. If you can get your hands on some, scoop it up. 3F, Tilquin, and Black Label are my personal "big three" in terms of Gueuze.