9

Heavenly stuff.

8.4

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8.5 | Flavor - 8.5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

1,5l bottle at Miros bday tasting, Zagreb. Vintage 2018. Amber hazy color, medium big white head. smells funky, cheesy, sherry, dusty, grassy. Very nice smell. full body, soft carbonation. tastes grassy, sherry, cheesy, funky, earthy. finishes lightly dry and lightly sour with notes of sherry, cheesy and grassy notes. Very nice one, lovely

8, 8.5, 8.5, 8, 8.5

9

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 9

37,5cl bottle (bottled: 21/11/2019, blend ˚6, season 19 - 20) from Rob the Gourmets’ Market in Brussels as my beer #8500. F: medium, white, average retention. C: deep orange gold, hazy. A: light fruity sour, bit cellar, bit brett, tangerine, bit old sour yoghurt, woody, basement, barnyard, lemon, green apples peels, green kiwi. T: light sour fruity, bit puckering, bit green berries, green apples peels, gooseberries, basement, cellar, brett, woody, lemon water, bit yoghurt, funky, bready, medium carbonation, very refreshing and great for the style, fully enjoyed.

7.4

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7

Pours fairly unclear blonde. Big white head. Scent is full, malty, oaky, creamy, dense. Taste is full, creamy, sharper than the regular OGV. More citric, green (unripe) lemon, higher carbonation. Def needs more time, it seems, but even than I doubt it will be on par with the OGV 19.

8.8

Appearance - 9 | Aroma - 8.5 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9

The 'vintage' edition of Cuvée Armand & Gaston, one of 3 Fonteinen's greatest geuzes; made the same way as the regular version, but some bottles are deemed to possess excellency by the brewery and held back for sale years later, after extensive ageing. In the Armand & Gaston case, there have been only two batches so far, at least to my knowledge: the first one blended in 2015 and released only in 2018 (in magnum bottles I believe) and this second one, blended in 2017 and released in 2020 (in 37.5 cl bottles). For the record, my sample, from the last of these two batches, mentions "assemblage n° 19 - seizoen 16/17". Thickly moussy, audibly fizzing, egg-white, quite large-bubbled head, receding but generally stable, until it does dissolve in the very end; misty deep amber-tinged orange blonde robe with fierce 'champenoise' sparkling rushing throughout - a delight to the eye. Very deep, noble, mature aroma of bitter orange peel, sherry vinegar or at least old dry sherry, old wet wood, oxidized white wine of decades old, grass silage, dusty attic, olive, haystack, apple peel, unripe persimmon, peach kernels, green plums, stale armpit sweat funkiness, dried bitter plant leaves, mugwort from an old herbarium even, old rusk. Fizzy onset in a fine-bubbled, 'crystalline' way, playing with initially quite colourful fruitiness of unripe peach, persimmon, crabapple and rowanberry to even brown olives, becoming more 'contemplative' and vinous further on, as in old oxidized wine, moving over a firm bread-crusty backbone with deep lactic acidity trailing behind - all the while exuding this typical sherry vinegar-, herb tea- and bitter orange peel-like quality common to old lambic of good quality. Pronounced woodiness and this 'old hop' bitter note in the depths of the beer further expand its full complexity, but a lemony acidity keeps things fresh till the end. Very unmistakably 'old' - but in the most graceful, elegant and profound way, like an 'ordinary' 3 Fonteinen geuze which has aged for two decades in optimal circumstances. Glad I got my hands on this bottle, this is one of those great lambic experiences which keep me going through the trouble of searching bottles, opening them and reviewing them in detail. Geuze truly is the king of beers, especially when executed and treated with the wisdom, patience, respect and expertise that shine through here.

8.4

Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 8.5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

Fairly hazy orange with a cream coloured head. Aroma of dry cellar funk, citrus, green apple notes, cobwebs. Flavour is moderate sour. Medium bodied with soft carbonation.

7.9

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 8

Pours unclear amber. Big white head (mild gusher, even) . Scent is full, creamy lambic. Taste is sharp, medium acidity. Full, oak, high carbo, yet a very mature taste. Lovely, would be interested to see what it does in the years to come. As for the carbo, it might improve - yet tastewise it's already quite a gem.

7.9

Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 8.5 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Cloudy copper with a decent white head. Nice petroleum funk. Soured plum and a nice light funk and clean finish. Nice.

8

Dark golden with white head. Dry and funky, aluminum, sweaty hay, sour, grainy, very old oaky stuff, medium body and soft carbonation.