Belgian Beer Challenge 43 – Geuze Mariage Parfait – Brouwerij Boon – 8%
I was discussing the merits of Gueze, Gueuze and Lambic beers the other day as being a perfect summer drink, as we are having a very rare sunny weekend, my garden chores were done so I decided to test the theory with Brouwerij Boon’s Mariage Parfait (Perfect Marriage).
Not being a massive fan of this type of beer I was interested to see what the flagship top of the range product for Boon would be like, after all the Boon Oude Kriek was very good, reviews were great too, all the signs were promising..
Sealed in the typical Boon champagne cork style it cracked open with a reassuring fresh pop, releasing a misty mix of aromas of apples, cider even, lemons.
It pours with a quite dense white head which lasted in some form to the last, the beer being a light amber in colour, with an ever so faint haze from the bottle conditioned sediment.
Taste, unsweetened stewed apples, raisins, lemon citrus and maybe a little bitter grapefruit, it’s good, VERY GOOD. There’s an aftertaste I can’t quite put my finger on, it’s tart, malted but very more-ish.
So to the theory, is it a great summer sunshine drink? Definitely, without doubt the nicest beer of this style I have ever had the pleasure of tasting, the sunshine only adds to the experience, a perfect marriage.
Brouwerij Boon tasting notes:
All of the Boon Geuze produced is of the type “Old Beggar”, ie those in the traditional way Gueuze brewed and meets the stringent EC standards apply to the protected name. The system for which the lambic is aged and blended Geuze Boon is still the same as the one by Jean De Vits (1874-1952) and René De Vits (1909-1993) was put on point. When Frank Boon in 1977 geuzestekerij R. De Vits over, there were still major differences in quality between different bottlings. For the past mistakes to avoid frequent production, significant investments. Iron mixing tanks were replaced with stainless steel tanks, mixing vessels are kept at constant temperature, etc.. Cleaning and bottling done automatically. The secondary fermentation in the bottle is at constant temperature (formerly the lower layers in the Caveau bottles in the cold at the floor and the upper layers in summer is often too hot).
The mixture of Geuze Boon made from 100% to Lembeek brewed beer. 90% of the mixture consists of tender Lambic at least two seasons (= about 18 months old), about 5% of beer character of 3 years and 5% of very young Lambic, which provides fermentable sugars and viable yeasts. Pour into a mixing vessel of 25,000 lit mixed, chilled, clarified and then cold stored. The bottles are either in boxes or in baskets of 600 bottles. At bottling, the Lambiek back to fermentation temperature and in a climate chamber for secondary fermentation in the bottle. After fermentation followed by a ripening at low temperature.
Warning, keep your eyes on this, somebody wants some…
Beersay 