Brouwerij Girardin - 1882 Gueuze black label.

First off, great stuff! Gueuze is a blend of 1, 2, and 3 year old lambics. Lambic is a type of beer produced in Belgium that is spontaneously fermented, meaning no yeast or other organisms are added by the brewer. It is left open to the air in the building and the environment, where all the organisms needed for fermentation naturally occur. Sipping this beer is like slipping back in time, when fermentation was not understood and all 'beer' was spontaneously fermented.
After inoculation, the beer is aged in oak casks that are also home to all the organisms that can ferment this beer. And fermentation can take a long time, in this case up to and beyond three years.
Another thing that makes Gueuze unique is its method of carbonation. No priming sugar is added. It is not force carbonated. Rather the one year old beer in the blend still contains some unfermented sugars that are eaten in the bottle, producing a very effervescent, champagne like carbonation. In fact, I have read that Gueuze producers consider there to be very little difference between their end product and champagne.
This beer opens with a nice pop of the cork. It pours out golden with streaming carbonation and a white fluffy head that dissipates as the beer is drunk. Nice lacing. Nice citrus aroma, some light funk and oak.
Great mouth feel, with citrus and a pleasant acidity in the forefront. Also the light funk/hay, oak, vanilla. Very drinkable, each taste begs for more!
I have always considered Cantillon and their beers to be the standard for all things lambic, and I would say this beer is right up there with them in quality. I would like to do a head to head tasting some night between several different brands.
My rating: a unique and world class beer. Seek it out.
Abv: 5%.
Volume: 12.7 fl oz.
Website: www.specialtybeer.com/beer,index,girardin_gueuze.html
Price paid: around 9 at Harvest Wine and Spirits.
Number of cans of Bud Light you could buy for the same price: 14.