For today’s craft beer review I’m going to be trying a Gueuze Fond Tradition produced by the Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck N.V. located in Ingelmunster, Belgium.

I’ve only had one other brew from Van Honsebrouck and I wasn’t extremely impressed with it, however I do appreciate a nice Gueuze Lambic on occasion, so we’ll just have to see how this one is.

I was having trouble getting connected to vanhonsebrouck.be, so I checked on ratebeer.com for some kind of commercial description and couldn’t find one, therefore we are just going to have to find out for ourselves what this beer is all about.

Let’s pour.

This Gueuze has an ABV of 5.0% and comes in a 12.7 oz. bottle.

It poured a murky brown to caramel color with an off white head of average size that was both soapy and kind of fizzy.  The retention time was not so good and the lacing was a bit subpar also.

As far as the aroma though… it provided a nice acidic punch.  Very sour and funky.  Hints of lemon citrus and green apples with a slight vinegar appeal.  It was a bit musty with a nice breadiness and a yeasty component tying it all together.  This was a very nice smelling beer to be honest.

The taste began with a strong, lip puckering sourness.  A tartness and acidity from lemon and lime citrus as well as green apples made for a consummate and pleasurable savor.  It kind of tasted like sour apple jolly ranchers.  The sourness came on real strong with the initial taste, but it mellowed nicely through the middle.  The funk, yeast and bready ingredients really came forth at the back end and smoothed it out plus it helped develop an earthy essence.  A refined vinaigrette hid underneath consolidating all of the attributes.  Very nice.

The mouthfeel was medium bodied.  Very dry, sharp, crisp, snappy and refreshing.  It had some nice, bright and lively carbonation too.  It also left quite a bit of flavor behind after each sip.

We have a notably good beer here.  Aside from the appearance it was more than adequate in all of the other categories.  It became much easier to drink as I made my way through the bottle.  With each and every sip my palate adjusted and the sourness really started to subside.  I could easily see myself enjoying this on a scorching hot day while sitting under a shade tree.  It represents the style very well and the overall pleasure was rather good too.  I would have no trouble recommending this to anyone and I’d suggest that you give the Gueuze Fond Tradition a try if you can obtain it.  It’s not the best Gueuze I’ve sampled to date, but it’s still pretty darn tasty.

Thanks for reading and commenting guys.  It’s most appreciated.

Until next time.  Cheers.

Score:  4.1 out of 5
Grade:  A-