Hello guys and gals.  How is everyone doing?  I hope well.  Thanks for checking back in on another craft beer review.  For today’s tasting I’m going to be trying a 2008 Boon Oude Geuze Mariage Parfait produced by Brouwerij Boon located in Lembeek, Belgium.

I’ve had a couple of other Boon products before and have been somewhat unimpressed, but I’ve heard great things about this brew, so I’m hoping for the best.

The website, boon.be, had this nice, lengthy commercial description.

Boon Geuze Mariage Parfait has an alcohol content of 8%. It consists of 95% mild lambic, aged at least three years and specially reserved for this purpose, and 5% young lambic. The latter provides the fermentable sugars and wild yeasts. After mixing in a vessel of 25,000 litres, the wort (unfermented mixture) is filtered and chilled. If we are bottling, we bring it back to fermentation temperature. The bottles are placed in a climate-controlled space for the secondary fermentation. This is followed by maturing at low temperature for at least 6 months. Want to know the bottling date? Simply subtract 20 years from the “best before” date!

Very cool.  Let’s try it.

This beer came in a 12.7 oz. bottle and it had an ABV of 8.0%.

It poured a hazy/cloudy, orange color with a white, soapy, somewhat fizzy head.  It was sized nicely and maintained some solid retention time considering the texture.  The lacing was sturdy too and I could see a steady stream of bubbles rising to the top along the sides of the snifter.

The aroma presented a wonderfully tart and sour profile.  Some sour green apple as well as some green grapes.  It was slightly acidic and vinegary with a musty undertone. Hints of wood and oak as well as a very prominent yeast component.  All in all, very funky, complex and very good.

The flavor released an explosion of sourness at first, however it totally relaxed after the first few sips.  It was sour, tart and funky.  More soured fruits of green apple and green grape.  Some musty, wet hay and yeast came through along with a defined oak and earthiness as it opened up.  Very nice.

The mouthfeel was medium bodied.  Sharp, bitey, crisp and very dry.  The carbonation was very good for a beer with this kind of age on it.  A small amount of warmth was felt at the back end and the palate was completely drenched with flavor to create a very long finish.

I thought this was a great and beautiful beer.  Truly a Sour beer to be tried by Sour fans.  It was complex and chocked full of character.  I thoroughly enjoyed drinking it and the overall drinkablilty was quite good as well.  I don’t necessarily think that this would be a brew that I would want to drink everyday, however I could definitely see myself craving it more often than not.  Have you guys ever tried a Boon Oude Geuze Mariage Parfait?  If so, what vintage did you try?  Did you like it?  Feel free to leave a comment and tell me all about it if you so wish.

Thanks for reading everyone.  I really appreciate it.

Score:  4.45 out of 5
Grade:  A