Category Archives: Boon

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 

For today’s craft beer review I’m going to be sharing with you my experience in drinking a Boon Oude Geuze produced by Brouwerij Boon located in Lembeek, Belgium.

I was really in the mood for something “sour” this evening and this Oude Geuze seemed like it might be the beer to do the trick.

Let’s jump to the website, boon.be, and see if we can find some kind of description regarding this brew. 

Geuze, a mixture of old and young Lambic. The young Lambic is added to cause a refermentation in the bottle making for a delightfully sparkling and dry beer that has been likened, in all seriousness, to Champagne.

Ready for a taste????  Me too!!!

This beer came in a 12.7 oz. bottle and the label stated that it was 7.0% ABV.

It poured a hazy, honey/gold to orange color.  The collar was barely off white and of real good size.  It was rather fizzy and soapy with some very large bubbles however.  It didn’t stick around too long either and the lacing was only “so-so”.

The nose started with a nice bit of that “funk”, “barnyard” and “horse blanket”.  Hints of lemon citrus, sour green apple and sour white grapes.  It also had very light hints of oak and minute tones of silage.  Some tartness was accounted for, but overall, I didn’t think it was quite as acrid as some of the other Geuze/Lambics I’ve had in the past.

The flavor began with an “ok” amount of tartness and sourness by way of some lemon citrus or lemon juice.  White grape skins added a touch more sourness and a very light woodiness brought forth a diminutive herbal quality.  A feeble amount of the “funk” was found.  Again, not nearly as strong or forthcoming as I was hoping.  Don’t get me wrong, I found nothing bad or off putting, but this brew didn’t seem to be as complex or intricate as I thought it might be.  In fact, as I continued to drink, the flavor progressively got more weak and delicate.    

The mouthfeel was medium to medium/thin.  It was fairly bright and dry with a good amount of carbonation dancing on the tongue.  It did kind of remind me of a Champagne as the description mentioned.  It presented a tad bit of a bite, however the flavor seemed to vanish rather quickly after each sip.

This was, for the most part, an average Oude Geuze in my opinion.  It wasn’t horrible or undrinkable, although it wasn’t quite the best either.  It just didn’t seem to have that “punch” or “kick” that I was really looking for.  The aromas and flavors just seemed a little relaxed and subdued.  It was, however, very, very easy to drink.  I was able to down this thing with no problem whatsoever.  Hey, don’t take my word for it.  Try it for yourself.  If you don’t favor the over the top sourness and tartness that these types of beers convey, but you are interested in exploring the style…. the Boon Oude Geuze would be a great place to start.  It shows many of the proper characteristics without going completely berserk.

Thanks for reading and commenting everyone.  Feel free to drop a line and tell me what you think of the reviews.

Until next time.  Cheers.

Score:  3.45 out of 5
Grade:  B-