I have been chasing Lambiek Fabriek Brett-Elle for quite some time, and my most recent trip to Brussels included my second quest through the city to find it. Turns out it had been hiding in plain sight all along. De Biertempel is far from a specialist in rare beers: situated on the main tourist drag, you can pay a premium here for some very mainstream offerings. And yet there, on a low shelf in the lambic section, was the beer I had been looking for but not expecting to see.
I was sufficiently elated to want to pick up an accompanying geuze, and two in particular caught my eye from the same shelf.
Moriau Oude Geuze is shop house-brand that seems to have strayed from its home. Having been brewed at a number of breweries, each of which subsequently closed, it's now produced at Boon, where the owner admits it's essentially the same recipe as his iconic oude geuze, just blended in different quantities.
Certainly it's the same hazy orange colour, and 7% ABV too. I think it's a little less sour as well. There's the gorgeous hallmark oak spicing, flakes of pepper, flint and gunpowder, but instead of the sharp burn there's a gentler lemonade tang. I suspect that although the recipe is similar to Boon's own beer, this contains a higher proportion of younger, cheaper beer. It's no harm. This is easy-going and accessible while also showing off the elements geuze does best.
The next one is from the enigmatic St-Louis brand by Kasteel Brouwerij -- not one of the high-end marques and one I only know for their syrupy fruited versions.
St-Louis Fond Tradition oude geuze looks like a cask lambic: amber in colour and seemingly short on carbonation. The aroma is all but absent, just a hint of cider and sherry. A subtle jolt of sourness is all the flavour has to offer. Yes, it's clear that this came from a wild-fermentation barrel, but I suspect the blend comes from a much lower level of expertise. After the initial burst of fuzzy funk I get an unpleasant rubbery or phenolic note, and then it all just goes away. I half expected substandard St-Louis to wow me with this one, as Timmermans and Mort Subite have with theirs. But it just doesn't cut it and can be safely avoided. The lack of a cork should have been a clue.
So to the main event.
Brett-Elle was more than double the price of the Moriau and it's hard to see how it justifies that, other than in rarity. It looks similar: another hazy pale orange one. The aroma is more funky than sharp and tart, though it still manages to smell properly of lambic. A very high carbonation meant it took a moment or two to get a proper first impression but when that came it was rather plain. White wine vinegar is about the extent of it, with a scorch on the throat and a mild nitre brick effect. It's fine but it's absolutely not the next-level experience implied in the price. It's just not as interesting as Moriau, even allowing for it being 1.5 ABV points lower in strength. This new lambic brewery seems to have nailed the fundamentals but is still lacking in finish and poise.
Though these didn't all amaze me, it's good to know there are still new mixed-fermentation beers out there for me to try; ones where doing something different involves more than a tub of fruit syrup.
Gueze is hard to resist. That's why I've come back to Lambiek Fabriek, even though I don't think their beers are as good as those of their more established competitors. But they're available here now, and faced with a bottle of an unfamiliar one in Molloy's I was compelled to buy it. Maybe this will be the breakthrough.
