Oude Quetsche Tilquin à l'Ancienne (véritable d'Alsace)

Description

Oude Quetsche Tilquin à L'Ancienne is a lambic blended with a variety of plums. The plums are added in high concentration to 1-year old lambic for a period of 4 months (with the exception of the first test batch that aged for almost 6 months on fruit). The resulting fruit lambic is blended with additional 2- and 3-year old lambic to create a final fruit concentration of at least 250g/l. Oude Quetsche Tilquin à L'Ancienne is 6.4% alcohol by volume and is available in 37,5cl and 75cl corked and caged bottles as well as on draught on occasion.

Plum Varieties

2011-2012 - Small test batch made with fresh prunes de Namur (Belgium), limited to 548 bottles and sold with a one 75cl bottle per person limit at the brewery only. The lambic spent almost 6 months on the fruit (fruit added 8/30/2011 and removed 2/23/2012).

2012-2013 - Made with fresh Quetsches véritable d'Alsace (France) because there were no prunes de Namur available due to cold weather. Released at Toer de Geuze 2013 after 3 months in the bottle.

2013-2014 (early season) - Made with fresh Quetsche véritable d'Alsace (France).

2013-2014 (late season) - Made with frozen Quetsche véritable d'Alsace (France). This is the first batch made with frozen fruit.

2014-2015 - This batch was split. Half of the batch was made with Prune de Namur, harvested by Jean Binamé in Bois-de-Villers, near Namur (Belgium). The remainder was made with Quetsche véritable d'Alsace (France).

Pierre TIlquin described the differences between the two plum varieties in a post on Facebook: "They are very close, but the Quetsche véritable d'Alsace is a little bit more sweet than the Prune de Namur, which is a little bit more sour. The Prune de Namur is also a little bit smaller than the Quetsche véritable d'Alsace".^[1]

History / Other Notes

Oude Quetsche Tilquin à L'Ancienne was first released in February of 2012 and was approved for distribution in the United States on October 20, 2013.^[2] It comes with a best-by date in dd/mm/yyyy format as well as a neck label with the vintage season. The first round of bottles were released with a 2011-2012 neck label and subsequent batches have followed a similar pattern. The best-by date on the reverse label is 10 years beyond the bottling date. For example, the first batch, had a best by date on 23/02/2022 and a neck label of 2011-2012. This would mean that it was bottled on February 23, 2012. Oude Quetsche Tilquin à L'Ancienne is released annually in 375ml and 750ml bottles

Oude Quetsche Tilquin à L'Ancienne Bottle Log

Best-by Date (dd/mm/yyyy)	Neck Label	Bottle Size	Label / Notes	Image Link
23/02/2022	2011-2012	750ml	European bottling, Fresh Prunes de Namur	N/A
24/01/2013	2012-2013	750ml	US Label, 12% Imports, Fresh Quetsches véritables d'Alsace	N/A
29/01/2023	2012-2013	375ml	US Label, 12% Imports, Fresh Quetsches véritables d'Alsace	N/A
06/02/2024	2013-2014	375mL	European bottling, Fresh Quetsches véritables d'Alsace	N/A
06/02/2024	2013-2014	375mL	European bottling, Fresh Quetsches véritables d'Alsace	N/A
12/02/2024	2013-2014	750mL	12% Imports, USA, Frozen Quetsches véritables d'Alsace	N/A
12/02/2024	2013-2014	750mL	European bottling, Frozen Quetsches véritables d'Alsace	N/A