Cantillon V Generations

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Description

Cantillon V Generations is a celebration of Belgian brewing passion that spans generations and continents. For blending day, two families came together, contributing their collective expertise and energy to the brew: From Belgium, Brasserie Cantillon’s Jean-Pierre Van Roy (who took a day off from retirement to lend his decades of experience), alongside his son Jean Van Roy and grandson Florian Van Roy; and from Philadelphia, Monk’s Cafe’s Tom Peters, side by side with his daughter Isabel Thomas-Peters. The result, a gueuze blend of 2, 3, and 4-year-old barrels, is the product of a long friendship, and a toast to generations to come.

Detailed notes from Tom Peters :

"After much discussion with Jean Van Roy, we decided to create a very special Gueuze to commemorate Monk's 25th anniversary. This is the fifth lambic that we helped create, one for each five years of serving Cantillon's magical elixirs. This is my third Gueuze, and the most special.

We are honoured that Jean's father, Jean-Pierre, interrupted his retirement to lend his guidance to this blend. He had not been involved in brewing or blending Lambic since his retirement in 2005. Jean-Pierre's wife, Claude, was also on hand.

Florian, Jean's son, has been working side by side with his father to learn the art of brewing and blending Lambic. My daughter, Isabel, flew in from New Zealand to assist. We tasted dozens of barrels of lambic and selected only the very best to blend to create this Gueuze.

These are my notes from the blending day, October 4th, 2022 :

The blenders were Jean-Pierre Van Roy (his wife Claude was also present - her maiden name was Cantillon), Jean-Pierre Van Roy's son and current brewer Jean, and Jean's son Florian from the Van Roy family. Tom Peters and his daughter, Isabel Thomas-Peters of the Monk's Café family. Five generations of families collaborating on this singular Gueuze.

Jean-Pierre graciously agreed to lend his palate and blending expertise. He has not participated in any brewing or blending since 2005. We are truly honoured that he came out of retirement to help guide this special celebratory Gueuze blending.

A blend of 4-year-old, 3-year-old and 2-year-old lambics. The traditional blend for an Oude Gueuze is a blend of 3-, 2- and 1-year-old Lambics. The years of age denote brewing seasons rather than calendar year. The brewing seasons begin in the fall of one year and ends in early spring the following year. After tasting numerous barrels we selected the following for this very special gueuze :

Barrel V 27, lambic brewed on February 5th 2019 (44 months old)

Barrel W 27, lambic brewed on January 28, 2020 (32 months old)

Barrel X 24, lambic brewed on January 28, 2021 (20 months old)

Average age of the lambic was 32 months, but by the time it was blended and bottled, the age would be 33 months.

V 27 was soft, round and had little acidity, but had a bit of bitterness from the oak barrel. W 27 had more oak flavour and a touch more acidity. X 24 had more citrus character, perhaps more lime-like than lemon.

The blend makes for a special Gueuze with deep character and surprising freshness, especially considering the age of the selected lambic. This has a soft, pillowy mousse from the elegant carbonation level.

The label is designed as a family tree with each family's initials for Cantillon-Van Roy and Thomas Peters. This was bottled with very little sugar (liquor de dosage) so the carbonation level will be elegant - like Champagne. This has been bottle aged for over a year. Bottled on November 22, 2022."