Gueuze 1882 (Black label)

Description

Gueuze 1882 (Black label) is a gueuze brewed and blended on-site. It is unfiltered and unpasteurized, unlike Girardin Gueuze 1882 (White label). It is 5% ABV and is bottled in both 37,5cl and 75cl bottles.

Notes / Other History

Unlike traditional oude gueze which consists of a blend of one-, two-, and three-year lambic, Girardin Black is a blend of twelve-, eighteen-, and twenty-four-month lambic. According to Paul Girardin, he "blend[s] lambics of 12, 18, and 24 months to make the Oude Gueuze. The 2-year-old lambic is for complexity, light acidity and maturity; the year-old version is to spark a refermentation, and the 18-month-old lambic is used to balance the 1- and 2 year-old versions."^[1]

Though there is no complete bottle log, Girardin Black, as it is colloquially referred to, dates back to at least the 1990's. Girardin Black bottles are not dated; however, beginning in the mid 2000's the corks began to show bottling batch numbers. Girardin Black is available around the world, but it is only available in 37,5cl bottles in the United States. Both 75cl and 37,5cl bottles can be ordered from various Belgian webshops.