Gueuze 1882 (Black label)

Description

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

Notes / Other History

Unlike traditional oude gueuze which consists of a blend of one-, two-, and three-year old lambic, Girardin Black is a blend of twelve-, eighteen-, and twenty-four-month old lambic. According to Paul Girardin, he "blend[s] lambics of 12, 18, and 24 months to make thegueuze. 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]

Bottle dating

Though there is no complete bottle log for this gueuze, Girardin Black, as it is colloquially referred to, dates back to at least the 1990's. The bottles are not specifically dated; however, beginning in the mid 2000's the corks began to be stamped with bottling months and batch numbers. For example, Girardin Black bottled in January 2012 has a cork stamped with two numbers: (1) A x 2013 -- indicating the batch letter and a "best-by" date set for one year from bottling; and (2) 01 -- indicating the bottling month. It is worth noting that the batch letter will not always correspond with the same month each year. For example, G x 2015 bottles were bottled in December 2014, G x 2014 bottles were bottled in July 2013, and G x 2013 bottles were bottled in September 2012.

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.