Sour Blonde Blend (2019) - Tasting Notes

This is a Lambic/Geuze Inspired beer I blended up back in August 2019 using three beers which had aged for several years.  I let this blend bulk age for an additional 9 months before bottling in May 2020.  I've been drinking one of these beers every couple months and, since I'm starting to consider making up some new blends, I've decided it's time to jot down some official impressions.

The experience of blending these beers (which I did based on tasting notes collected for 13 fermenters of Sour Blonde Beer of various ages and with various strains of yeast/bacteria) is a lot of fun.  It rally is amazing how many different flavors you can get from the wild yeast and bacteria used for lambic.  My goal with this blend was to maximize the complexity of the beer which I believe was a success.  This beer has turned out to be very flavorful with a great fruit character.  

Most of my beers are fairly sour and this one is no exception.  I have been working to try to reduce the lactic sourness of these beers going forward and will continue to do so in my next blending/top up sessions.

Anyhow, I'm very happy to be doing an official tasting here for posterity

Tasting Note:

• Aroma:
• Has a bold musty, earthy and leathery smell along with some overripe fruit
• Appearance:
• Pours with a 1 finger head that quickly dissipates down to nothing.  Dark gold in color and not quite clear
• Flavor:
• Quite fruity up front - peach and citrus like flavors.  A medium level of acidity kicks in next and this lasts into the finish.  The finish also has a bit of bready flavor along with some earthy flavors
• Mouthfeel:
• Light bodied with an impression of some light sweetness.  The acidity has a slight roughness to it that hits in the back of the throat on the finish (a little more than I'd like ideally but it is still a pleasant drinking beer)
• Overall:
• Boldly flavored and very complex beer.  The fruitiness of the beer and the acidity provide a very pleasing combination.  I also think the brett character of it plays nicely in the mix. It's balance is quite a bit more towards the acidic character than on Brett and I'd say it's a bit more sour than the famous Drie Fonteinen Oude Geuze which has become more accessible here in Pennsylvania in the last couple years.  My beer is good but I think Drie Fonteinen Oude Geuze is better