Popular Belgian craft beer maker the Brussels Beer Project (BBP) will unveil a new gueuze beer this weekend, in an attempted revival of a beverage often described as "the champagne of Brussels".
In a press release, the BBP portrayed gueuze as "an invaluable treasure of Belgian and Brussels heritage" but noted that, since its creation 200 years ago, it has virtually disappeared from the Belgian capital's beer scene.
"While Brussels had over 100 lambic and gueuze-focused breweries a century ago, only Cantillon has survived, and there have not been any new Brussels-based gueuze breweries launched since the Second World War," the BBP said.
In additional comments provided to The Brussels Times, a BBP spokesperson described gueuze as an "extremely complex beer" which is "a world away from the strong Belgian beers this country is famous for but whose roots are just as deep".
The new beer has "notes of peach and apricot, mingling with floral and oaky accents from its maturation in barrels," according to BBP brewer Tiago Falcone. "On the palate, it combines lively acidity with a soft, velvety taste."
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Gueuze is typically made from a blend of young and old lambics and, unlike most other beers, is fermented in large, open-air containers.
The beer's unveiling, which will take place during the BBP's Wanderlust beer festival at Place Sainte-Catherine on Saturday, will also coincide with the craft beer makers' tenth anniversary.
Gueuze also has its own museum in at the Cantillon Brewery in Anderlecht which explains the history of Brussels' emblematic drink. The museum opened in 1973, while the brewery itself was founded in 1900.
