And then there were 8

"At the turn of the century there were over 100 gueuze blenders", explained the owner of Beer Mania in Brussels. "Now there are only 8. It doesn't make sense that a Champagne from Bourdeaux that uses the worst white wine on the planet can sell for $20, while a 4 year old gueuze must sell for under $5.00. This is the reason there are so few left." Nasser is a man passionate about Belgian ale, and equally passionate about the few remaining gueuzes he can still purchase. As I browsed his selection, he explained that yet another lambic brewer and gueuze blender has ceased production, Oud Beersel. I have a few of these babies in the cellar and willl now hold on to them indefinately. Not that anybody I know in Belgium will care about them but me. Overall I am appalled at the complacency and ignorance toward this amazing drink on the part of the average Belgian. A majority of people that I meet think Bell-Vue is a classic gueuze, and despite it's composition of watered-down cane sugar and laboratory acid mixed with a bit of insipid pilsener, this beer is even a bit too much for the majority of palettes. Gueuze, like an aged cheese or any other artisan foodstuff that requires a lengthy, complex interaction with nature to create, is guaranteed to offend you the first time you drink it. It will be like nothing you've ever put in your mouth. But once the fear factor fades and your tastebuds acclimate, it will grow on you. One of the most exceedingly complex and powerful flavors ever put in a bottle, gueuze is a holdover from another time, an anomaly in a McWorld serving up cliche flavors like so many 15 cent cheesburgers. And as the players fall to the conglomerates, and the syrupy chick "McLambics" spewed out of the bungs of every once-great gueuze blender in Belgium gain due market share, the flavor of an authentic gueuze that washes over the tongue like a dry, cheesy, grapefruit cocktail will be nothing but a fond memory.

Here is a list of the remaining Lambic Makers

• Lindemans
• Boon
• Mort Subite
• Girardin
• Drie Fonainen
• Cantillon
• De Troch / Chapeau
• Timmermans

...and gueuze blenders only

• Cam
• Moriau

In related news...I'm drinking an interesting kriek that does not appear to be made from a lambic base, but it does have quite a bit of oak in it. The cherry flavor is strong, if a bit artificial (it is made with extract). Doesn't leave much on the tongue after swallowing to remind you that you actually just tasted something except for a bit of cherry gum flavor. Flavor is neutral overall.

I had a beer at Beer Mania while I was stocking up on gueuze that was a brand new experience. It was the oudbietje (old bitch) from Hanssens. This is a gueuze-lambic flavored with strawberry, a mixture that merely compliments rather than dominates the beers profile. It was intensely sour and acid, with an indescribable fruitiness on back of the tongue. I'll have to try many more of these before I'll be able to verbalize the sensation. Better yet, try it yourself, if you can find it.