Geuze Cruise

Rebecca: This is Geuze "Boon Mariage Parfait." Merlin sent me to the bar to get us a small one and I ordered a large by mistake. (I also hadn't intended on getting one with the word 'marriage' in it - promise). Geuze is one of the stranger drinks that we've ever come across.

Merlin: It's made by spontaneous fermentation - instead of brewer's yeast, they use the wild bacteria native to the Senne Valley (where Brussels is). It is usually double fermented and aged for at least a year. The taste was described to us as "like throwing up beer, instead of drinking it." That's a good description.
Merlin: Here I am drinking it and playing cards at a great bar in Brussels called "Au Image Notre Dame." I finished the bottle (Rebecca switched to La Chouffe) with the help of another beer, used as a chaser. It would have been easier to swallow if Rebecca hadn't kept reminding me that it tasted like beer-vomit.

Rebecca: I like to say, Merlin stayed committed to the Marriage. Good for him. I won that game of cribbage he's shuffling.

Merlin: Despite mostly hating our first Geuze experience, we ordered another one in Bouillon. This one was called "St. Louis," and was much more pleasant. Rebecca said that it tasted more like throwing-up orange juice. We agreed that we kind of liked it.

Rebecca: Personally, I think my affinity for the OJ puke tasting beer goes back to my childhood roots. Any time I was sick, I was fed orange juice. So, well, St. Louis Geuze.