The label of De Dochter van de Korenaar’s L’enfant Terrible informs me that this is a “special, gueuze-style ale brewed with wild yeast.” I am not completely sure what distinguishes a “gueuze-style” beer from an ordinary gueuze but perhaps it is intended to convey that this beer was produced outside the traditional Pajottenland region in Belgium. The bottle also recommends to serve this beer “very cold!” which is a rather unorthodox recommendation for a beer that is supposed to resemble a traditional gueuze. As a general rule, gueuze should be served not too cold, and straight lambic is often served at cellar temperature. Some reviewers have noted that this beer starts smelling quite odd when its warms up to room temperature.
L’enfant Terrible has the same base as their lightly smoked amber ale Bravoure but has undergone wild fermentation in wine barrels. I followed their advice and served and consumed the beer very cold. A vigorous pour produced an amber-colored beer with a lot of foam. At such low temperatures the beer reveals little aroma, but I detected some funky, floral, spicy, and caramel notes. This beer is tart, but not nearly as tart as a traditional gueuze. Tasting reveals bread, spice and, most of all, grapefruit; a very strong grapefruit note here. Unlike other reviewers, I did not get the smokey character. The finish is off-dry, slightly bitter, and short. But what sets this strange beer apart from the rest is the EXTREME carbonation. I have had my share of bottle-fermented beers with strong carbonation, but this beer dwarfs most, if not all, of them with its tongue-scraping character. The low temperature in conjunction with such harsh carbonation makes it hard to detect any subtle notes. I purchased this beer more than a year ago and I wonder how much ongoing fermentation in the bottle (and more carbonation) can still be expected here.
I find this an odd beer to review. It is great to see more Belgian brewers outside of the Pajottenland experimenting with wild yeast. Aside from the strange “very cold” serving recommendation and excessive carbonation, I liked it quite a bit. But from a reviewer’s perspective, I am a little perplexed as to how this brew could win the silver medical in the Gueuze category at the European Beer Star competition.