Monthly Archives: December 2024

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Chien Bleu, Farmhouse Saison, Switzerland

Chien Bleu Chien Andalou

Leave a comment

Brewery: Chien Bleu
Country: Switzerland
ABV: 6%
Style: Farmhouse Saison
Other Notes: Cuvee 2020-2021

Brewer Description: (from Untappd) Three spontan beers blend with Solera method, 3 years (20%), 2 years (20%) & 1 year (60%). Barrel aged in Sherry and Pedro Ximenez.

My rating: 4+
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.5
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4

Intro: An unnecessarily black waxed, capped and corked bottle, cuvee 2020-2021, with a best before date of April 2027. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy golden orange colour, with a nice fluffy one finger white head that had great retention, and left good lacing.
Aroma: Grape skin, white wine vinous, wood, sherry, light funk, with notes of yellow stone fruit and lemon zest.
Taste: Light to moderate sour, yellow stone fruit, grape skin, vinous, wood, sherry, and a touch of light funky notes.
Mouthfeel: Smooth, medium bodied, with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: The wax was unnecessary and just caused a big mess before I even got started. Despite this, the beer drank really well with enjoyable aroma and flavours. Admittedly, a good surprise!

5 - Excellent (must buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij Girardin, Lambic - Gueuze

Girardin Gueuze Black Label

Leave a comment

Brewery: Brouwerij Girardin
Country: Belgium
ABV: 5%
Style: Lambic – Gueuze

Brewer Description: Unfiltered version.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.5
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle. Bottled in 2017. Poured into a The Lambic Basket gueuze glass.
Appearance: A hazy dark golden orange colour, with a pillowy two finger white head, that had great retention, eventually settling to a thin cap, while leaving nice lacing.
Aroma: Red apple, lemon, lime, wood shavings, damp wood, musty, funk, with notes of lemon zest.
Taste: Lightly sour, red apple, grapefruit peel, wood shavings, oak, a touch bitter, lemon zest, funk.
Mouthfeel: Smooth, medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: One of my favourite regular gueuze’s out there. Lovely aroma and flavours with a nice complexity that aligns with my palate.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Lambic - non-Lambic Blends, Nanobrasserie de l’Ermitage x Brasserie Cantillon

L’Ermitage x Cantillon Cellarium

Leave a comment

Brewery: Nanobrasserie de l’Ermitage x Brasserie Cantillon
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6%
Style: Lambic – non-Lambic blends
Other Notes: Saison de coupage with lambic

Brewer Description: (from bottle in French) Cette Saison de coupage s’inspire des saisons du 19ème siècle. La base est une bière de céréales rustiques, assemblée avec du lambic de 2 ans d’âge de La Brasserie Cantillon cet assemblage a ensuite maturé durant un an dans des fûts de chêne, avant de se reposer 6 mois en bouteilles.

(translated to English) This Saison de coupage is inspired by the saisons of the 19th century. The base is a rustic cereal beer, blended with 2-year-old lambic from Brasserie Cantillon. This was then aged for a year in oak barrels, before resting for 6 months in bottles.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.65
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.6

Intro: A 750ml bottle, with a best before date of 30th April 2026. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A slightly hazy golden orange colour, with a thin white head that dissipated quickly and left only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Grape skin, gooseberry, oak, funk, with a splash of lemon zest.
Taste: Lightly sour, grape skin, gooseberry, watermelon rind, lemon, funk.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft to no carbonation.
Overall: I opened the bottle thinking it was a Saison without really reading the label. Obviously not the case, and it was ok, but the lack of carbonation was not really my thing. I was also hoping the Saison would be more prominent, but you don’t really notice it as the Lambic is dominant.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen, Lambic - Fruit

3 Fonteinen Speling van het Lot XIV.iv: Langste Nacht 2019 Krieken Op Het Koelschip

Leave a comment

Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.8%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Blend°47, Season 20/21. Number of bottles – 1229

Brewer Description: (from bottle) On the Longest Night of 2019 on December 21st – as we do every year – we experimented around the brewhouse and the coolship. Aside from the three blends featured in this Twist of Fate-series, that day we also put some sherry barrel staves directly on the coolship to macerate in the cooling lambik wort. We used that lambik in an Oude Geuze blend (season 20|21, blend n° 44). For this Speling van het Lot, we blended a lambik that was macerated with sour cherries on the coolship during that same Longest Night. The weighted average age of the blend upon bottling is about sixteen months. More than 20% of the cereals used was sourced in the Pajottenland. 100% 3 Fonteinen brewed lambik.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.13
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°47, season 20/21, bottled on 13th April 2021, bottle number 0902/1229. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy dark orange colour with a slight pinkish tinge, and a thin white head that dissipated fairly quickly to a ring around the glass, while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Cherry skin, cherry, oak, lemon, sherry, musty, damp wood, funk.
Taste: Sour, tart, cherry skin, cherry, almond, oak, lemon zest, candied lemon, funk.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with light carbonation.
Overall: Nice and easy drinking, although the cherries are not as intense as the regular Kriek.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen, Lambic - Fruit

3 Fonteinen Speling van het Lot XIV.ii: Langste Nacht 2019 Krieken En Kruiden Op Het Koelschip

Leave a comment

Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 5.5%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Blend°45, Season 20/21. Number of bottles – 2331

Brewer Description: (from bottle) On the Longest Night of 2019 on December 21st – as we do every year – we experimented around the brewhouse and the coolship. Aside from the three blends featured in this Twist of Fate-series, that day we also put some sherry barrel staves directly on the coolship to macerate in the cooling lambik wort. We used that lambik in an Oude Geuze blend (season 20|21, blend n° 44). For this Speling van het Lot, we blended a lambik that was macerated with sour cherries and winter spices on the coolship during that same Longest Night. The weighted average age of the blend upon bottling is about sixteen months. 100% 3 Fonteinen brewed lambik.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.05
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.8

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°45, season 20/21, bottled on 13th April 2021, bottle number 0914/2331. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy golden dark orange colour with a thin white head that disappeared almost immediately while leaving only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Candied cherry, orange peel, herbal notes, and a touch of cinnamon.
Taste: Tart, lightly sour, cherry, orange, wood, cinnamon, herbal, cough medicinal notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Light and refreshing. Aroma was ok, but not great. Luckily the taste did mostly make up for this. I do prefer carbonation in my beers more than not, but this seems to be the second beer in the Langste Nacht 2019 series with soft to no carbonation, that I felt worked well despite the lack of carbonation.