Category Archives: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen

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

3 Fonteinen Speling van het Lot XI.iv: Pruim: Sultana

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.8%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Blend°21, Season 19/20. Number of bottles – 684

Brewer Description: (from bottle) For the last two summer seasons, unfortunately, peach harvest was almost non-existing with Ludo Rosseels, the last peach grower of importance in Belgium. Luckily, he also has some plum trees that we are fortunate to be able to harvest from. Last summer, we were able to harvest about 250 kilos of Sultana plums from his fields.

We macerated these on an ex-Bordeaux barrel with young lambik for five and a half months. We blended with some jonge lambik prior to bottling. This way, we used lambikken from four different barrels and four different brews. The final fruit intensity is at 500 grams of plums per litre. 100% 3 Fonteinen.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.29
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°21, season 19/20, bottle 084/684, bottled on 13th January 2020, and with a best before date of 26th October 2040. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A very lightly hazy golden orange colour, with a two finger white head that had decent retention and eventually settled to a nice thin fluffy cap, while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Light plum, plum skin, funky, with some herbal earthy notes.
Taste: Lightly sour, lightly tart, plum, plum skin, dried apricot, funky, leather, oak, earthy.
Mouthfeel: Dry, medium bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: Balanced and enjoyable with the plums coming through nicely with the funk.

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

3 Fonteinen Speling van het Lot IX.iv: Aardbeiiteraties: Aardbei + Kriek – Blended & Alive @3 gr/l dosage

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 5.9%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Blend°4, Season 18/19. Number of bottles – 1299

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen “Speling van het Lot” (Twist of Fate) is a series of small batch experimental brews, barrel maturations, fruit macerations and/or blends. This 9th version features a range of strawberry maceration iterations aiming at balancing the intense fruitiness of strawberries with the subtleties of traditional lambic while minimising the unpleasant phenolic characteristics of the small pits. For this fruit lambic we barrel macerated sour cherries on a previous barrel macerated strawberry lambic (featured in the ToF IX.i). The proportion is 65% strawberries to 35% sour cherries, while the final intensity is 260 grams of fruit per liter of finished fruit lambic. The ToF’s IX.iv to IX.vii follow the same principal except we played around with the sugar priming dosage, which is in this case 3 grams per liter.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.29
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°4, season 18/19, bottled on 22nd November 2018, and with a best before date of 26th October 2038. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A slightly hazy amber orange colour with a very thin white head that dissipated quickly, and no lacing.
Aroma: Very nice strawberry jammy, with light cherry notes. Lightly funky, wood, hay, straw.
Taste: Fruit forward, strawberry, cherry, sour, lemon juice, wood, light funk.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Good fruit forward and balance of strawberry and cherries. I actually tried the 3F Aardbei/Kriek just before this bottle and I preferred that bottle even though there was slightly more acidity, because there was a more appropriate amount of carbonation for my taste.

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

3 Fonteinen Aardbei/Kriek

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Blend°7, Season 20/21

Brewer Description: (from bottle) For this Aardbei/Kriek, we blended three quarters of a foeder-matured strawberry lambik (the one we bottled straight away for the 6th blend of this season) and one quarter of a kriekenlambik that macerated for 10 months. The weighted average maceration period is almost four months. The final fruit intensity is at 600 grams of red fruits per litre of Aardbei/Kriek. We bottled it without adding any additional lambik.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.36
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°7, season 20/21, bottled on 5th January 2021, with a best before date of 26th October 2041. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy orange, amber, pinkish colour with a thin white head that settled fairly quickly to a ring around the glass while leaving some sparse lacing.
Aroma: Strawberries dominate, funk, straw, hay, with light cherry and acetone notes on the finish.
Taste: A little sharp, but unlike the aroma, cherry is stronger here, although the strawberry is still noticeable. Funky, oak, hay, lemon juice.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Another example of 3 Fonteinen doing well with strawberries in beer. The balance between strawberry and cherry was good, and resulted in something very enjoyable.

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

3 Fonteinen Oude Kriek “Toast”

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.4%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Blend°14, Season 17/18

Brewer Description: (from bottle in Dutch) 3 Fonteinen Oude Kriek wordt bekomen door het macereren van handgeplukte volle krieken op jonge traditionele lambik gedurende minstens vier maanden, in een verhouding van één kilo per liter. Daarna wordt de kriekenklambik geassembleerd met jonge lambik en wordt alles gebotteld, en zet de vergisting zich verder op fles. Hierdoor ontstaat een zacht fruitige Oude Kriek, geraffineerd, en met evolutie in het glas. Natuurlijk fruit, zonder toevoeging van sappen, siropen, of suikers. Ongefilterd en ongepasteuriseerd.

Voor de zes maanden durende maceratie van deze specifieke Oude Kriek “Toast” werd een vers gebrand eikenhouten vat gebruikt. De finale fruitintensiteit bedraagt 350 gram krieken per liter afgewerkte Kriek. Aantal flessen: 1,150.

(translated to English) 3 Fonteinen Oude Kriek is obtained by macerating hand-picked full cherries on young traditional lambic for at least four months, at a ratio of one kilo per litre. Then the cherry lambic is assembled with young lambic and everything is bottled, and the fermentation continues in the bottle. This creates a soft fruity Oude Kriek, refined, and with evolution in the glass. Natural fruit, without the addition of juices, syrups, or sugars. Unfiltered and unpasteurised.

A freshly roasted oak barrel was used for the six-month maceration of this particular Oude Kriek “Toast”. The final fruit intensity is 350 grams of cherries per liter of finished Kriek. Number of bottles: 1,150.

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

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°14, season 17/18, bottled on 17th January 2018, with a best before date of 26th October 2038. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A very nice ruby red colour with a slight purple tint, and a one finger pinkish head that dissipated fairly quickly to a ring around the glass while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Lightly sour and tart, cherry, cherry pie, oak, cherry candy, with a slight hint of vanilla, strawberry, and funk.
Taste: Sour, tart, cherry, cherry skin, cherry pie, sour berries, lemon, oak.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: I’m not really sure about the “toast” part, as it’s not really obvious in the aroma or taste. But this version of the Oude Kriek is enjoyable and nicely balanced.

5 - Excellent (must buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen, Lambic - Gueuze

3 Fonteinen Oude Geuze Cuvée Armand & Gaston Honing

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 7%
Style: Lambic – Gueuze

Brewer Description: (from bottle in French) 3 Fonteinen Cuvée Armand & Gaston est un assemblage de jeunes, mi-vieux et vieux lambic traditionnels, brassés par Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen. Cent pour cent naturel, authentique, spontané, un peu têtu, tout en restant élégant et plein de caractère. De la pure passion, comme Armand & Gaston Debelder l’ont toujours fait. Fermentation et maturation en bouteille continue et avec un potentiel de longue conservation. Non-filtré et non-pasteurisé. Une gueuze de caractère avec une belle évolution d’arômes et de goûts.

(blend description in Dutch) Deze specifieke Cuvée Armand & Gaston werd geassembleerd met lambikken van 8 verschillende vaten en maar liefst 10 verschillende brouwsels. In de assemblage werd wat eigen geïmkerde zomerhoning toegevoegd. De oudste lambik werd gebrouwen aan het begin van seizoen 16/17, dus eind 2016. Eén van de lambikken werd trouwens gebrouwen met verse Coigneau hop, een lokaal “lambik” ras.

(Translated to English) 3 Fonteinen Cuvée Armand & Gaston is a blend of young, half-old and old traditional lambics, brewed by Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen. One hundred percent natural, authentic, spontaneous, a little stubborn, while remaining elegant and full of character. Pure passion, as Armand & Gaston Debelder have always done. Continuous fermentation and maturation in the bottle with potential for long storage. Unfiltered and unpasteurized. A gueuze of character with a beautiful evolution of aromas and tastes.

This specific Cuvée Armand & Gaston was assembled with lambics from 8 different barrels and no less than 10 different brews. Some of our own harvested summer honey was added to this blend. The oldest lambic was brewed at the beginning of the 16/17 season, i.e. at the end of 2016. One of the lambics was brewed with fresh Coigneau hops, a local “lambic” variety.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.55
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.5

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend n°4, season 19/20, bottled on 18th November 2019, with a best before date of 26th October 2039. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen gueuze glass.
Appearance: A slightly hazy golden orange colour with a two finger white head that had good retention, but eventually settled to a nice fluffy cap, while leaving lots of nice lacing.
Aroma: Tart, funky, hay, damp wood, oak, green apple, light citrus, lemon zest, with notes of leather and honey.
Taste: Sour, tart, green apple, grapefruit, funky, oak, lemon zest, white grape, slightly herbal, with notes of honey sweetness and peppery spice on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: Another excellent 3F gueuze that’s just so enjoyable and easy to drink.