Category Archives: Belgium

Tilquin Oude Roussanne À l’ancienne

Brewery: Gueuzerie Tilquin
Country: Belgium
ABV: 8%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: 2021-2022

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Beer of spontaneous fermentation, the Old Roussanne Tilquin is made from the fermentation of 260g of grapes by liter of lambic. Unfiltered and unpasteurized, this beer is refermented in the bottle.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.24
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, with a neck label of 2021-2022, and a best before date of 15th December 2031. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A slightly hazy golden colour, with a one finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly, while leaving only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Citrus zest, lemon peel, grape skin, white wine vinous, wood, green vines, and a touch of funkiness.
Taste: Lightly tart, grape must, white wine vinous, lemon zest, yellow stone fruit, apricot, wood, funk, with a finish of white wine vinegar and honey sweetness.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: Enjoyable, balanced and easy drinking with good aroma and flavours.

Tilquin Oude Viognier À l’ancienne

Brewery: Gueuzerie Tilquin
Country: Belgium
ABV: 8%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: 2022-2023

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Beer of spontaneous fermentation, the Old Viognier Tilquin is made from the fermentation of 250g of grapes by liter of lambic. Unfiltered and unpasteurized, this beer is refermented in the bottle.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.09
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, with a neck label of 2022-2023, and a best before date of 20th January 2033. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy golden orange colour with a half finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly to a ring around the glass, while leaving only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Lightly tart, green apple, wood, grape skin, white wine vinous, with funky notes.
Taste: Sour, tart, green apple, grape skin, white wine vinous, green vines, gooseberry, wood, a splash of lemon zest, and a touch of funk.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Enjoyable and easy to drink, although not one of my favourites among the Tilquin grape lambics.

3 Fonteinen Speling van het Lot XI.xi: Kriek/Mirabelle

Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.2%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Blend°14, Season 22/23. Number of bottles – 737

Brewer Description: (from bottle) This Kriek/Mirabelle is a co-maceration of sour cherries and Mirabelle plums on a small oak barrel. We let the fruit sit for over three months on two-year old lambik. The fruit blend was later blended with another two-year old lambik before bottling. The weighted average of the blend hits almost 22 months upon bottling. The final fruit intensity is 509 grams of sour cherries and plums per litre.

My rating: 4-
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.04
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°14, season 22/23, bottled on 7th December 2022. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A very nice ruby red colour with a one finger pinkish head that dissipated quickly, and left some nice but sparse lacing.
Aroma: Lightly tart, cherries, grape skin, plum, and lemon zesty notes.
Taste: Sour, tart, acidic, cherries, plum, lemon juice, with berry gummy candy sweet notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Nice cherry and plum fruitiness, but the sourness and acidity felt a touch too high and not as balanced as it could be. Some berry gummy candy sweet notes here and there helped a bit, and especially appeared as it warmed, but doesn’t balance it entirely.

3 Fonteinen Honingbes

Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Blend°103, Season 21/22

Brewer Description: (from bottle) For this second iteration of honeyberry, we macerated a larger volume for four months on three-year old lambik. We afterwards blended it with young lambik for the continued fermentation in the bottle. The weighted average age of the blend upon bottling clocks at more than 18 months. The final fruit proportion is 417 grams of honeyberry per litre of fruit lambik. Of the 3 Fonteinen lambikken, around 65% of the cereals used come from our own cereal collective. Bottle count: 807

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.1
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°103, season 21/22, bottled on 12th August 2022. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A deep red colour with a slight orange tinge, and a half finger pinkish head that dissipated fairly quickly but settled to a ring around the glass, while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Tart, mixed berries, black currant, green vines, blueberry, blackberry, woody, with light funky.
Taste: Sour, tart, mixed berries, blueberry, blackberry, black currant, green vines, with light notes of wood and funk.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: I have not tried honeyberries before, but it seems to taste like a cross between black currant, blueberries and blackberries. The green viney notes were a bit raw, so the berries weren’t jammy sweet. But it is different, and worth a try.

3 Fonteinen Pruim Dubbele Altesse

Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Blend°18, Season 22/23

Brewer Description: (from bottle) For this Pruim, we macerated Dubbele Altesse plums from Fruitdas, a fruit farm and cidery. We macerated these plums for more than three months on three-year old lambik, before blending with some more three-year-old lambik. This makes the weighted average age of this plum lambik clock at more than 28 months. The final fruit intensity is 355 grams of hand-picked plums per litre of Pruim. Of the cereals used, more than 1/3 was sourced within our Cereal Collective. 100% 3 Fonteinen.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.23
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°18, season 22/23, bottled on 15th December 2022. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A nice cloudy dark orangey pink colour, with a one finger white head that had pretty good retention, eventually settled to a ring around the glass, while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Lightly tart, plums, lemon peel, citrus zest, 7-Up, with light wood and light funky notes.
Taste: Sour, tart, plum, grapefruit, wood, light funk, and a fruity sour candied finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: My first thought was that it was too sharp and tart, but it definitely grew on me, and I enjoyed it. The fruity sour candy like finish, mellowed it out for me, and made for great drinking.