Category Archives: Belgium

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

3 Fonteinen Speling van het Lot IX.x: Aardbeiiteraties: Aardbei + Kriek – Blended & Alive

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.1%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Blend°73, Season 18/19. Number of bottles – 726

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.viii). The proportion is 55% strawberries to 45% sour cherries, while the final intensity is 624 grams of fruit per liter of finished fruit lambic. Additional maceration took another 6.5 months.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.35
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°73, season 18/19, bottled on 13th May 2019. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A slightly hazy strawberry red colour, with a one finger pinkish beige head that had pretty good retention and eventually settled to a nice replenishing cap, while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Strawberry, jammy, cherry, wood, lemon zest, with funky notes.
Taste: As you’d expect from the aroma, lightly sour, strawberry, jammy, cherry, wood, lemon zest, and funk.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Lots of fruit with good jammy strawberry and cherries, especially in the aroma. Enjoyable!

5 - Excellent (must buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Bofkont, Lambic - Fruit

Bofkont Moonwalk

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Brewery: Bofkont
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6%
Style: Lambic – Fruit

Brewer Description: (from bottle) 1&2 years old lambic with apricots from the Ardeche in France. This blend is characterized by its lactic profile.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.54
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.5

Intro: A 750ml corked and capped bottle, 2021 vintage, bottled on 14th September 2021. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy golden orange colour with a one finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly, while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Lightly tart, apricot, apricot skin, peach gummy candy, lemon zest, cucumber, hay, funk.
Taste: Sour, tart, apricot, peach gummy candy, lemon, lime zest, 7-Up, wood, with a touch of funk.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate spritzy carbonation.
Overall: Really enjoyable and easy to drink. Wonderful apricots throughout, and very balanced.

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

3 Fonteinen Speling van het Lot VIII.iii: Schaarbeekse (+ Framboos) on a Toast – Blended & Alive

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.3%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Blend°48, Season 17/18. Number of bottles – 2431

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 8th version features the maceration of Schaarbeekse cherries on charred/toasted barrels. These noblest of sour cherries have been sourced in the gardens of and hand-picked by more than 50 families around Brussels. This Schaarbeekse On A Toast has macerated for 266 days (over 8.5 months) on a fresh 1,000 liter medium toasted French oak barrel… and we added the same proportion of organic raspberries from the Ferme Framboos. After the maceration, the fruit lambic was blended with young lambic for a continued fermentation in the bottle. The total fruit intensity is 278 grams of fruit per liter of bottled fruit lambic. 100% 3 Fonteinen lambic.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.19
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°48, season 17/18, bottled on 5th April 2018. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy strawberry red, with a very thin white head that disappeared almost immediately, while leaving only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Cherry, raspberry, slightly jammy, dusty, wood, straw, funk.
Taste: Sour, tart, cherry, cherry pits, raspberry, lemon zest, wood, with a touch of vinegar.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft to no carbonation.
Overall: Good cherry and raspberry notes, but I do prefer more carbonation, and it was a bit lacking here.

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

Oud Beersel Oude Geuze Vieille Barrel Selection Whisky Edition Port Wood

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Brewery: Brouwerij Oud Beersel
Country: Belgium
ABV: 8%
Style: Lambic – Gueuze
Other Notes: 2022 vintage. Bottled 20 years before best before date

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Barrel selection whisky barrels port wood.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.86
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.7

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle with a best before date of 15th September 2042. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen gueuze glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy golden colour, with a one and a half finger fluffy white head that had good retention, and left some nice lacing.
Aroma: Sweet and tart, melon, lemon zest, vanilla, honey, oak, light funk.
Taste: Subtle sweet beginning, berry gummy candy, vanilla, yoghurt, honey, melon, lightly sour, tart, lemon zest, wood, light funk.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, medium bodied, with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Wow, loved this. Quite possibly one of my favourite gueuze’s out there. Easy to drink, with great aroma and flavours.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij Oud Beersel, Lambic - Gueuze

Oud Beersel Oude Geuze Vieille Barrel Selection Demi-Muids

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Brewery: Brouwerij Oud Beersel
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.5%
Style: Lambic – Gueuze
Other Notes: 2021 vintage. Bottled 20 years before best before date

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Demi-Muids are wooden barrels up to 650 litres with thick staves. The Demi-Muids at Oud Beersel, which we purchased in 2013, had previously held Chateauneuf-du-Pape and Bordeaux red wines for 9 years. Since making their way to Oud Beersel, these Demi-Muids have been exclusively used to age Lambic.

My rating: 4+
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.39
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.3

Intro: A 375ml corked and caged bottle with a best before date of 10th November 2041. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen gueuze glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy golden orange colour, with a one finger white head that had pretty good retention, while leaving some nice curtain like lacing.
Aroma: Grapefruit, orange peel, lemon juice, green apple, cucumber, hay, wood, funk. At times it seemed like there was stone fruit and leather.
Taste: Crisp green apple, lemon, oak, funk, with notes of melon and leather.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate prickly carbonation.
Overall: A very enjoyable gueuze that drank easy with great aroma and flavours.