Category Archives: Belgium

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij De Ranke, Lambic - non-Lambic Blends

De Ranke Cuvée BXL

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Brewery: Brouwerij De Ranke
Country: Belgium
ABV: 7%
Style: Lambic – non-Lambic Blends
Other Notes: 2022 BXL BeerFest beer pack

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Old Stock Ale & Lambic.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.22
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 750ml bottle, bottled in January 2022, with a best before date of 14th January 2027. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass. Brewed for BXL BeerFest 2022.
Appearance: A hazy dark golden orange colour with a one finger white head that had good retention and left lots of nice lacing.
Aroma: Orange zest, citrus rind, grape skin, peach, wet wood, and a touch dusty.
Taste: Lightly tart, grapefruit, orange rind, grape skin, peach, lime, with woody and funky notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: ‘Old Stock Ale & Lambic’, not really given a lot of information based off of this, but with this blend, the flavours do work well together, and it was enjoyable.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Lambic - Gueuze, Lambiek Fabriek

Lambiek Fabriek Organic Geuze Natur-Elle

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Brewery: Lambiek Fabriek
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.2%
Style: Lambic – Gueuze

Brewer Description: (from bottle in Dutch) Bio geuze van zelf gebrouwen bio lambieken met hergisting op de fles. Deze unieke blend van verschillende jaargangen is geheel biologisch, puur, ongefilterd en niet gepasteuriseerd.

(translated to English) Bio gueuze from self-brewed organic lambics with refermentation in the bottle. This unique blend of different vintages is completely organic, pure, unfiltered and unpasteurized.

My rating: 4-
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.01
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 750ml corked and capped bottle, bottled in March 2020. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen gueuze glass.
Appearance: A hazy golden orange colour with a two finger white head that had pretty good retention and eventually settled to a very thin cap, while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Funky, brett, damp wood, musty, dusty, fruity, green apple, grape skin, dried lemon peel.
Taste: Tart, green apple, orange, lemon juice, lemon zest, wood, with some light to moderate funkiness.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: Thirst quenching, enjoyable and drinks easy.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Lambic - Gueuze, Lambiek Fabriek

Lambiek Fabriek Oude Geuze Bord-Elle

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Brewery: Lambiek Fabriek
Country: Belgium
ABV: 10.5%
Style: Lambic – Gueuze
Other Notes: 2021 BXL BeerFest beer pack

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Beer of an unique unfiltered blend of self-brewed, spontaneous fermented lambics. It is a blend of 1, 2 and 3 year-old lambics, matured in oak barrels.

My rating: 3+
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.81
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.7

Intro: A 750ml corked and capped bottle, bottled in February 2021. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen gueuze glass.
Appearance: A hazy golden orange colour with a one finger white head that had decent retention, while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Tart, lemon, lime zest, apple, damp wood, funk, hay.
Taste: Sour, tart, apple, pear, white grape, lemon, lime zest, wood, funky, musty.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: I prefer my Geuze’s to be lighter and crisp, like something great for a hot summer day. However, the high ABV here, while not entirely noticeable, did feel a bit heavy.

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

3 Fonteinen Speling van het Lot XVI.v: Intense Schaarbeekse

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.8%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Blend°23, Season 20/21. Number of bottles – 1306

Brewer Description: (from bottle) This Speling van het Lot features an intense version of Schaarbeekse Kriek. In the summer of 2020, we had a good yield from the harvest with more than 70 local families. We split the maceration over different larger and smaller barrels and tanks. This maceration is the same as the 22nd blend, but we only added a small portion of young lambik prior to bottling. This way, the final fruit intensity clocks at 545 grams of Schaarbeekse sour cherries per litre of finished Intense Schaarbeekse. 100% 3 Fonteinen brewed lambik.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.94
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.9

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°23, season 20/21, bottle 658/1306, bottled on 28th January 2021. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A very attractive dark ruby red colour with a two finger pinkish head that had good retention and eventually settled to a thin replenishing cap, while leaving nice lacing.
Aroma: Juicy, cherry, marzipan, almond, vanilla, oak, lemon zest, with a touch of funk.
Taste: Lightly sour, tart, cherry, marzipan, almond, oak, lemon zest.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: Wow, this really works for me, and reminded me a bit of SVHL II.ii: Robijn Blended & Alive, which I think was my favourite 3F, but this might just take the cake. Really intense cherry and marzipan flavours, which I enjoy, and just balanced and really great to drink.

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

3 Fonteinen Speling van het Lot X.xv: Druif: Riesling II

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 8.6%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Blend°36, Season 20/21. Number of bottles – 592

Brewer Description: (from bottle) In the summer of 2020, we received a few hundred kilos of beautiful Riesling grapes from Harth + Harth, a small organic winemaker from the wonderful Rheinhessen region in Germany. We macerated the full grapes with jonge lambik during five months on an ex-Bordeaux barrel. We blended with some 15-month oude lambik before bottling. The final fruit intensity clocks at 674 grams of grapes per litre of Druif. Of the used cereals for the lambikken, almost one quarter was sourced in Pajottenland. All lambikken were brewed by 3 Fonteinen. Thank you Henning and Harth family!

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.34
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°36, season 20/21, bottle 227/592, bottled on 16th March 2021. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy golden colour with a half finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly to a ring around the glass while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Tart, spritzy, Riesling vinous, green vines, woody, light funk.
Taste: Lightly sour, white wine vinous, Riesling, grape skin, lemon zest, leather, green vines, woody, funk.
Mouthfeel: Dry, medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Good enjoyable aroma and flavours that made it really easy to drink.