Category Archives: Belgium

Belle-Vue Sélection Lambic

Brewery: Belle-Vue
Country: Belgium
ABV: 5.2%
Style: Lambic – Gueuze

Brewer Description: (from bottle) 1999 vintage.

My rating: 3+
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.94
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.7

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, 1999 vintage, bottle no. 05590, with a notched best before date of December 2005. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen gueuze glass.
Appearance: A clear bright copper orange colour with no head and no lacing.
Aroma: Tart, funky, barnyard, musty, damp wood, apple, citrus, orange, vinegar, with maybe some berry notes.
Taste: Tart, sour, apple, apple cider vinegar, mixed berries, lemon juice.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: This was interesting, and I probably want to say, past it’s prime, although unfortunately I don’t really have a reference point since this is the first one I’ve tried. But there was still some nice flavours going on. Worth a try, especially for those that enjoy gueuze like I do.

Tilquin Oude Pinot Meunier À l’ancienne

Brewery: Gueuzerie Tilquin
Country: Belgium
ABV: 7.9%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: 2020-2021

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Beer of spontaneous fermentation, the Old Pinot Meunier Tilquin is made from the fermentation of 250g of grapes by liter of lambic. The grapes were grown biodynamically by our neighbours at Domaine W. Unfiltered and unpasteurized, this beer is refermented in the bottle.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.17
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, with a neck label of 2020-2021, and a best before date of 11th March 2031. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A very nice looking pinkish orange colour with a one finger white head that had decent retention, but eventually settled to a ring around the glass while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Grape skin, grape, funky, oak, with green and citrus zesty notes.
Taste: Sour, tart, funky, grape skin, grapes, grapefruit, citrus zest, oak, earthy, with light gooseberry notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Loved the appearance of this beer. The aroma and taste was interesting, but it was definitely more green and earthy than expected. It’s good, but not one of my favourites of the grape lambics from Tilquin.

3 Fonteinen Braambes

Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.2%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Blend°38, Season 18/19

Brewer Description: (from bottle in Dutch) 3 Fonteinen Braambes wordt bekomen door de maceratie van handgeplukte braambessen op jonge traditionele lambik, gedurende minstens vier maanden, in een verhouding van één kilo bramen per liter traditionele lambik. Daarna wordt de fruitlambik geassembleerd met jonge lambik en wordt alles gebotteld, en zet de vergisting zich verder in de fles. Het resultaat is een bijzonder braambessenlambikbier, met een intens bosvruchtenboeket en met evolutie in het glas. Natuurlijk fruit, zonder toevoeging van sappen, siropen, of suikers. Ongefilterd en ongepasteuriseerd.

Deze specifieke Braambes heeft 4,5 maanden gemacereerd op haar fruit. De finale fruitintensiteit bedraagt 426 gram fruit per liter Braambes. De lambikken zijn afkomstig uit vier vaten en van vier brouwsels. 75% 3 Fonteinen en 25% lambik gebrouwen door Brouwerij Lindemans.

(translated to English) 3 Fonteinen Braambes is obtained by maceration of handpicked blackberries on young traditional lambic, for at least four months, at a ratio of one kilo of blackberries per liter of traditional lambic. Then the fruit lambic is assembled with young lambic and everything is bottled, and the fermentation continues in the bottle. The result is a special blackberry lambic beer, with an intense forest fruit bouquet and with evolution in the glass. Natural fruit, without the addition of juices, syrups, or sugars. Unfiltered and unpasteurized.

This particular Braambes has macerated on its fruit for 4.5 months. The final fruit intensity is 426 grams of fruit per liter of Blackberry. The lambics come from four barrels and four brews. 75% 3 Fonteinen and 25% lambic brewed by Lindemans Brewery.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.27
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°38, season 18/19, bottled on 12th February 2019. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A slightly hazy maroon red copper colour with a one and a half finger tanned head that dissipated fairly quickly to a ring around the glass, while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Funky, dusty, blackberry, jammy, oak, vanilla, with a touch of lime zest.
Taste: Sour, tart, funky, lime, blackberry, dusty, musty, oak, and gooseberry like notes.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Not my favourite blackberry lambic that I’ve tried, and even among 3F, I preferred Bramenlambik, but this was still nice and enjoyable.

Tilquin x Rulles Cassis Rullquin

Brewery: Gueuzerie Tilquin x Brasserie Artisanale de Rulles
Country: Belgium
ABV: 7.7%
Style: Lambic – non-Lambic Blends
Other Notes: 2020-2021

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Beer of mixed fermentation, the Cassis Rullquin is made from the fermentation of 160 g of blackcurrants by liter in a blending of 7/8 of Rulles Brune and 1/8 of 1 year old lambics, which has matured for 8 months on oak barrels. Unfiltered and unpasteurized, this beer is refermented for 6 months in the bottle.

My rating: 4+
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.39
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, with a neck label of 2020-2021, and a best before date of 16th March 2031. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: Dark brown in colour with a slight purple tint, with a two and a half finger fluffy tanned head that had excellent retention and left lots of nice lacing.
Aroma: Funky, damp wood, blackcurrant, mixed dark berries, very light roast, with notes of apple peel.
Taste: Lightly sour, tart, blackcurrant, mixed dark berries, green apple, dried cherry, coffee, caramel, oak, with a very light roasty note.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: This worked well as the cassis blended well with the brune and in my opinion was an improvement over the original Rullquin. Drinks really easy and is enjoyable.

3 Fonteinen Bramenlambik

Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 5.1%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Blend°32, Season 19/20

Brewer Description: (from bottle) For this small batch Bramenlambik, we used blackberries from Ferme Framboos, located in beautiful Huldenberg, Flanders. These blackberries, hand-picked in the summer of 2019, macerated for almost four months on a small foeder. We only used lambik (originating from one brew only) from one barrel for the maceration and no lambik was used for blending. The final fruit intensity is still 645 grams of blackberries per litre of Bramenlambik. 100% 3 Fonteinen.

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

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°32, season 19/20, bottled on 28th January 2020. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy dark reddish colour with a slight purple tint, and a less than one finger off white head that dissipated fairly quickly to a ring around the glass, while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Funky, musty, oak, damp wood, blackberry, with notes of lemon zest.
Taste: Sour, tart, blackberry, funky, musty, oak, with light lemon citrus notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: A good balance of funk, fruit and oak make it enjoyable and easy to drink.