Category Archives: Belgium

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

3 Fonteinen Perzik Wit Vroege Amsden

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.5%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Blend°24, Season 18/19

Brewer Description: (from bottle in Dutch) 3 Fonteinen Perzik wordt bekomen door de maceratie van handgeplukte en handmatig ontpitte perziken op jonge traditionele lambik, gedurende minstens vier maanden, in een verhouding van één kilo perziken per liter. Daarna wordt de fruitlambik verder geassembleerd met jonge lambik en wordt alles gebotteld en zet de vergisting zich verder in de fles. Deze Perzik is een verfijnde fruitlambik met uitbundige aroma’s van steenvruchten. De perziken zijn afkomstig van Ludo Rosseels, één van de laatste, zoniet de laatste Belgische perzikenteler. Natuurlijk fruit, zonder toevoeging van sappen, siropen, of suikers. Ongefilterd en ongepasteuriseerd.

Voor deze specifieke witte perzikenlambik werd de variëteit Vroege Amsden gebruikt en gedurende 5,5 maanden gemacereerd op 3 Fonteinen lambik in een eikenhouten vat. De finale fruitintensiteit bedraagt 412 gram perziken per liter witte perzikenlambik.

(translated to English) 3 Fonteinen Peach is obtained by maceration of hand-picked and manually pitted peaches on young traditional lambic, for at least four months, at a ratio of one kilo of peaches per litre. Then the fruit lambic is further assembled with young lambic and everything is bottled and the fermentation continues in the bottle. This Peach is a refined fruit lambic with exuberant aromas of stone fruits. The peaches come from Ludo Rosseels, one of the last, if not the last Belgian peach grower. Natural fruit, without the addition of juices, syrups, or sugars. Unfiltered and unpasteurized.

For this particular white peach lambic, the Vroege Amsden variety was used and macerated for 5.5 months on 3 Fonteinen lambic in an oak barrel. The final fruit intensity is 412 grams of peaches per liter of white peach lambik.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.45
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.3

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°24, season 18/19, bottled on 20th December 2018. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A very nice slightly hazy golden orange colour with a thin white head that dissipated fairly quickly to a ring around the glass, while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Peach sour gummy candy, juicy peach, yellow stone fruit, lemon zest, with light notes of oak and funk.
Taste: Sour, tart, peach, apricot, nectarine, lemon, light funky notes and a touch minerally.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Loved the aroma which was full of peach and just nearly perfect. I could just smell that all day long. Flavorwise, there was perhaps less funk and it was more sour than expected. Just minor things, but still very peachy and still really enjoyable.

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

3 Fonteinen Druif Dornfelder

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 9%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Blend°30, Season 19/20

Brewer Description: (from bottle) For this Druif, we used Dornfelder grapes from Wijndomein Hoenshof in Hoepertingen, Haspengouw region, Flanders. Dornfelder is a dark-skinned variety, originally from Germany. We co-fermented lambic with freshly-pressed-shortly-skin-macerated Dornfelder grape juice in an oak foeder. We let it sit for four months and blended the grape lambic with some fresh lambic wort for the “prise de mousse” in the bottle. The final fruit intensity is 51.7% of grape juice per litre of Druif Dornfelder. 100% 3 Fonteinen.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.28
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°30, season 19/20, bottled on 22nd January 2020. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A very nice deep dark burgundy colour with a one finger pinkish purple head that dissipated fairly quickly to a nice but thin replenishing cap, while leaving nice lacing.
Aroma: Grape skin, vinous, blackberry, with light musty, funky, oaky notes.
Taste: Sour, red wine vinous, grape skin, oak, with some light musty and funky notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft to moderate carbonation.
Overall: This was very enjoyable and it got better the more I drank. It was vinous and almost wine like, but also had nice oak and funk characteristics.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen, Lambic - Fruit

3 Fonteinen Druif Muscaris

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 9.1%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Blend°16, Season 20/21

Brewer Description: (from bottle) This Druif features the Muscaris variety, a crossing between Solaris and Muskateller. This rather young variety originates from the Freiburg region in Germany and combines an intense muscat bouquet with a higher sugar density than other Muscat varieties (especially when harvested slightly late). Anyhow, we put the must with fifteen-months old lambik on a small oak foeder. The lambikken that we used for blending, was a three-year old lambik (and makes up more than 10% of the total volume). The final fruit intensity is 469 grams of Muscaris grapes per litre of Druif. 100% 3 Fonteinen.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.95
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.8

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°16, season 20/21, bottled on 19th January 2021. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy golden orange colour with a very thin white head that dissipated quickly to a ring around the glass, while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Candy-ish sweet, white grape, muscat, grape gummy candy, with light tart notes, funk, and a touch vinous.
Taste: Sour, light tart, funky, vinous, muscat, grape skin, grapefruit, orange, oak.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Good and interesting grape muscat aromas. But flavourwise, it had some strong notes of grapefruit and orange along with the vinous grape, with the citrus being somewhat ‘spicy’, almost cocktail like. And while this was fine, it wasn’t among my favourites.

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

3 Fonteinen Pruim Mirabelle

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 7.4%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Blend°11, Season 20/21

Brewer Description: (from bottle) This Pruim features the Mirabelle, sourced at Hoenshof in Limburg. We macerated the entire plums for almost five months with two young lambikken from three different barrels. We blended with some more young lambik right before bottling. The final fruit intensity is 518 grams of Mirabelle plums per litre of Pruim. 100% 3 Fonteinen.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.36
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.3

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°11, season 20/21, bottled on 6th January 2021. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy pinkish orange colour with a very thin white head that dissipated quickly to a ring around the glass, while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Lightly sweet and tart, plum, plum skin, guava, pineapple, lime peel, lemon, damp wood.
Taste: Sour, tart, juicy, plum, apricot, guava, sour pineapple, lemon, lime zest, with light funky notes and damp wood.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: I haven’t tried the actual Mirabelle plum, but I think I would love it. I’ve now had multiple beers that have used the Mirabelle, and I have fully enjoyed each and every one of them and this was no exception. Just great flavours and so easy to drink. I would prefer a bit more carbonation though.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen, Flanders Oud Bruin

3 Fonteinen Nocturne

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 7.1%
Style: Flanders Oud Bruin
Other Notes: Blend°2, Season 19/20. Number of bottles – 604

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Nocturne is a blend of 3 Fonteinen brewed dark full malt beers and traditional lambic. Spontaneously fermented. Matured in oak barrels. Extended bottle ageing. Unfiltered. Unpasteurised.

On the 30th of March 2018, we brewed a fully barley malt beer wort, with pilsner, pale ale, cara and roasted chocolate malt. We left this beer to age for almost two years on oak barrels. Prior to bottling, we blended the beer with some young lambik. Nocturne is our take on a Vlaams Oud Bruin – a Vlaams-Brabants Oud Bruin if you will. This beer is fully spontaneously fermented and all-natural without any addition of caramel sweetener or colouring. (yet, #notlambic). 100% 3 Fonteinen. # of bottles: 604.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.25
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°2, season 19/20, bottled on 6th November 2019, and with a best before date of 26th October 2039. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed Zenne glass.
Appearance: A dark amber dark brown colour with a one finger beige head that had good retention and left some nice lacing.
Aroma: Tart, red berries, cherry, cranberry, malty, light roast, with a hint of caramel, vinegar and lemon juice.
Taste: Sour, tart, red berries, cranberry, cherry, plum, oak, dark malt, light roast, light funk, and light vinegar notes.
Mouthfeel: Dry, medium bodied, with moderate carbonation.
Overall: A rare not lambic from 3 Fonteinen, but it was good. It’s a well made Oud Bruin that was really enjoyable on a hot spring night.