Category Archives: Belgium

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

3 Fonteinen Oude Kriek + Schaarbeekse

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.6%
Style: Belgian Lambic (Fruit)

Brewer Description: (from bottle in French) Chez Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen, beaucoup de choses se passent de manière spontanée. Par erreur, mais avec un résultat surprenant, ous avons assemblé deux fûts de Kriek lambic et Schaarbeekse Kriek lambic plutôt que de les assembler séparément. Un pétit accident, mais avec un résultat raffiné. Et comme toujours du fruit naturel, sans jus, sirops ou sucres ajoutés. Non-filtré et non-pasteurisé.

(and also from bottle in Dutch) Voor de zes maanden durende maceratie van deze specifieke Oude Kriek + Schaarbeekse werden eikenhouten vaten gebruikt. De finale fruitintensiteit bedraagt 460 gram krieken per liter (waarvan 40% Schaarbeekse krieken). Aantal flessen: 880

(translated to English) At Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen, a lot of things happen spontaneously. By mistake, but with surprising results, we assembled two barrels of Kriek lambic and Schaarbeekse Kriek lambic and put them together rather than separately. A small accident, but with a refined result. And as always, natural fruit, without juice, syrups or added sugars. Unfiltered and unpasteurized.

Oak barrels were used for the six-month maceration of this specific Oude Kriek + Schaerbeekse. The final fruit intensity is 460 grams of cherries per liter (of which 40% was Schaerbeek cherries). Number of bottles: 880

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

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend n°18, season 17/18, bottled on 24th January 2018, with a best before date of 26th October 2038. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A slightly hazy deep ruby red colour with pretty much no head and no lacing.
Aroma: Lightly tart, sweet and sour, cherry, marzipan, wood, and light funk.
Taste: Sour, tart, cherry, almond, oak, with light funk and slight apple cider vinegar notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation (almost still).
Overall: It was enjoyable especially the aroma, but I do prefer some carbonation. I know the blend was accidental, but I prefer the regular Schaarbeekse Kriek and Oude Kriek separately as opposed to this blend.

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

Lambiek Fabriek Juicy & Wild Black-Belle

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Brewery: Lambiek Fabriek
Country: Belgium
ABV: 7%
Style: Lambic – Fruit

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Unique unfiltered blend of self-brewed spontaneous fermented lambics, aged in oak barrels and macerated with black currant (+/- 300g/l).

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.09
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 750ml corked and capped bottle, bottled in June 2020, with a best before date of bottled date +5 years. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A slightly hazy deep red colour with a two fingered very light pink fluffy head that had decent retention but eventually settled to a very nice fluffy cap, while leaving lots of nice lacing.
Aroma: Lightly tart, lemon zest, funky, damp hay, oak, blueberry, with only light notes of black currant.
Taste: Lightly sour, tart, lemon, blueberry, blackberry, light funk, woody, and much like the aroma, only light notes of black currant.
Mouthfeel: Dry, medium to light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Absolutely loved the look, and flavours were good, but black currant didn’t come out as strongly in the aroma or flavours as I’d hoped for.

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

Lambiek Fabriek Juicy & Wild Pluri-Elle

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Brewery: Lambiek Fabriek
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.1%
Style: Lambic – Fruit

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Unique unfiltered blend of self-brewed spontaneous fermented lambics, aged in oak barrels and macerated with a fine berry selection (+/- 300g/l).

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

Intro: A 750ml corked and capped bottle, bottled in August 2020, with a best before date of bottled date + 5 years. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A slightly hazy pinkish orange colour with a two fingered white head that had decent retention but eventually settled to a nice fluffy cap, while leaving lots of nice lacing.
Aroma: Mixed berries, lemon zest, light funk.
Taste: Lightly sour and tart, mixed berries, with strawberry really coming through. Lemon juice, oak, and light funk.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: Aroma and flavours are quite subtle, as the fruit and funkiness while there, seemed a bit toned down compared to other fruit lambics. Having said that, I still found it enjoyable.

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

Lambiek Fabriek Juicy & Wild Muri-Elle

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Brewery: Lambiek Fabriek
Country: Belgium
ABV: 7%
Style: Lambic – Fruit

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Unique unfiltered blend of self-brewed spontaneous fermented lambics, aged in oak barrels and macerated with blackberries (+/- 300g/l).

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.21
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 750ml corked and capped bottle, bottled in August 2020, with a best before date of bottled date + 5 years. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A slightly hazy pinkish orange colour with an almost two fingered fluffy white head that had excellent retention and left lots of nice lacing.
Aroma: Berries, blackberry, farmhouse, dried sweat, funky, floral, lime.
Taste: Tart, lightly sour, blackberry, funky, farmhouse, damp wood, with a splash of lime on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Slight creaminess, medium bodied, with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: Very enjoyable and easy to drink as the fruit and funk were balanced.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Sour Ale - Smoothie / Soda / Pastry, Totem

Totem Rhubarb Pastry Sour

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Brewery: Totem
Country: Belgium
ABV: 4%
Style: Sour Ale – Pastry
Other Notes: 40 IBUs. Malts – Golden Promise, Oat Malt, Wheat Malt and Dextrin Malt. Hops – Jaryllo. Bitter 3/10, Sour 6/10, Fruity 8/10, Sweet 2/10

Brewer Description: (from can) Rhubarb pastry sour.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.89
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.7

Intro: A 330ml can, with a best before date of September 2022. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A hazy golden colour with a just over one finger white head that had decent retention while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Rhubarb, vanilla, milk, candied lemon.
Taste: Sweet, tart, rhubarb, pineapple, lemon, vanilla, dried tropical fruit, slight wheat.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Nice aromas with interesting rhubarb sweet and tart flavours. Not something you usually associate coming from Belgium which in the past has been quite old school. But Totem is one of those progressive craft breweries that are popping up more and more in Belgium, and it’s interesting to see what they come up with.