Category Archives: 4 – Good (buy)

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Farmhouse Saison, USA, Westbrook Brewing Co.

Westbrook Joie

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Brewery: Westbrook Brewing Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 7%
Style: Belgian Saison

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Mixed fermentation saison style ale aged 1 year in Sauternes barrels.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.1
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 1 pint 9.4 fl. oz. bottle, bottled on 18th November 2016. Poured into a Holy Mountain tulip glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy golden colour with a just over two finger white head that had decent retention but left only sparse spotty lacing.
Aroma: Sweet Sauternes wine, ice wine, white grape, tangy lime, lemon, oak and light funk.
Taste: Much like the aroma, taste was sweet Sauternes wine, ice wine, white grape, tangy and tart lime, lemon, oak, apple skin and light funk.
Mouthfeel: Dry, light to medium bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: I’m surprised how well the Sauternes barrel comes through so strongly. However this naturally meant that this was on the borderline of being too sweet for me. The lime and lemon tanginess was probably just enough to balance this sweetness. But this definitely did grow on me, and I liked it more and more.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, USA, Westbrook Brewing Co., Wild Ale

Westbrook Leopold

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Brewery: Westbrook Brewing Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 5%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Sour Ale aged in sauternes wine casks with apricots and peaches added

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Leopold is an adventurous hawk who visited us in the brewery for a few days last winter. In his honor we brewed this sour blonde ale and aged it in sauternes wine casks for 12 months, then refermented it on peaches and apricots.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.94
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.8

Intro: A 750ml bottle, bottled on 29th April 2016. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: It was a clear golden orange colour with a half finger white head that had decent retention but left only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Tart, light funk, apricot, peach and oak.
Taste: Sour, tart, acidic, apricot, peach, oak, and a splash of vinegar.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate carbonation, perhaps a touch too acidic though.
Overall: Despite the acidity, aroma and flavours were still nice.

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

3 Fonteinen Speling van het Lot VII.xi: Zotte Kadeeën: Cassis – Blended & Alive

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.5%
Style: Belgian Lambic (Fruit)
Other Notes: This cassis lambic is the result of a maceration of blackcurrants for 5.5 months. It was then blended with young lambic and a final fruit intensity of 268 grams of blackcurrants per liter of bottled cassis lambic was obtained. 100% 3 Fonteinen lambic. Number of bottles – 1000

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 7th version features a range of fruit macerations on freshly emptied Bordeaux barrels from Château Pabus. These high quality French oak barrels were used for a unique integrated vinification technique, including grape peel maceration in the barrel itself. The name (“Zotte Kadeeën” – “Crazy Kids”) refers to the abundant creativity of our youthful, passionate team, that likes to explore within the traditional lambic boundaries. This cassis lambic is the result of a maceration of blackcurrants for 5.5 months. It was then blended with young lambic and a final fruit intensity of 268 grams of blackcurrants per liter of bottled cassis lambic was obtained. 100% 3 Fonteinen lambic.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.29
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle at 3 Fonteinen lambik-O-droom, blend n°87, season 17/18, bottled on 18th October 2018, with a best before date of 26th October 2038. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen ballon glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy ruby red colour with a one finger pinkish head that dissipated fairly quickly, while leaving some nice spotty lacing.
Aroma: Blackcurrant, Ribena, light tartness and a touch of red grapes.
Taste: Sour, tart, blackcurrant, Ribena, red grapes, oak and light funk.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Really nice enjoyable blackcurrant aromas with good balanced sour and tart flavours.

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

3 Fonteinen Speling van het Lot VII.v: Zotte Kadeeën: Aardbei + Kriek – Blended & Alive

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 5.7%
Style: Belgian Lambic (Fruit)
Other Notes: This fruit lambic is a blend of 85% strawberry lambic and 15% sour cherry lambic. After the maceration, the fruit lambic has been blended with some young lambic and bottled. The total fruit intensity is still 62%, i.e. 620 grams of fruit per liter of bottled fruit lambic. Number of bottles – 457

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 7th version features a range of fruit macerations on freshly emptied Bordeaux barrels from Château Pabus. These high quality French oak barrels were used for a unique integrated vinification technique, including grape peel maceration in the barrel itself. The name (“Zotte Kadeeën” – “Crazy Kids”) refers to the abundant creativity of our youthful, passionate team, that likes to explore within the traditional lambic boundaries. This fruit lambic is a blend of 85% strawberry lambic and 15% sour cherry lambic. After the maceration, the fruit lambic has been blended with some young lambic and bottled. The total fruit intensity is still 62%, i.e. 620 grams of fruit per liter of bottled fruit lambic.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.48
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle at 3 Fonteinen lambik-O-droom, blend n°34, season 17/18, bottled on 16th March 2018, with a best before date of 26th October 2038. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen ballon glass.
Appearance: It was a lightly hazy orange red colour with a half finger off white head that had decent retention and left nice spotty lacing.
Aroma: Tart, strawberry, jammy, minerals, and some slight leather.
Taste: Sour, tart, light sweetness, strawberry, light minerals and cherry.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: An enjoyable balance of sour and sweet, and also strawberry and cherries. Another success with strawberries in beer. I haven’t been a fan of strawberries in beer, but with 3 Fonteinen putting them into some of the Speling van het Lot lineup, I have found them to have done a very good job.

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

3 Fonteinen Speling van het Lot VII.vi: Zotte Kadeeën: Trosbes + Kriek – Blended & Alive

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.3%
Style: Belgian Lambic (Fruit)
Other Notes: This fruit lambic is a blend of 75% redcurrant lambic and 25% sour cherry lambic. After the maceration, the fruit lambic has been blended with some young lambic and bottled. The total fruit intensity is still 62%, i.e. 620 grams of fruit per liter of bottled fruit lambic. Number of bottles – 779

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 7th version features a range of fruit macerations on freshly emptied Bordeaux barrels from Château Pabus. These high quality French oak barrels were used for a unique integrated vinification technique, including grape peel maceration in the barrel itself. The name (“Zotte Kadeeën” – “Crazy Kids”) refers to the abundant creativity of our youthful, passionate team, that likes to explore within the traditional lambic boundaries. This fruit lambic is a blend of 75% redcurrant lambic and 25% sour cherry lambic. After the maceration, the fruit lambic has been blended with some young lambic and bottled. The total fruit intensity is still 62%, i.e. 620 grams of fruit per liter of bottled fruit lambic.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.14
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle at 3 Fonteinen lambik-O-droom, blend n°35, season 17/18, bottled on 16th March 2018, with a best before date of 26th October 2038. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen ballon glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy ruby red colour with a half finger pinkish head that had decent retention and left some nice lacing.
Aroma: Red currant, cherry and light funk.
Taste: Sour, tart, red currant, cherry, light herbs and minerality, and a touch of oak. A little vinous wine like on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Usually red currant is not my favourite, but this was well executed and the cherry cuts through nicely.