Category Archives: 4 – Good (buy)

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Chien Bleu, Farmhouse Saison, Switzerland

Chien Bleu Chien Andalou

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Brewery: Chien Bleu
Country: Switzerland
ABV: 6%
Style: Farmhouse Saison
Other Notes: Cuvee 2020-2021

Brewer Description: (from Untappd) Three spontan beers blend with Solera method, 3 years (20%), 2 years (20%) & 1 year (60%). Barrel aged in Sherry and Pedro Ximenez.

My rating: 4+
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.5
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4

Intro: An unnecessarily black waxed, capped and corked bottle, cuvee 2020-2021, with a best before date of April 2027. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy golden orange colour, with a nice fluffy one finger white head that had great retention, and left good lacing.
Aroma: Grape skin, white wine vinous, wood, sherry, light funk, with notes of yellow stone fruit and lemon zest.
Taste: Light to moderate sour, yellow stone fruit, grape skin, vinous, wood, sherry, and a touch of light funky notes.
Mouthfeel: Smooth, medium bodied, with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: The wax was unnecessary and just caused a big mess before I even got started. Despite this, the beer drank really well with enjoyable aroma and flavours. Admittedly, a good surprise!

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

3 Fonteinen Speling van het Lot XIV.iv: Langste Nacht 2019 Krieken Op Het Koelschip

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.8%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Blend°47, Season 20/21. Number of bottles – 1229

Brewer Description: (from bottle) On the Longest Night of 2019 on December 21st – as we do every year – we experimented around the brewhouse and the coolship. Aside from the three blends featured in this Twist of Fate-series, that day we also put some sherry barrel staves directly on the coolship to macerate in the cooling lambik wort. We used that lambik in an Oude Geuze blend (season 20|21, blend n° 44). For this Speling van het Lot, we blended a lambik that was macerated with sour cherries on the coolship during that same Longest Night. The weighted average age of the blend upon bottling is about sixteen months. More than 20% of the cereals used was sourced in the Pajottenland. 100% 3 Fonteinen brewed lambik.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.13
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°47, season 20/21, bottled on 13th April 2021, bottle number 0902/1229. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy dark orange colour with a slight pinkish tinge, and a thin white head that dissipated fairly quickly to a ring around the glass, while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Cherry skin, cherry, oak, lemon, sherry, musty, damp wood, funk.
Taste: Sour, tart, cherry skin, cherry, almond, oak, lemon zest, candied lemon, funk.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with light carbonation.
Overall: Nice and easy drinking, although the cherries are not as intense as the regular Kriek.

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

3 Fonteinen Speling van het Lot XIV.ii: Langste Nacht 2019 Krieken En Kruiden Op Het Koelschip

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 5.5%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Blend°45, Season 20/21. Number of bottles – 2331

Brewer Description: (from bottle) On the Longest Night of 2019 on December 21st – as we do every year – we experimented around the brewhouse and the coolship. Aside from the three blends featured in this Twist of Fate-series, that day we also put some sherry barrel staves directly on the coolship to macerate in the cooling lambik wort. We used that lambik in an Oude Geuze blend (season 20|21, blend n° 44). For this Speling van het Lot, we blended a lambik that was macerated with sour cherries and winter spices on the coolship during that same Longest Night. The weighted average age of the blend upon bottling is about sixteen months. 100% 3 Fonteinen brewed lambik.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.05
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.8

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°45, season 20/21, bottled on 13th April 2021, bottle number 0914/2331. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy golden dark orange colour with a thin white head that disappeared almost immediately while leaving only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Candied cherry, orange peel, herbal notes, and a touch of cinnamon.
Taste: Tart, lightly sour, cherry, orange, wood, cinnamon, herbal, cough medicinal notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Light and refreshing. Aroma was ok, but not great. Luckily the taste did mostly make up for this. I do prefer carbonation in my beers more than not, but this seems to be the second beer in the Langste Nacht 2019 series with soft to no carbonation, that I felt worked well despite the lack of carbonation.

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

3 Fonteinen Speling van het Lot XIV.iii: Langste Nacht 2019 Karwijzaad Op Het Koelschip

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.2%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Blend°46, Season 20/21. Number of bottles – 1537

Brewer Description: (from bottle) On the Longest Night of 2019 on December 21st – as we do every year – we experimented around the brewhouse and the coolship. Aside from the three blends featured in this Twist of Fate-series, that day we also put some sherry barrel staves directly on the coolship to macerate in the cooling lambik wort. We used that lambik in an Oude Geuze blend (season 20|21, blend n° 44). For this Speling van het Lot, we blended a lambik that was macerated with caraway seeds on the coolship during that same Longest Night. The weighted average age of the blend upon bottling is about twelve months. One quarter of the cereals used, was sourced around the Pajottenland. 100% 3 Fonteinen brewed lambik.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.26
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°46, season 20/21, bottled on 13th April 2021, bottle number 1087/1537. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy golden orange colour with a thin white head that dissipated quickly, while leaving only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Herbal, orange, orange peel, caraway, anise, wood, fennel, pine needles, funk.
Taste: Sour, tart, grapefruit, lemon peel, wood, funky, lightly herbal, with hints of caraway and anise.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: The aroma and flavours meshed well together, and the herbal elements were perhaps surprisingly right up my alley. I thought that the lack of carbonation would be an issue, but it actually worked well in this case.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij Alvinne, Wild Ale

Alvinne Sour’ire de Mortagne Barrel 58

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Brewery: Brouwerij Alvinne
Country: Belgium
ABV: 11%
Style: Wild Ale
Other Notes: 2017 vintage, Alvinne limited edition, single cask, 700 bottles. French oak, Margaux barrel. Morpheus yeast inside

Brewer Description: (from bottle in Dutch) Barrel 58 is een uniek project waar we enkel zelfgeplukte bessen toevoegen aan sour’ire rechtstreeks op het eiken vat. Passie, toewijding en kennis… Barrel 58 6 maand gerijpt op een Margaux barrel. Sleedoorn (Moen), braambessen (Bottelare), bosbessen (Wales), Anna Spat pruimen, opal pruimen (Sint-Laureins).

(translated to English) Barrel 58 is a unique project where we only add self-picked berries to Sour’ire directly on the oak barrel. Passion, dedication and knowledge… Barrel 58 6 months matured on a Margaux barrel. Sloe (Moen), blackberries (Bottelare), blueberries (Wales), Anna Spat plums, opal plums (Sint-Laureins).

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.05
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 500ml bottle, 2017 vintage, poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A copper dark brown colour with an orange tinge, and a very thin beige head that dissipated almost immediately, while leaving only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Tart, mixed berries, plum, balsamic vinegar, caramel, lemon, dusty wood.
Taste: Sour, tart, mixed berries, raspberry, plum, balsamic vinegar, caramel, lemon, wood.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Nice complex flavours with the alcohol well hidden. The acidity was quite high, but never too much. Intense, but enjoyable.