Category Archives: 4 – Good (buy)

3 Fonteinen Speling van het Lot XVIII.iv: Single Wood Kastanje

Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.8%
Style: Lambic – Gueuze
Other Notes: Blend°112, Season 21/22. Number of bottles – 486

Brewer Description: (from bottle) This series of eight Spelingen van het Lot feature the ageing of the same lambikken on different wooden barrels. The lambikken come off two different brews, fully crafted with cereals sourced from our cereal collective and fully organic. The different wood types used are: American oak, German oak, acacia, the combination of German oak and acacia, chestnut, ash, cherry and mulberry. This bottle features the chestnut wood and was handbottled on 486 bottles.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.28
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle at 3 Fonteinen lambik-O-droom, blend°112, season 21/22, bottled on 8th September 2022. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A clear golden orange colour, with a one finger white head, that had good retention and left some nice lacing.
Aroma: Tart, yellow stone fruit, funk, wet wood, wet leather, apricot, and lemon zest.
Taste: Sour, tart, lemon, unripe mandarin orange, gooseberry, leather, wood, funk, with peppery notes.
Mouthfeel: Smooth, medium bodied, with soft carbonation.
Overall: Drinks nicely and was enjoyable. The series is interesting, but I didn’t have the opportunity to compare and try the others aged on different wooden barrels.

Cantillon La Corvée

Brewery: Brasserie Cantillon
Country: Belgium
ABV: 7.5%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Trousseau and Poulsard grapes

Brewer Description: (from bottle in French) Une collaboration entre le Domaine Stéphane Tissot et la Brasserie Cantillon. Assemblage de marc de Trousseau et Poulsard macéré 3 mois en amphore et de Lambic de deux ans d’âge. Refermenté naturellement en bouteille.

(translated to English) A collaboration between Domaine Stéphane Tissot and Brasserie Cantillon. Blend of Trousseau and Poulsard marc macerated for 3 months in amphora and two-year-old Lambic. Naturally refermented in the bottle.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.29
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 750ml corked and capped bottle at the brewery, bottled on 24th March 2022. Poured into a Cantillon tasting glass.
Appearance: A clear golden orange colour with a slightly pink tinge, and a one finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly to a ring around the glass, while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Tart, minerally, cactus, cucumber, grape skin, vinous, and lemon zesty.
Taste: Somewhat like the aroma, tart, minerally, kiwi, cucumber, melon, cactus, sweetish, raspberry, vinous, with lemon zesty notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft to moderate carbonation.
Overall: This was definitely interesting, as while still being vinous, the aroma and flavours were not what I expected. Especially those kiwi and cactus notes.

3 Fonteinen Oude Lambik 2017 (6 Year)

Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.9%
Style: Lambic – Unblended
Other Notes: Blend°57, Season 22/23

Brewer Description: (from bottle) The foundation and our essence: lambik as it should be; pure, spontaneous and complex. For six years, three consecutive brews from March 2017 fermented and matured in the same oak barrel. This fine lambik was bottled in a dark brown bottle and finished with the most excellent cork. For even longer cellar ageing.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.06
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 750ml corked bottle, blend°57, season 22/23, bottled on 21st March 2023. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen gueuze glass.
Appearance: A clear dark golden orange colour with a very thin white head that dissipated quickly, while leaving pretty much no lacing.
Aroma: Oak, funky, musty, tart, green apple, grape must, light citrus zest.
Taste: Sour, tart, oak, wet wood, musty, funky, grapefruit zest, and leathery notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with no carbonation.
Overall: Good complexity and very crushable.

Insight Cellars Sunstead: White Nectarine

Brewery: Insight Cellars
Country: Denmark
ABV: 6.6%
Style: Wild Ale
Other Notes: Danish Wild Ale with fresh white nectarines. 2023 vintage

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Our Sunstead series captures the essence of perfectly ripe stone fruits, allowing us to savor the warm flavors of summer all year long. The base beer is a blend of one, two and three-year-old Danish Wild Ales aged in Chardonnay and Monbazillac barrels. We racked this onto freshly destoned and crushed white nectarines at a rate of over 600 grams of nectarines per liter, and left it to macerate with the fruit for over a month before bottling. This complex, soft and juicy beer tastes almost like biting into a fragrant nectarine, transporting you back to the high days of summer no matter when you drink it.

My rating: 4+
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.44
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.3

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, 2023 vintage, bottled on 19th October 2023. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy golden orange colour, with a one finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly to nothing, while leaving only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Freshly cut extremely ripe juicy nectarines, peaches, and apricots.
Taste: Sour, tart, nectarine, peach, oak, light funk.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: The aroma of those white nectarines were perfectly ripe and although it wasn’t quite there with the taste, it was still good and enjoyable.

Het Boerenerf Kers Kaneel

Brewery: Het Boerenerf Eylenbosch
Country: Belgium
ABV: 7%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Lambiek Kers Kaneel 2021

Brewer Description: (from bottle in Dutch) Houtgerijpte kersenlambiek Kaneel receptuur uit 1907.

(translated to English) Wood-matured cherry lambic cinnamon recipe from 1907.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.06
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 750ml corked and capped bottle, 2021 vintage, with a best before date of 23rd January 2027. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A slightly hazy deep red colour with a slight orange tinge, and a one finger light pinkish head that had pretty good retention while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Lightly tart, cherry, cinnamon, mixed berries, wood, and lemon juice.
Taste: Sour, tart, cherry, lemon juice, wood, with some subtle ‘spicy’ cinnamon notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Drinks well with nice cherry in the flavour. Cinnamon was there but definitely on the subtle side. Would be interesting if the cinnamon was stronger.