Category Archives: 4 – Good (buy)

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brasserie de la Sambre, Farmhouse Saison - Fruit

De La Sambre Ceréjhe (Etre Gourmet Blend)

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Brewery: Brasserie De La Sambre
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.8%
Style: Farmhouse Saison – Fruit
Other Notes: 2021 harvest. 25 IBUs

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Wallonian Saison with cherries.

Ceréjhe is the word used to designate cherries in Wallonian dialect. A delicate blend of saison (spring barley, Wallonian Winter barley, spelt & wheat) fermented with our own strain, 1 year old lambic and cherries. The cherries come from the lovely lands of our friends Sandra and Stephane next to the beautiful Mont Ventoux. The cherries underwent a 7 months long fermentation at cold temperature and were left intact (no pressing) during the entire process to allow the aromas to slowly diffuse into the beer.

The maceration was then back blended with the base saison to reach a balance between the saison, the lambic and the cherries. Not meant to be a cherry bomb, we hope that you’ll enjoy the delicate notes of these beautiful fruits, coming from an outstanding terroir.

An authentic farmhouse beer, Brewed in our 800 years old farm.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.12
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 750ml white waxed bottle, the Etre Gourmet blend, 2021 harvest, with a best before date of 7th April 2025. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A very nice lightly hazy ruby red colour with a one finger slightly pinkish head, with good retention and nice lacing.
Aroma: Sweet candied cherries, raspberry, strawberry, with light notes of wood and funk.
Taste: Much like the aroma, sour, tart, candied cherries, raspberry, strawberry, red fruit jelly, and wood.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: Easy drinking, nice and refreshing.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brasserie Cantillon, Lambic - Gueuze

Cantillon 50°N-4°E Brandy

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Brewery: Brasserie Cantillon
Country: Belgium
ABV: 7%
Style: Lambic – Gueuze
Other Notes: 2018 vintage, Brandy barrel

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Lambic brewed on 24 February 2015, aged in Brandy barrels and bottled on 4 December 2018.

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

Intro: A 750ml corked and capped bottle, 2018 vintage, bottled on 4th December 2018. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed Zenne glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy golden colour, with a nice one finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly, while leaving only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Tart unripe yellow stone fruit, citrus zest, funky, musty, wood, brandy, butterscotch, with a minerally note.
Taste: Lightly sour and tart, lemon juice, green apple, grape skin, a touch vinous, a bit of berries, funky, woody, brandy, with caramel like notes.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, medium bodied, with soft carbonation.
Overall: This needed time to open up, and after an hour it definitely improved. Not my favourite among the 50°N-4°E variants, but still enjoyable.

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

3 Fonteinen Zenne y Frontera Season 18/19 Blend 94

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.8%
Style: Lambic – Gueuze
Other Notes: Blend°94, Season 18/19

Brewer Description: (from bottle) 3 Fonteinen Zenne y Frontera is a unique creation of Armand Debelder and maître-sommelier Andy De Brouwer. This natural millésime beer is a blend of young traditional lambics that have aged on forty-year-and-older authentic Oloroso, Amontillado and/or Pedro Ximénez sherry casks. Zenne y Frontera is the perfect symbiosis of a few stubborn characters, a lot of wild ideas, a vast palette of aromas and two beautiful regions!

This Zenne y Frontera is a blend of ten different sherry barrels – nine Oloroso barrels and one Amontillado barrel. The Oloroso barrels were more than fourty years old. The lambics originate from five different brews and were all a good year old when filling the sherry barrels. Accordingly, the weighted average age upon bottling was a tad more than 24 months. 100% 3 Fonteinen.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.12
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°94, season 18/19, bottled on 25th July 2019. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed Zenne glass.
Appearance: A very nice clear golden orange colour, with a one finger white head that had pretty good retention, while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Funky, musty, citrusy, lemon zest, green apple, sherry, and some light nutty notes.
Taste: Lightly sour, lemon, lemon zest, minerals, a touch of funk, and very light nutty sherry notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft to no carbonation.
Overall: The citrus and minerality is quite strong and the funk and sherry is not as prominent as in the other blends.

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

3 Fonteinen Zenne y Frontera Season 18/19 Blend 92

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.5%
Style: Lambic – Gueuze
Other Notes: Blend°92, Season 18/19

Brewer Description: (from bottle) 3 Fonteinen Zenne y Frontera is a unique creation of Armand Debelder and maître-sommelier Andy De Brouwer. This natural millésime beer is a blend of young traditional lambics that have aged on forty-year-and-older authentic Oloroso, Amontillado and/or Pedro Ximénez sherry casks. Zenne y Frontera is the perfect symbiosis of a few stubborn characters, a lot of wild ideas, a vast palette of aromas and two beautiful regions!

This Zenne y Frontera is a blend of eleven different sherry barrels – ten Oloroso barrels and one Amontillado barrel. The Oloroso barrels were more than fourty years old. The lambics originate from four different brews and were all a good year old when filling the sherry barrels. Accordingly, the weighted average age upon bottling was a tad more than 25 months. 100% 3 Fonteinen.

My rating: 4+
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.49
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°92, season 18/19, bottled on 24th July 2019. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen gueuze glass.
Appearance: A nice clear golden orange colour, with a one finger white head that had pretty good retention, eventually settling to a ring around the glass, while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Funky, musty, oak, damp wood, vanilla, sherry, green apple, lemon zest.
Taste: Tart, lightly sour, sour unripe yellow stone fruit, green apple, lemon peel, funky, musty, wet wood, and nutty sherry notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Enjoyable, easy drinking, with good balanced complexity.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, North Coast Brewing Co., Old Ale, USA

North Coast Old Stock Ale

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Brewery: North Coast Brewing Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 11.8%
Style: Old Ale
Other Notes: 2016 vintage

Brewer Description: (from website) Like a fine port, Old Stock Ale is intended to be laid down. With an original gravity of over 1.100 and a generous hopping rate, Old Stock Ale is well-designed to round out and mellow with age. It’s brewed with classic Maris Otter malt and Fuggles and East Kent Goldings hops, all imported from England.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.03
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 12 fl. oz. bottle, 2016 vintage. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: A cloudy medium dark amber brown colour, with a half finger beige head that dissipated quickly to a ring around the glass, while leaving only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Malty, toffee, caramel, dark fruit, prunes, plum, grape, fruit cake.
Taste: Malty, moderately sweet, brown sugar, honeycomb candy, toffee, with light dark fruit notes, plum, prunes, dates, raisin, fig, and light boozy sherry notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Balanced aroma and flavours and a good sipper.