Category Archives: 4 – Good (buy)

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.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Gueuzerie Tilquin, Lambic - Fruit

Tilquin Oude Pinot Noir À l’ancienne

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Brewery: Gueuzerie Tilquin
Country: Belgium
ABV: 8%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: 2017-2018

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Beer of spontaneous fermentation, the Old Pinot Noir Tilquin is made from the fermentation of 260g of pinot noir grapes by liter of lambic. Unfiltered and unpasteurized, this beer is refermented in the bottle.

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

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, with a neck label of 2017-2018, and a best before date of 9th January 2028. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy golden colour with a slight pink tint, and a one finger white head that had decent retention, while eventually settling to a ring around the glass, and leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Tart, grape skin, mixed berries, lemon zest, lightly vinous, oak, and funky.
Taste: Tart, sour, grape skin, red wine vinous, redcurrant, oak, funk, and a splash of lemon zest.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Good balanced aroma and flavours. Nice complexity, very enjoyable, and easy to drink.