Category Archives: 4 – Good (buy)

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

3 Fonteinen Druif Muscat Bleu

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 8%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Blend°47, Season 19/20

Brewer Description: (from bottle) For this Druif, we used Muscat Bleu grapes from Wijndomein Hoenshof in Hoepertingen, Haspengouw region, Flanders. Muscat Bleu is a hybrid wine and table grape and has its origins in Switzerland. We macerated the grape must with four different lambics from two different barrels. We let it macerate for five months and blended the grape lambic with another three young lambics prior to bottling. The final fruit intensity is 38.1% of grape must per litre of Druif Muscat Bleu. 100% 3 Fonteinen.

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

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°47, season 19/20, bottled on 25th February 2020. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A nice light ruby red colour with an almost two finger off white head that had pretty good retention and left nice lacing.
Aroma: Lightly tart, grape skin, grapes, vinous, lemon zest, oak, funk, and a touch floral.
Taste: Lightly tart, grape skin, vinous, red berries, grapefruit zest, oak, light funk.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Enjoyable and easy to drink, but for 3 Fonteinen and Muscat Bleu, I preferred Druivenlambik Muscat Bleu (specifically Blend°55, Season 19/20) more.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Browar Stu Mostów, Poland, Porter - Baltic

Stu Mostów WRCLW Baltic Porter Palo Santo Coconut Nitro

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Brewery: Browar Stu Mostów
Country: Poland
ABV: 9.1%
Style: Porter – Baltic
Other Notes: 40 IBUs

Brewer Description: (from website) To the long-aged, dark bottom fermented beer with a strong malty foundation we have added toasted Palo Santo woods and roasted coconut chips to create this delicious, filled with coconut tones arrangement of our WRCLW Baltic Porter!

My rating: 4+
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.46
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4

Intro: A 330ml bottle, with a best before date of 21st December 2023. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Dark dark brown to black in colour with a thin tanned that settled to a ring around the glass while leaving lots of nice lacing.
Aroma: Light roast, toasted bread, coconut, chocolate, vanilla, chocolate milk, caramel.
Taste: Moderately sweet, coconut, chocolate, vanilla, milk, caramel, wood, with some light bitterness on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Smooth, medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: A very enjoyable smooth sipper, with nice aromas and flavours that go together.

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

3 Fonteinen Speling van het Lot X.xiv: Druif: Morio Muscat

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.4%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Blend°14, Season 20/21. Number of bottles – 736

Brewer Description: (from bottle) For this Druif, we used the Morio Muscat variety, which is a cross between Silvaner and Pinot Blanc (or maybe Muscat Blanc à Petit Grains, but this needs yet to be proven). Originally from the Palatinate region in Germany, this variety’s popularity was peaking in the nineties. Wijndomein Hoenshof was nice enough to harvest some of it for us. We destemmed the grapes in-house and we put the must for almost four months on a gentle young lambik before blending and bottling. Final fruit intensity is 392 grams of grape must per litre of Druif. One third of the lambik that was used was brewed with our own cereals from in and around the Pajottenland. 100% 3 Fonteinen.

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

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°14, season 20/21, bottle 237/736, bottled on 11th January 2021. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy golden orange colour with a very thin white head that dissipated quickly and left only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Bright intense stone fruit, peach, apricot, lemon zest, grapes, vinous, oak, with light funk.
Taste: Sour, tart, stone fruit, peach, apricot, plum, vinous, grapes, lemon, grapefruit, oak, light funk.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with close to no carbonation.
Overall: It’s got an excellent aroma, very enticing, but it’s also quite sour, perhaps overly so, and it could do with some carbonation to pick it up.

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

3 Fonteinen Speling van het Lot XI.viii: Pruim: Vroege Tolse

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.1%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Blend°2, Season 20/21. Number of bottles – 614

Brewer Description: (from bottle) This version of our Pruim was made with the Vroege Tolse variety. We harvested these plums on a beautiful July morning in 2020, in the magnificent fruit orchard of a retired teacher, named Willy. His field is situated on the Wijngaardberg, on the border between Gelrode and Rotselaar. We macerated the entire plums (with stone) for almost five months in an oak barrel. We used two-year old lambik for maceration and young lambik for blending. The final fruit intensity is 519 grams of plums per litre. 75% of the lambik is brewed with Pajot cereals. 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°2, season 20/21, bottle 528/614, bottled on 14th December 2020. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy dark orange colour with a one finger white head, that had decent retention and eventually settled to a ring around the glass, while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Plum skin, lemon zest, funk, oak, with a touch of stone fruit.
Taste: Tart, plum skin, plum flesh, lemon zest, funk, and oak.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft to moderate carbonation.
Overall: Aromas were a little weak, but flavours were nice and it was just easy drinking.

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

Almanac Farmer’s Reserve Grand Cru

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Brewery: Almanac Beer Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 10.2%
Style: Wild Ale
Other Notes: Farm to barrel

Brewer Description: (from bottle) An Imperial Sour Ale aged in white wine barrels with California grown muscat blanc grapes.

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

Intro: An admittedly forgotten in the cellar but still tasting good, 1 pint 9.4 fl. oz. bottle, bottled in Autumn 2015. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A nice lightly hazy golden orange colour with a one finger beige head that had decent retention, but left only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Fuji apple and apple peel sweetness, light tartness, peach sour gummy, lemon peel, white wine grapes, vinous, oak, and vanilla.
Taste: Sweet Fuji apple, tart, peach sour gummy, white wine grapes, lemon, light funk, oak, with light notes of vanilla.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Despite being forgotten in the cellar, this turned out to be still really good, with a good balance of sweet, tart, and funk. It drinks really easy and doesn’t feel ‘Imperial’ at 10.2% ABV.