Category Archives: 4 – Good (buy)

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgian Quadrupel, Belgium, Brasserie de la Sambre

De La Sambre Barley IV

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Brewery: Brasserie De La Sambre
Country: Belgium
ABV: 10.5%
Style: Quadrupel
Other Notes: 28 IBUs

Brewer Description: (from bottle) A full barley variation of our Rye IV. Our take on the heaviest of all Belgian classic, the quadruple. We have used different layers of caramel malts and high quality Belgian candi syrup to create a complex bouquet of dried fruits including plums, dates, dried raisins as well as notes of fresh dark cherries. We have discarded malt for this variation so that you can use it as a basis and compare with upcoming versions. We have used a classic abbey yeast strain to create a balanced fermentation profile rotating around orchard fruits and white spices. Will mellow over time (3 years) if placed in an environment protected from light and heat. Brewed in our 800 years old farm.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.17
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 750ml white waxed bottle, with a best before date of 22nd July 2026. Poured into a Chimay goblet glass.
Appearance: A dark brown colour with a very nice fluffy one finger beige head that had excellent retention and left lots of nice lacing.
Aroma: Fruity, dried cherry, fresh plums, prunes, caramel, toast.
Taste: Roasted malts, toast, cacao, sweet notes, dried cherries, dates, prunes, raisins, caramel, and a touch boozy.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: A nice sipper with a good balance between the roasty toasty notes and the sweet dried fruits. While the booze did come through slightly, it wasn’t overly strong and still enjoyable.

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

3 Fonteinen Oude Geuze Golden Blend Honing

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.3%
Style: Lambic – Gueuze
Other Notes: Blend°51, Season 16/17

Brewer Description: (from bottle in Dutch) 3 Fonteinen Oude Geuze Golden Blend is een assemblage van één-, twee-, drie- en vierjarige traditionele lambikken, verder vergist in de fles en waarvan de vierjarige lambik minstens 25% deel uitmaakt. Dankzij de oude lambik en de continue evolutie in de fles ontstaat een uitgesproken complex en elegant natuurlijk bier. Lambik en Geuze zijn rijk en levend erfgoed, eigen aan de Zennevallei! Ongefilterd en ongepasteuriseerd.

Deze specifieke Golden Blend heeft een proportie van 27% vier jaar oude lambiken werd gebrouwen in januari 2013. Bij het assembleren werd er ook wat honing toegevoegd.

(translated to English) 3 Fonteinen Oude Geuze Golden Blend is a blend of one-, two-, three- and four-year-old traditional lambic, further fermented in the bottle, of which at least 25% is four-year-old lambic(s). Thanks to the old lambic and the continuous evolution in the bottle, a distinctly complex and elegant natural beer is created. Lambik and Geuze are a rich living heritage, characteristic of the Senne valley! Unfiltered and unpasteurized.

This particular Golden Blend has a proportion of 27% four-year-old lambic that was brewed in January 2013. Some honey was also added during assembly.

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

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°51, season 16/17, bottled on 27th September 2017. Served from a 3 Fonteinen lambic basket, and poured into a 3 Fonteinen gueuze glass.
Appearance: A nice clear golden orange colour with a one finger white head that had decent retention while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Green apple, rhubarb, funk, slight cheese, wet wood, lemon, with a hint of honey.
Taste: Tart, light sour, apple, gooseberry, lemon zest, lime, earthy, damp wood, light funk, with an apple peel finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied, with soft to moderate carbonation.
Overall: It was nice and enjoyable, but other than just slightly from the aroma, I do not get any honey directly from the flavour. In the end while it was good, I don’t think it improved on the original Golden Blend, which I thought was amazing.

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

3 Fonteinen Pruim Belle De Louvain

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.8%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Blend°9, Season 20/21

Brewer Description: (from bottle) This Pruim features the Belle De Louvain, an ancient plum variety, popularly known in Brabant and Limburg province as Paterskloten and Hondskloten respectively. We sourced these both at Hoenshof in Limburg and at Willy’s orchard on the Wijngaardberg around Rotselaar. We macerated the entire plums for almost five months on lambik from five different barrels and five different brews. Finally, we blended with some young lambik before bottling. Final fruit intensity is 380 grams of Belle De Louvain plums per litre of Pruim. 100% 3 Fonteinen.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.09
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°9, season 20/21, bottled on 6th January 2021. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A slightly hazy golden orange colour with a half finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly to a ring around the glass, while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Fruity, plum, plum skin, strawberry, oak, lemon zest, and funk.
Taste: Sour, plum, apricot, lime, funk, with light oak notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: It’s quite sour dominant, but the plum aroma and flavours come through nicely, and it’s enjoyable with the light oak and funkiness.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Gose - Fruit, Omnipollo, Sweden

Omnipollo Bianca Raspberry Peach Marshmallow Lassi Gose

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Brewery: Omnipollo
Country: Sweden
ABV: 6%
Style: Gose – Fruit
Other Notes: Brewed by Omnipollo at De Proef Brouwerij (Belgium)

Brewer Description: (from website) This Biancas is a truly colorful and candy-like treat. We took more than a decadent amount of raspberries, added some juicy peaches, a dash of milk sugar and rock salt and rounded it off with our marshmallow treatment.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.37
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 440ml can, with no canned on or best before date. Poured into a winebar glass.
Appearance: A deep maroon colour with a just over one finger burgundy head that had good retention and left lots of nice lacing.
Aroma: Red berries, marshmallow, vanilla, cream, black tea, with light peach and apricot notes.
Taste: Sweet and sour, raspberry puree, smashed peaches, marshmallow, cream, with a light note of lemon juice and salt.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, full bodied with soft to moderate carbonation.
Overall: Enjoyable sweet and sour aroma and flavours. Not as epic as Blackberry Blueberry Marshmallow, but still good nonetheless.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Gose - Fruit, Omnipollo, Sweden

Omnipollo Bianca Noa Strawberry Pecan Mud Cake Lassi Gose

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Brewery: Omnipollo
Country: Sweden
ABV: 6%
Style: Gose – Fruit
Other Notes: Brewed by Omnipollo at De Proef Brouwerij (Belgium)

Brewer Description: (from website) Two of our beers once again collaborated and made another high voltage number. We sourced really expressive strawberries with aroma and flavor reminding you of freshly picked summer strawberries to go well with the nutty aromatics of Noa Pecan. Contains milk sugar.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.16
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 440ml can, with a best before date of 10th September 2022. Poured into a winebar glass.
Appearance: A not too appetising sewage brown colour with maybe a slight purple hue, and a half finger beige head that dissipated fairly quickly, while leaving only sparse lacing.
Aroma: A strawberry jammy cream sponge cake put together with a chocolate nutty mud cake.
Taste: Sweet and sour, melted Neapolitan ice cream mixed together, with the tart and jammy strawberry and the sweet and nutty chocolate front and centre, and the milky vanilla in the background.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, medium bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: I get why this might be a love/hate type of beer. Other than the appearance, which I didn’t think was appetising, the aroma and flavours were my kind of thing, and it was a good liquid dessert.