Category Archives: 4 – Good (buy)

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Lambic - Fruit, OWA Brewery SPRL

OWA Cassis Lambic

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Brewery: OWA Brewery SPRL
Country: Belgium
ABV: 5.5%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Japanese cassis

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Cassis is made in Aomori Japan.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.26

Intro: A 375ml purple paper wrapped corked and capped bottle, I believe 2019 vintage. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy amber red with a slight orange tint, and a half finger white head that had pretty good retention, while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Blackcurrant, cassis, green vines, musty, funk, damp wood.
Taste: Sour, tart, blackcurrant, lemon, green vines, oak, musty, wet wood.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Very nice blackcurrant in the aroma and taste. Along with Shiso, this has become among my favourites from OWA.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Geuzestekerij De Cam, Lambic - Gueuze

De Cam Oude Geuze

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Brewery: Geuzestekerij De Cam
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6%
Style: Lambic – Gueuze
Other Notes: 2015 vintage

Brewer Description: (from bottle in Dutch) In grote eiken tonnen van meer dan honderd jaar, rijpt jarenlang lambiek, uit de 4 windstreken van het Pajottenland. Speciaal voor U werd lambiek van 1, 2 en 3 jaar oud zorgvuldig uitgeproefd gemengd en gebotteld.

(translated to English) In large oak barrels of more than a hundred years, lambic matures for years, from the 4 corners of the Pajottenland. Especially for you, lambic of 1, 2 and 3 years old was carefully tasted mixed and bottled.

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

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, 2015 vintage. Poured into a The Lambic Basket gueuze glass.
Appearance: A slightly hazy golden dark orange colour with a fluffy almost two finger white head that had good retention, eventually settling to a nice cap, while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Tart, funky, musty, barnyard, damp wood, fruity, apricot, apple, lemon.
Taste: Lightly sour, tart, overripe apple, apricot, almost jammy but not really, funky, barnyard, oak, with a super lemon candy finish (sour and a touch sweet).
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Good enjoyable complex aroma and flavours.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Lambic - Fruit, OWA Brewery SPRL

OWA Shiso Lambic

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Brewery: OWA Brewery SPRL
Country: Belgium
ABV: 5.5%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Japanese herb

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Shiso herb has also been known in English as the “beefsteak plant”, possibly on account of the purple-leaved varieties evoking the bloody-red color of meat. It is sometimes referred to by its genus name, perilla, but this is ambiguous as it could also refer to a different cultigen (Perilla frutescens var. frutescens) which is distinguished as egoma in Japan.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.24

Intro: A 375ml purple paper wrapped corked and capped bottle, 2019 vintage, poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy golden orange colour with a thin white head that dissipated fairly quickly but settled to a ring around the glass, while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Green, herbal, vine, shiso, leafy, mandarin, lemon peel, dry wood.
Taste: Sour, tart, oak, lime, lemon peel, herbal, shiso, green viney, menthol, with light funky and bitter notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: Shiso, much like coriander/cilantro, is probably a love hate herb with its interesting aroma and flavours, and so I could see this bottle being in a love hate situation as well. If you haven’t eaten raw shiso before, it could feel overpowering. The great thing about this Shiso Lambic, is that unlike quite a few other OWA lambics using fruit, the adjunct in this case, shiso, is very obvious and actually front and center. Good, interesting and enjoyable aroma and flavours. Would not be surprised if this becomes one of my favourites from OWA.

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

3 Fonteinen Druif Grüner Veltliner (Christoph Hoch)

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 7.5%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Blend°38, Season 22/23

Brewer Description: (from bottle) For this first ever fully organic grape lambik, we macerated Grüner Veltliner grapes on one- and two-year old lambik. The grapes were sourced from Christoph Hoch, a Demeter-certified wine maker from Hollenburg an der Donau, Austria. Total maceration time was almost five months and the weighted average age of this blend was more than 19 months upon bottling. The final fruit intensity is 406 grams of whole grapes per litre of finished Druif. All cereals we used in brewing the seven different lambikken, were sourced with local Pajot farmers.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.14

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°38, season 22/23, bottled on 31st January 2023. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy golden orange colour with a half finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly, while leaving only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Lightly tart, grape, grape skin, green apple, oak, and lime.
Taste: Sour, tart, vinous, grape skin, gooseberry, wax apple, oak, lemon peel.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Good aroma and flavours that made for enjoyable easy drinking.

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

3 Fonteinen Druif Fendant – Pinot Noir (Mythopia)

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 7%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Blend°124, Season 21/22. Number of bottles – 582

Brewer Description: (from bottle) For this small batch Druif, we macerated a mix of Fendant and Pinot Noir-pomace on one-, two- and three-year old lambikken. The pomace underwent a wine fermentation of more than 12 months, rendering the skins, pits and stalks wonderfully fragrant. We let the pomace sit for over four weeks. The weighted average age of this Druif at the moment of bottling was 24 months. About half of the cereals used in the lambikken, was sourced from our Cereal Collective.

A few years ago, we started working with the most progressive low-intervention winemakers around Europe. Mythopia is a very small organic winery from Arbaz, Switzerland. Romaine & Hans-Peter are known for their long skin contact macerations and expressive wines. This pomace came off their Blue Velvet and Fendant wine.

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

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°124, season 21/22, bottled on 5th October 2022. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy golden orange colour, with a half finger white head that had decent retention, but left only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Lightly tart, grape pomace, primarily stem and skin, honey, lemon zest, wood, and a light funk.
Taste: Sour, tart, grape pomace, grape stem, yellow stone fruit notes, lemon zest, and a touch of funk.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Enjoyable aroma and flavours especially from the grape pomace.