Category Archives: 5 – Excellent (must buy)

5 - Excellent (must buy), Beer Reviews, Belgian Lambic (Fruit), Belgium, Brasserie Cantillon

Cantillon Magic Lambic

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Brewery: Brasserie Cantillon
Country: Belgium
ABV: 5.5%
Style: Belgian Lambic (Fruit)
Other Notes: aka Cantillon Framboise Vanille (RateBeer). Blend of 80% Lou Pepe Framboise and 20% Blueberry lambic with vanilla

Brewer Description: (from lambic.info) A lambic blend of 80% Lou Pepe Framboise and 20% blueberry lambic with vanilla.

(from bottle) (in French) Il n’y a pas que des gens bons à la tête de l’art… privé de subsides, le Magic Land Théâtre peut heureusement compter sur ses amis, au premier rang desquels la Brasserie Cantillon!

(Translated from French as best possible) There are not only good people at the helm of art… deprived of subsidies, the Magic Land Theatre can happily count on it’s friends, first and foremost the Cantillon Brewery!

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.89
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.8

Intro: A 750ml corked and capped bottle at the brewery, with no clear bottled on or best before date, but I think it would be from Season 18/19. Poured into a Cantillon stemmed tasting glass.
Appearance: A very nice clear ruby cherry red colour with a half finger pinkish head that had pretty good retention and that eventually settled to a ring around the glass with some decent spotty lacing.
Aroma: Raspberry, cherry, jammy, vanilla and berry jello.
Taste: Tastes like you’d expect from the aroma, but almost ice cream like because of the vanilla. Lots of raspberry, cherry, jammy, berry jello and vanilla with a touch of oak.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: Wow, near perfect in my opinion. Must try if you have the opportunity to try this. Just great jammy and jello fruitiness with lots of raspberry, cherry and vanilla.

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5 - Excellent (must buy), Beer Reviews, Belgian Lambic (Fruit), Belgium, Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen

3 Fonteinen Speling van het Lot VII.iii: Zotte Kadeeën: Braam + Hommage – Blended & Alive

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 5.2%
Style: Belgian Lambic (Fruit)
Other Notes: This fruit lambic is a blend of 50% blackberry lambic and 50% Hommage lambic (75% raspberries and 25% sour cherries). After the maceration, the fruit lambic has been blended with young lambic and bottled. The total fruit intensity is still 48%, i.e. 480 grams of fruit per liter of bottled fruit lambic. Number of bottles – 555

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen “Speling van het Lot” (Twist of Fate) is a series of small batch experimental brews, barrel maturations, fruit macerations and/or blends. This 7th version features a range of fruit macerations on freshly emptied Bordeaux barrels from Château Pabus. These high quality French oak barrels were used for a unique integrated vinification technique, including grape peel maceration in the barrel itself. The name (“Zotte Kadeeën” – “Crazy Kids”) refers to the abundant creativity of our youthful, passionate team, that likes to explore within the traditional lambic boundaries. This fruit lambic is a blend of 50% blackberry lambic and 50% Hommage lambic (75% raspberries and 25% sour cherries). After the maceration, the fruit lambic has been blended with young lambic and bottled. The total fruit intensity is still 48%, i.e. 480 grams of fruit per liter of bottled fruit lambic.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.78
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.7

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle at 3 Fonteinen lambik-O-droom, blend n°32, season 17/18, bottled on 15th March 2018, with a best before date of 26th October 2038. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A mostly clear ruby red colour with a one finger pinkish head that had decent retention and left nice spotty lacing.
Aroma: Tart, blackberry, black currant, raspberry, touch of cherry and just a whole lot of jammy goodness.
Taste: Sour, tart, blackberry, black currant, raspberry, a touch of balsamic and cherry.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Looks great, aroma was nice, taste was near perfect. Just so good and balanced to drink.

5 - Excellent (must buy), Beer Reviews, Belgian Lambic (Fruit), Belgium, Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen

3 Fonteinen Speling van het Lot VII.xii: Zotte Kadeeën: Zoete kers – (not so) Raw & Uncut

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 8.1%
Style: Belgian Lambic (Fruit)
Other Notes: This sweet cherry lambic is the result of a maceration of black cherries for 6 months and was bottled straight away. The final fruit intensity is at 645 grams of sweet black cherries per liter of bottled fruit lambic. 100% 3 Fonteinen lambic. Number of bottles – 430

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen “Speling van het Lot” (Twist of Fate) is a series of small batch experimental brews, barrel maturations, fruit macerations and/or blends. This 7th version features a range of fruit macerations on freshly emptied Bordeaux barrels from Château Pabus. These high quality French oak barrels were used for a unique integrated vinification technique, including grape peel maceration in the barrel itself. The name (“Zotte Kadeeën” – “Crazy Kids”) refers to the abundant creativity of our youthful, passionate team, that likes to explore within the traditional lambic boundaries. This sweet cherry lambic is the result of a maceration of black cherries for 6 months and was bottled straight away. The final fruit intensity is at 645 grams of sweet black cherries per liter of bottled fruit lambic. 100% 3 Fonteinen lambic.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.78
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.7

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle at 3 Fonteinen lambik-O-droom, blend n°88, season 17/18, bottled on 19th October 2018, with a best before date of 26th October 2038. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen ballon glass.
Appearance: A very nice clear dark ruby purple red colour with a one finger pinkish head that dissipated fairly quickly while leaving some spotty lacing.
Aroma: Tart, sweet, black cherry and light oak.
Taste: Sweet and sour, black cherry, dark grape, oak and hints of blackcurrant.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Excellent flavours. I’m loving these sweet black cherries. This was one of my favourites over the 3 days spent at lambik-O-droom, and on the last day, we even went for a second bottle.

5 - Excellent (must buy), Beer Reviews, Belgian Lambic (Gueuze), Belgium, Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen

3 Fonteinen Millennium Geuze

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 7%
Style: Belgium Lambic (Gueuze)
Other Notes: Bottled by Armand Debelder of Geuzestekerij 3 Fonteinen, Beersel and Willem van Herreweghen of Geuzestekerij De Cam, Gooik

Brewer Description: (from bottle) (in Dutch – I think) In grote eiken tonnen van méér dan honderd jaar, rijpt jarenlang lambiek. Speciaal voor U werd de beste lambiek uitgezocht, gemengd en gebotteld. Door hergisting op fles onstond Millennium, de superieure geuze!

Geuze Millennium is gebotteld in het najaar van 1998. Deze geuze bevat enkel tarwe, mout en hop. Niet gepasteuriseerd en spontaan hergist op fles.

(translated as best as I could) Lambic matures for years in large oak barrels of more than a hundred years. The best lambic has been selected, mixed and bottled especially for you. Millennium, the superior geuze, came into being through fermentation in the bottle!

Geuze Millennium was bottled in the autumn of 1998. This geuze contains only wheat, malt and hops. Unpasteurized and spontaneously re-fermented in the bottle.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.72
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.5

Intro: A 750ml bottle at 1420, 1998 vintage, with a best before date of 2010. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen gueuze glass.
Appearance: After a careful pour, it was a mostly clear golden orange colour with a one finger white head that had decent retention, while leaving only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Slight musty dusty notes, hay, funky, citrusy lemon and oak.
Taste: Complex goodness. Lightly sour, funk, barnyard, musty, hay, citrusy lemon, green apple, apple skin and oak.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Wow, just so lucky and happy I got to try this while there are still bottles around. To be honest, I wouldn’t know if it is past its prime yet, but what I drank was very balanced and had wonderful complexity and was just an absolute joy to drink. Must try if you can still find and afford it.

5 - Excellent (must buy), Beer Reviews, Belgian Lambic (Fruit), Belgium, Methode Goat

Methode Goat Framboos Pjassel Kriek

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Brewery: Methode Goat
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6%
Style: Belgian Lambic (Fruit)
Other Notes: 2018 vintage

Brewer Description: (from bottle) 1, 2 & 3 year old lambic with fresh raspberries, vineyard peaches and Gorsem sour cherries.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.71
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.6

Intro: A 750ml bottle at Restaurant Barr, 2018 vintage, bottled in January 2019. Poured into a stemmed white wine glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy ruby red colour, with a one finger pinkish head that dissipated fairly quickly while leaving sparse spotty lacing.
Aroma: Raspberry, jammy, jello, cherry, and hints of peach.
Taste: Sour, tart, raspberry, cherry, jammy, jello, candy, and a hint of peach.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Wonderful fruity and jammy goodness, and although the peach may have been hidden a little, the other fruits shone through strongly. Good balance and complexity that means I could just drink this all day.