Category Archives: 5 – Excellent (must buy)

Pellicle I Never Promised You A Rose Garden

Brewery: Pellicle Vergistingen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: 2023 vintage

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Blend of different lambics macerated on Gorsem cherries & rose petals.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.65
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.5

Intro: A 750ml corked and capped bottle, 2023 vintage, with a best before date of June 2026. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A very nice deep ruby red colour with a one finger pinkish head that had pretty good retention, eventually settling to a ring around the glass, while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Sweet juicy cherries, spritzy lemon zest, with notes of wood and funk.
Taste: Lightly sour, ripe juicy cherries, lemon zest, a touch vinous, wood, and light funky notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: Really enjoyable intense cherry in the aroma and flavour. Balanced and drinks really easy. The bottle went fast!

3 Fonteinen Zenne y Frontera Season 18/19 Blend 93

Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.7%
Style: Lambic – Gueuze
Other Notes: Blend°93, 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. We filled these with young lambic from four different brews and some with four month-old lambic wort. The weighted average age upon bottling was 21 months. 100% 3 Fonteinen.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.53
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°93, season 18/19, bottled on 24th July 2019. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed Zenne glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy golden orange colour, with a one finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly to a ring around the glass, while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Funky, oak, damp wood, vanilla, nutty, sherry, white wine grape skin, yellow stone fruits, green apple, lemon zest.
Taste: Sour, yellow stone fruit, peach, green apple, wood, oak, sherry, lemon zest, with a touch of funk, and minerality.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Really enjoyable aroma and flavours, especially the aroma which was stunning. Good balanced complexity and easy drinking.

Cantillon 50°N-4°E Armagnac

Brewery: Brasserie Cantillon
Country: Belgium
ABV: 7%
Style: Lambic – Gueuze
Other Notes: 2017 vintage, Armagnac barrel

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Lambic brewed on 18 November 2014, aged in Armagnac barrels and bottled on 7 February 2017.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.78
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.6

Intro: A 750ml corked and capped bottle, 2017 vintage, bottled on 7th February 2017. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed Zenne glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy golden colour, with a nice one finger white head that had good retention and left nice lacing.
Aroma: Dusty, musty, derelict barn, apple peel, apple, Armagnac, orange peel, oak.
Taste: Lightly sweet, a touch tart, with bitter notes, candied citrus, lemon peel, citrus rind, apple peel, funky, dusty, oak, with brandy notes.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, medium bodied, with soft carbonation.
Overall: Drinks really well, balanced with good complexity. Just super enjoyable.

Cantillon Drogone Lambic

Brewery: Brasserie Cantillon
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.5%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Cantina Giardino bottle #2902

Brewer Description: (from bottle) A collaboration between Cantina Giardino & Cantillon. A blend with the pomace of Aglianico grapes and 3-year-old Lambic. Before being blended with the Lambic, the grapes underwent a 3-month pellicular maceration in chestnut barrels.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.68
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.6

Intro: A 750ml corked and capped bottle, 2022 vintage, bottled on 19th January 2022. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A very nice clear ruby purplish red colour (getting darker towards the end of the bottle), with a one finger pinkish head that had good retention and eventually settled to a ring around the glass, while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Grape and cherry hard candy, grape skin, red wine vinous, light funk, musty, a touch sweaty, and notes of tart blackcurrant.
Taste: Sour, tart, red wine vinous, grape skin, mixed berries hard candy sweetness, funky, musty, oak, and lemon zest.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Loved this. Drinks great, and the aroma and flavours were balanced and just exactly what I enjoy.

Cantillon Brabantiæ

Brewery: Brasserie Cantillon
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6%
Style: Lambic – Gueuze

Brewer Description: (from bottle) The Gueuze Brabantiæ is the result of a blend of three year old Lambics aged in Porto barrels. Best enjoyed within 20 years of the bottling date. The flavor of the beer will evolve over time.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.49
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4

Intro: A 750ml corked and capped bottle, 2018 vintage, bottled on 25th November 2018. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A very nice clear golden orange colour with a one finger white head that had good retention, and left nice lacing.
Aroma: Apple skin, funk, dusty, musty, sweet grapes, plum, oak, lemon zest.
Taste: Lightly sour, sweet grapes, raisins, port barrel, oak, funky, dusty, lime, lemon zest.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Enjoyable flavours with good barrel and funk complexity.