Category Archives: Style

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brasserie Cantillon, Lambic - Gueuze

Cantillon 50°N-4°E Brandy

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Brewery: Brasserie Cantillon
Country: Belgium
ABV: 7%
Style: Lambic – Gueuze
Other Notes: 2018 vintage, Brandy barrel

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Lambic brewed on 24 February 2015, aged in Brandy barrels and bottled on 4 December 2018.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.26
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 750ml corked and capped bottle, 2018 vintage, bottled on 4th December 2018. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed Zenne glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy golden colour, with a nice one finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly, while leaving only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Tart unripe yellow stone fruit, citrus zest, funky, musty, wood, brandy, butterscotch, with a minerally note.
Taste: Lightly sour and tart, lemon juice, green apple, grape skin, a touch vinous, a bit of berries, funky, woody, brandy, with caramel like notes.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, medium bodied, with soft carbonation.
Overall: This needed time to open up, and after an hour it definitely improved. Not my favourite among the 50°N-4°E variants, but still enjoyable.

5 - Excellent (must buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Lambic - Fruit, Pellicle Vergistingen

Pellicle I Never Promised You A Rose Garden

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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!

2 - Maybe (likely wouldn't buy, might drink), Beer Reviews, Brasserie Ammonite, France, Wild Ale

Ammonite Symphonie Solera IV

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Brewery: Brasserie Ammonite
Country: France
ABV: 5%
Style: Wild Ale

Brewer Description: (from bottle in French) Cette cuvée est issue de l’assemblage perpétuel de tous les millésimes depuis la naissance de la brasserie. Élaborée selon la pratique de la Solera, elle est l’empreinte du temps. Bière de fermentation spontanée, élevée en ex-fûts de vins bourguignons.

(translated to English) This vintage comes from the perpetual blending of all the vintages since the birth of the brewery. Developed according to the Solera practice, it is the imprint of time. Spontaneous fermentation beer, aged in ex-Burgundy wine barrels.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.14
My ratebeer.com rating: 2.9

Intro: A 750ml corked and capped bottle, bottled on 8th October 2021, poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: It was a lightly cloudy pale straw blonde colour with a thin white head that dissipated quickly to nothing, while leaving no lacing.
Aroma: Tart, green vines, dill pickles, pickled cucumber, microgreens, unripe guava, with a splash of lemon.
Taste: Sour, tart, lemonade, microgreens, pickled cucumber, lemon juice, with light vinous notes.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with soft to moderate carbonation.
Overall: A strange one for me, overly green, and the aroma and flavours just didn’t come together well for me. I love pickles and pickled vegetables, but that did not work in beer.

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

3 Fonteinen Zenne y Frontera Season 18/19 Blend 93

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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.

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

3 Fonteinen Zenne y Frontera Season 18/19 Blend 94

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.8%
Style: Lambic – Gueuze
Other Notes: Blend°94, 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. The lambics originate from five different brews and were all a good year old when filling the sherry barrels. Accordingly, the weighted average age upon bottling was a tad more than 24 months. 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°94, season 18/19, bottled on 25th July 2019. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed Zenne glass.
Appearance: A very nice clear golden orange colour, with a one finger white head that had pretty good retention, while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Funky, musty, citrusy, lemon zest, green apple, sherry, and some light nutty notes.
Taste: Lightly sour, lemon, lemon zest, minerals, a touch of funk, and very light nutty sherry notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft to no carbonation.
Overall: The citrus and minerality is quite strong and the funk and sherry is not as prominent as in the other blends.