Tag Archives: 3 fonteinen

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

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, Belgium, Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen, Lambic - Unblended

3 Fonteinen Zenne y Frontera Solera

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 7%
Style: Belgian Lambic (Unblended)
Other Notes: Lambic blend aged on Oloroso & Pedro Ximénez sherry casks

Brewer Description: (from bottle) With the first version of Zenne y Frontera, 9 Oloroso barrels and 3 PX barrels were filled with young lambic. After one year of oak maturation, the characteristics of the finest of sherries and the 40 year old casks integrated with the 3 Fonteinen lambic. Only half of the volume of all casks was blended and bottled and the barrels were filled again with young lambic – our interpretation of the “solera” method. For this second edition, again only half of all barrels was blended and bottled. After another 17 months of bottle maturation, the average age of this naturally refined traditional lambic beer is more than 45 months. This batch is limited to 3000 bottles.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.8
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.6

Intro: A 750ml bottle, batch 2, bottled on 26th March 2016 and a best before date of 26th October 2026. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen funnel and decanter, decanted for 60 to 90 minutes and poured into a 3 Fonteinen Zenne glass.
Appearance: A mostly clear golden orange colour with a minimal white head and sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Earthy funk, barnyard, hay, oak, nutty, sherry, peach and lemon.
Taste: Complex flavours. Funky, earthy, barnyard, sour, lemon, grape, apricot, sherry and oak with a hint of vanilla.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Wow, such complexity and goodness from a beer. Amazing and well balanced. Now I really want to try this side by side with the sherries and even batch 1, if at all possible.

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

3 Fonteinen Speling van het Lot VI.i: Witte Perzik Raw & Uncut

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.7%
Style: Belgian Lambic (Fruit)
Other Notes: Peach lambik with 4.5 months of maceration in a wooden barrel. The white peaches originate from Ludo Rosseels, the last grower of native peaches in Belgium

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. Witte Perzik (Raw & Uncut) is the result of a barrel maceration of de-stoned white peaches on young lambic for about 4.5 months. In July 2017 we met with the last grower of native peaches in Belgium. Since the seventies, the number of stone fruit growers in the region of Hageland (in between the city of Leuven and the province of Limburg) plummeted due to the cheaper transport from the south of Europe. With a few hectares of fields left, Ludo Rosseels specialises in white and yellow peach varieties, apricots, prunes and vineyard peaches. Give this peach lambic the time to open up and to let it evolve in the glass. Taste, savour and experience with the best of friends, old and new.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.47
My ratebeer.com rating:

Intro: A 750ml bottle at 3 Fonteinen lambik-O-droom, blend n°1, season 17/18, bottled on 27th November 2017 with a best before date of 26th October 2037. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen ballon glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy golden orange colour with pretty much no head and no lacing.
Aroma: Peach, peach skin, light leather and light funk.
Taste: Sour, tart, fresh peaches, peach skin, light mineral and funk.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with low to moderate carbonation.
Overall: Wonderful peach aromas and flavours. I can just keep on drinking this.

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

3 Fonteinen Oude Geuze Honing

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: Unknown (7%?)
Style: Belgian Lambic (Gueuze)
Other Notes: 2015 vintage

Brewer Description: (from lambic.info) 3 Fonteinen Oude Geuze Honing is a geuze infused with honey (local organic honey).

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.67
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.5

Intro: A 750ml bottle at 3 Fonteinen lambik-O-droom, 2015 vintage, bottled on 12th January 2015. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A clear dark orange, copper colour with a three finger off white head that had great retention and thick stick lacing.
Aroma: Funk, grass, hay, lightly sweet honey, light herbs and lemon peel.
Taste: Sour, funk, lightly sweet, grass, hay, lemon peel, sherry vinegar and light berries.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with soft to moderate carbonation.
Overall: Another amazing lambic by 3 Fonteinen. Just so enjoyable and relaxing to drink.

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

3 Fonteinen Speling van het Lot II.ii: Robijn Blended & Alive

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 5.5%
Style: Belgian Lambic (Fruit)
Other Notes: Oude Kriek with 7 months of maceration in a new toasted barrel, backblended with young lambik and with a fruit intensity of 35%

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. 1st of December 2016, about 480 kilos of sour cherries were put with 500 liter one-year 3 Fonteinen lambic on a new toasted/charred 1000-litre barrel. After seven months of maceration, about 680 liter of kriek lambic came off the barrel. This means a fruit intensity of a staggering 710 grams of fruit per liter of fruit lambic! Given the intensity of the aromas and flavours, and the colour, we decided to call it “Robijn” (Ruby). We poured 80 liter during the Toer De Geuze 2017. The remaining 600 liter was split in half: 300 liter was bottled as such (II.i Raw & Uncut), another 300 liter was blended with a tender young 3 Fonteinen lambic, down to the usual 350 grams of sour cherries per liter (II.ii Blended & Alive). Give this sour cherry lambic the time to open up and to let it evolve in the glass. Taste, savour and experience with the best of friends, old and new.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.92
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.8

Intro: A 750ml bottle at 3 Fonteinen lambik-O-droom, blend n°39, season 16/17, bottled on 30th June 2017 with a best before date of 26th October 2037. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen ballon glass.
Appearance: A ruby red colour with a two finger creamy pink head that dissipated fairly quickly to a thin layer, while leaving some spotty lacing.
Aroma: Candied cherry, almonds, marzipan and oak.
Taste: Similar to the aroma, tart, sour, candied cherry, almond, marzipan and oak.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with light to moderate carbonation.
Overall: Just amazing cherry juice and almonds.