3 Fonteinen Framboos (Framboise)

Formerly brewed at 3 Fonteinen
Style: Lambic - Fruit
Beersel, Belgium

1999 vintage bottle. Amberish at the top, tapering down to a tamer strawberry-blonde at the bottom with some dark yesties. Oh my, did this ever age well. Complex gueuze and sour raspberry aroma; just the right sour/sweetness ratio to let it hit your nose like a Mike Tyson (1985, mind you) haymaker without actually being offensive. Dry mouthfeel, sour to the point of giving the impression of lemon in the front of the flavor. Cirtic/berry/tart/gueuze followup that defies a good written explanation. Tingly in the mouth. Thanks to mjames for recommending this! A masterpiece and a tragedy that it is no longer in production, and a further tragedy that I got the last bottle at Bier Circus.

1999 - Hazy red brown body, huge beige head; Amazing clear huuuuge nose, lactic acids, fruit acids and lots of raspberry, it beats everything; Perfect carbonation in a lactic warm and fruity acidy body with a soft texture; Loooong warm finish with huge amounts of acidity, it almost hurts to drink it. This beer has such an amazing clarity and concentration. Something that lacks in a lot of other fruit lambics, but you only discover it when you have tasted this beer.

In short: Ultimate fruit lambic. Intense, funky, sour, acidic, everything.
How: 1999 Bottle drank by myself at Taverne ’t Botteltje (Ostende) in Belgium. 1999 Bottle shared with friends at Montreal-crew sour-beer tasting in 2007
The look: Cloudy orange-red-copper body, plenty of sediments and a short-lived pinkish head.
In long: (notes from the bottle I drank in 2006). Here we go for the rare and famous 3F Framboos. I’ve got a full bottle to go through by myself while eating my sandwich at Botteltje. Before the end of it I should have a good idea what the fuss is all about. Feels like they’ve thrown in just about everything they can fit in a beer of the lambic family. All kinds of apples mixed with raspberries and strawberries. High level of brettanomyces, very high level of acidity/tartness, plenty of sourness. Funky inside-out. Very hard to take big sips of this thing. More about sensations than flavours if what I’m saying makes any sense to you. To me this was not quite the masterpiece this site makes it to be but it is a top beer nonetheless. Brewed in 1986, then another batch in 1999. There were rumors that it was brewed again in 2007 but it turned out to be a different beer, the Hommage. So we, beer worshipers, will keep waiting and hoping that the Framboos come back one day. Will Jesus worshipers get their second coming before we get our third coming? Time will tell…

Pinkish-red in colour, quickly dissipating pink head leaving behind no lace. The aroma is a real shocker, incredible sourness, lots of fresh raspberries, peaches, very acidic, earthy, very strong. The flavour one-ups all the other lambics in terms of sourness and tartness, tonnes of raspberry flavour (I felt like I had seeds stuck in my teeth), some white grape skins, woody, very acidic, some cheese. Very acidic and sour mouthfeel, medium/light body, medium/high carbonation. Finishes very long, very sour, very refreshing. This is crazy, I can’t believe how sour this is. Phenomenal.
375ml bottle shared by mds, thanks Mike. Vintage 1999.

12oz Bottle. 1999 vintage. Shared with mds (thanks Mike!) and radiomgb the morning after having 8 other lambics. Cloudy and opaque, deep red color with a slight tint of brown, small off white head with a pinkish tint to it. Smack you in the face aroma, pungent, earthy, sour, light raspberry in a complimentary role. Incredibly sour flavor, woody, earthy, funky, with moderate raspberry filtering in lending it a touch of sweetness. The sourness and acidity kick your salival glands into full gear. After the massive assault from the sourness, there is a nice long finish rich with fruit and funk. Mind bogglingly complex. Rediculous.

750ml bottle, vintage 1999
Consumed at Bier Circus, Brussels, May 2006 (7 years cellared)
Has a slightly cloudy still dark ruby red colored body with a small filmy white head. Slightly murky. The nose is a strong, pungent seedy, woody raspberry aroma. Intensely sour up front, then a bit numbing, with an intensely puckery finish, at times tingling like a flemish sour. One of the most sour beers I’ve had, rivals aged Cantillon. Rich, flavorful, robust woody raspberry flavor, with the added funk of the lambic yeast wafting around hints of aged cheese and hay. The apparent acidity feels like it would corrode flesh. The age on this bottle I think is spectacular. I never throught that my highest rated lambic would be a framboise, but this one is amazing. Drinking this was one of the most amazing food and drink experiences I’ve ever had. 5.0 at first sip, and has always been.

Photograph of Bottle & Glass
http://www.youforgotpoland.org/beer/3FFramboos.j

Bottle. 1999 vintage. Pours a bright and murky orange-red colour with a small white head. The aroma is just dripping of juicy whole raspberries. It’s really jammy and also has some lactic properties. Amazing how this has kept good form over the last 7 years - tastes precisely like eating whole raspberries. The fruitiness is greatly genuine and it punches you right in the face with unimaginable brett twang and a wave of tartness hits you leaving you with a super long (minutes) of dry raspberries and oak. As it warms up the tartness becomes even more pronounced. 5% and quite possibly the fullest and most complex beer I’ve ever had. I can’t believe what’s going on here - this stuff is truly incredible and I hope there isn’t a better beer out there as my head will literally explode. Maybe I was drunk but I seem to have found seeds in my teeth a good 30 minutes later! Had this 375mL bottle at the fantastic Hop Duvel in Gent in the beautiful and serene garden.

Bottle, vintage 1999@Bier Circus, Brussels. A real treat. This was quite sour, lots of sour rasberry, with only a hint of the fleshy part of the rasberry. You get more of the seeds in this, like when you get the seeds stuck between your teeth, and you can taste the sourness/acidity. Sparkling mouthfeel, with a long fruity acidity in the finish. The flavour seems to go on and on, i didn’t want this bottle to end.