3 Fonteinen Framboos (Framboise)

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

Bottle (1999 Vintage, Bier Circus, Brussels): I thought I was never going to find this lambic while in Belgium until I ate dinner my last night there at Le Bier Circus at their new location (quite nice). The lambic was cloudy orange red with a strong smell of raspberries, sour but sweet - perfect blend, fizzy mouthfeel. The bottom 1/8th of the bottle was extra sour. Of the lambics I have tried this has been the best. Too bad it costs so much (25 Euros/bottle).

Bottle (1999 Vintage, Beer Circus, Brussels): JUICY! Flat reddy orange clear, with very tiny carbonation. No head though. Flavour of raspberry, cheesy funk, tomato juice and rotting grapes. Refreshing, juicy stuff. Tomato juice nose is a little overpowering, but doesnt detract from the beer. Nice.

Bottled @ Bier Circus: (Vintage 1999) Reddish unclear colour. Has a small off white head. Aroma of horseblanket, earth and tart. Has some berries notes, but is incredibly acidic. This is good stuff. Flavour as well is totally dominated by the acidic sourness. Not much fruit are detectable, but in the background there is some raspberry. Very very astringent. The sourness and tartness last into the end, where a salty and refreshing cleansing of the palate is finishing the job of a very wellmade lambic. This is an excellent brew.

Vintage 1986. Consommé en compagnie de Jocelyn et d’une belle étrangère dans un petit coin de paradis Flamand, le 30 Décembre 2005. Superbe couleur rose scintillant sous une mousse abondante et crémeuse blanche finement teintée de rose. Fruits d’une authenticité invraisemblable, framboise, écorce de citron, vanille (serait peut-être en provenance des sucres non-fermentés), composantes sauvages modérées sous des pointes respectueuses d’acidité citrique et lactique. Le plan de framboises semble y être en entier; la chair, les parfums et l’acidité du fruit, l’aspect de caoutchouc des tiges, la jadis verdure du feuillage. Tartrique, tannique et sèche en finale laissant le fruit s’exprimer longuement dans toute sa splendeur et sa complexité. Toutes les composantes co-habitent dans la plus grande harmonie. Tout simplement exceptionnelle ! Bouteille, Kroegske, Izegem. Merci Dany !

Bottled at Kaffee den Hopduvel, Ghent, Belgium - 1999 Vintage
Brownish pink, clear body. Fully diminishing head. Nose of cask wood and raspberries. Lightly sweet, heavily acidic flavour. Lightly to medium bodied. Very fizzy carbonation. The champagne styled flavours of the 3 Fonteinen Oude Gueuze are perefectly combined with the fruitiness of real raspberries (no syrup). Great craftmanship. I want more of this. Please Armand, start brewing this again.

Shared bottle with a friend. I really wish I knew the year of the bottle. All he’d tell me is that he’s had it a long time. Initially orange then thinning out to more of a copper color as the beer settles with a nice white head. When I first smelled it, I thought maybe the bottle had been cellared beyond its prime as I picked up some moldy aromas, but after the beer had a chance to settle for a minute, some more pleasant rasberry notes crept in. Tasted wonderfully of tarte rasberries with some buttery crisp undertones. Elements of sourness peaked in from time to time on the palate, but otherwise a superb lambic that held up extremely well over the years.

Bottle, Brussels, Bier Circus, May 2005. Bottled on May 25, 1999. Head is initially small, fizzy, off-white, mostly diminishing. Body is hazy dark amber to medium red, bottle conditioned. Aroma is lightly malty (toasted grain), lightly yeasty (barnyard), with notes of raspberry (with seeds), cherry, cask wood, strawberry, watermelon, and...um...essence of woman. Flavor is moderately sweet, heavily acidic. Finish is lightly sweet, moderately acidic, lightly bitter. Medium body, watery texture, lively carbonation. Dammmmmnnn! This was a knockout. Best framboise lambic I’ve ever had...certainly a little room for perfection, so to speak, but my god. Jaw-dropping. And yes, there was a certain, um...female...odor about this in the background that brought back all kinds of memories. A little unusual in that. Ahem.

Vintage 1999, 5 ½ years old
Amber color; the head disappears quickly. Solid Lambic, smells like a wonderful Gueuze, later some raspberry appears… Lovely, so real and so sour (but low fruitness).