3 Fonteinen Framboos (Framboise)

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

1999 vintage, sampled 12711/2004 - slightly hazy reddish colour, the initial foam quickly reduces, haye and vinegar, notes of red fruits, very sour, very dry and sour vinegar aftertaste - a big punch in the face ! (thanks to fiulijn vor this very impressive beer)

Bottled. Purchased at Hop Duvel in Gent. Vintage is 1999 and the label shows 25 MEI 1999. Pours a carbonated ruby tinged orange with a small blushing white head. Aroma is tart raspberries, woody notes, lighter wafts of barnyard or litterbox, wet paper and strong earth tones. Taste is tart berries, light sweetness, more of the wood, salty sweaty flavors, leather, and lighter earthiness. Body is tart and acidic with dryness around the edges. Finishes very dry with more sour berries, lemon peel, champagne and wine notes, old wood and sweat. Awesome stuff!

[Vintage 1985-1987 bottle] The aroma is fantastic containing raspberries and great sourness. The color is dark amber (rather than red - could be the age) with some sediment floating around and it has a fine off-white head. The flavor is very powerful with notes of wood, lending it some dryness, raspberries, grapefruit and a sourness that draws out the mouthwater. The finish is dry and woody. A great beer that gives a flavor explosion in the mouth. Thanks a lot to Joris for this fantastic experience.

Vintage 1985-87 bottle.
Pours a frothy peach colored head on a deep copper colored body. Tart and sour aroma with plenty of raspberry and wood tones. Also tones of spices and earth. Very fruity and fresh and very unique, as mr_kimchee suggest "funky" is a good word to descripe it. Flavor is very odd, tart woody/oaky/corky with raspberries behind. Also notes of citrus, grapefruit and gunpowder (!). Biding on the back of my tongue. A very special and interesting beer!
Jacob Lövenlund, MartinKubert and (Jens) Ungstrup kindly shared this rare beer with me. They got it from the cellar of JorisPPattyn - Thanks to all!!

1986 bottling: hazy gold orange, noisy white head. super funky aroma of raspberries, cheese, leather, pepper and earth. I could not stop nosing this beer. the carbo is still sparkling like a champagne after 18 years, wow. raspberry vinegar, mineral, lemon, sour orange, lactic tartness. such a complex beer. unbelievable. thank you so much to martin and joris!

Bottle from 1986. Complex coloured, deep reddish, orange, amber with much sediment. Amazing raspberry aroma. Sweet and natural with some acidity in the background. Sour and acidic flavour with notes of black powder and raspberries. Very complex and special. Thanks Joris.

Unbelievably amazing beer. Without doubt the best lambic/gueuze I have ever tasted. Massive raspberry aroma & flavour; this beer looks superb and tastes superb. If I can have one wish, it is that Armand starts to produce this masterpiece once more, as we can’t keep relying on Joris’s cellar to keep pumping this one out for ever!

A 375ml 1999 bottle at the Hop Duvel in Gent; a 750ml 1999 bottle courtesy of a very generous Lord Glouglouburp, and a 750ml 1986 bottle, courtesy of the very gracious JorisPPattyn; I am a lucky man to know such great people and have such great beer:
An authentic, sweet raspberry perfume curtain is galantly raised from the bottleneck upon opening, citrusy velvet, herbal thyme, and musky softness glistening their monachal serenity and muscular splendor for all those who care to enjoy...The spectacle it reveals is an inner-peace-inducing discovery which establishes to prove that fraternity and communion are not just words of religion...Within bustles the most gorgeous interplay of pure raspberry fruitiness and wild, passion-driven lambic yeast...Barnyards of yore sharing their wise soils with adamantly rigid tartness...Funky children of a misunderstood world playing gleefully with upper-class-raised leathery dignitaries, their new brethren...No entity tries to dominate its neighbors...All is expressed with peaceful vigor and sovereign restraint in order to be sure that there is enough room for all populations to shine...And this is the uttermost beauty of this artistic revelation...No agression is necessary when there is such respect between all ingredients of life...Joris and Dany, your donations of this perfect image of the world were, just like the Framboos itself, some of those gestures from beyond...