3 Fonteinen Hommage

Brewed by 3 Fonteinen
Style: Lambic - Fruit
Beersel, Belgium

Bottle (Feb 07 bottling). Head is initially small, fizzy, pink, fully diminishing. Body is hazy medium reddish-purple, bottle conditioned. Aroma is lightly malty (toasted grain), moderately yeasty (horseblanket, barnyard, cobwebs), with notes of raspberry and cherry, light notes of band-aid, sour apple, and wood. Flavor is moderately sweet, moderately to heavily acidic. Finish is lightly to moderately sweet, moderately to heavily acidic, lightly bitter. Medium body, watery/syrupy texture, lively/soft carbonation. I rarely say this, but that’s because I rarely believe it’s true: this will probably benefit greatly from another couple of years in the bottle. Although the aroma is very enticing and vibrant, it’s pretty fruit-forward right now, as with young wine (and priced like the latter as well, at least in the States...$35 a bottle here in Colorado). I would also ideally want a smidge less sweetness and a smidge more tartness. These are nits...it’s great stuff as-is to be sure. And given a few years for the fruits to fade a bit and some aged characters to take their place, I have little doubt that it will gain more depth and breadth.

25 oz bottle, via papsoe I think. Pours a ruddy red body with a minimal head that vanished quickly. Nice funky nose with lots of cherry skins and pits, and ripe raspberries. Light brett, and lots of funky musty cellar notes. Lots of fresh ripe raspberry and cellar funkiness with zero residual sugars. Tart, but not overpoweringly sour, I think that there is some room for development in that area. The mouthfeel is dry and crisp with a nice lingering tart finish. Overall, quite good, I look forward to the chance to sit down with a whole bottle of this and really get to know it.

750ml bottle thanks to my man Dough77..... oured a pomegranate raspberry red with a thin and quickly disappearing off-white head. not sure why i gave it a 3 but that’s what my notes say..... aroma of light cheese accented by red fruit. an abundance of raspberried filled the air.... a sharp, crisp raspberry/cherry flavors run wild and intermingled well with the funky cheesiness that provided that nice quality that i like in a lambic.....i hope to try this again one of these days.

Deep magenta color. Rich fruit flavor, it’s nice to taste an authentic raspberry fruit flavor. I havent felt like I’ve had a good raspberry lambic in awhile, even with rose and oud beersel framboise. I don’t love this beer, but it’s a nice lambic style.

Bottle pops open with a bang. Pours murky red/copper, when held to the light reveals itself an absolute blood red, hazy, fizzy, nice small lacing. Big sour nose with earth, must, grass, raspberries, pomegranites, cherries, lemons. Flavor is an impressive montage, first of a noble geuze, hay, lemons, grass, soil, giving rise to elegant assortments of fresh raspberries, sour cherries, pomegranite, and lemon rind. Acidity is pretty high, sometimes too much so. Otherwise, a really impressive framboise, soft, fruity, and complex.

Bottle sampled with Mad_indian. Pours deep hazy red with a huge pink head. Aroma of raspberries, yeast, hay, vinegar, and tart. The flavor is definitely tart, raspberry, wood, hay, funky yeast, with a bitter tingle on your tongue for a finish. Good body. Damn good lambic.

Bottle gift from Stegosaurus. Ok, I can’t stand lambics I don’t want to harshly judge it but it’s not for me. Murky red pink pour with an overly sweet/ vinegar aroma. Extremely sour to taste. I did not enjoy this that much but I will not trash it just because I do not like the style. RE-RATE Ok the more I drank the bottle and my palate got used to it the more I liked it.

Pours hazy deep magenta (not ruby) with pink head. Nose is nice; freshly picked raspberries, oaky woody notes, funky yeasty notes, and some root cellary hints. Tastes tart, but well balanced, and not a mouth puckering tartness. The tartness here seems to go with the raspberries, making it much more tolerable and less harsh than some lambics I’ve had. The raspberries taste natural (as they should), and this one is very good from start to finish.