3 Fonteinen Hommage

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

My Bottom Line:
Spicy, herbal ideas are rooted in bursting raspberries, leading to gum-licking sour goodness and the perfect dose of fruity sweetness. Drie Fonteinen have crafted another masterpiece of a lambic which should be phenomenal a few years from now.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-There is no ring of foam to crowns the murky deep red.
-The body is sturdy and carbonation suitably lively (yet it never impedes on the flavor profile).
-These wild herbal notes within the fruitiness are almost coniferous at times.
-When paired with its predecessor, 1999 Framboos, we could notice many similarities in the aroma, yet this Hommage was not as mature and cohesive flavor wise.
-The juicy raspberry tartness makes you imagine a few seeds going by.
Addendum:
-This is already getting better and better. The nose is simply stunning and the flavor profile seems to be following now. A year or two from now, it could very well be as orgasmic as the Framboos.

Bottles. And more bottles. God this is good.

Bottle. Brown beer with a lightly sour aroma and a fruity and sour flavour. Overall a reasonable beer that seems quite standard.

Pours opaque orange-red. Aroma is very tart and sour. Taste is very tart and refreshing with distinct tannins. Finishes clean.

Sampled again with the montreal crew (late May), and it is stilll getting better. The raspberry is coming out really nice- very jammy, red rasp fruit, cassis, and cherry on the nose. Body is smoothing out a bit, plasticy notes are all but gone. Acidity and extreme tartness need to come in, as well as more funk, but that will take time. I have a feeling this will age really well. Just sampled again with Armand, and it seems that the raw plasticyness that I got about 4 months ago has mellowed nicely- the fruit almost springs out a bit more now, and the raspberries seem more "real" to me. Lots of overall red fruits and even soem strawberry noticed int he aroma and flavor. I have decided to bump it up from 4.2 to a 4.4 now. Cant wait for this to come into the states. Should be real soon now!! 750 ml bottle. thanks to Eric for sharing. Pours a bright pinkish almost purple with red/bloody hints on the edges- good carbonation and a fizzy head which dissipates. Aroma of chlorine, and bromine with some funky off raspberry and cherry pie- pedio character and a dirty burning diesel fuel with ethyl and butyl esters but somehow it is still pleasant. Fruity lacto tartness upfront and more dirty sharp sour and acidic house character that most 3F beers have. More cherry and rasp tart fruit flavors in the middle and end with a bitter stomach acid sourness in the end with some light rubber hints and prickly finish. Crazy funky and off the wall lambic. I forgot how much I liked this until I checked my notes.

75 cl bottle, bottled 14/02/2007. Pours deep red with orange notes and has a modest pinkish head. Immediately upon pouring raspberries scents hit the nose, but sour cherries, wood, lemony lambik are more prominent even though raspberries remain. Hint of marcipan. Sour cherry fruit, almonds, moderate woodiness towards the finish, overall nicely balanced. A masterpiece.

(750ml, Bottled 14/02/07) Pours a cloudy, glowing ruby red body with a spare light pinkish head. Aroma of earthiness, dried tartness of raspberries, cherry, and florals. Lightly acidic flavor of raspberries, florals, and apple with a soft mouthfeel and a dry finish. Not nearly as tart as expected for this young of a lambic from 3 Fonteinen.

Much thanks to egajdzis for sharing the fairly new beauty... BB 14/02/2007. Appears a murky red with a pinkish, white head that slowly fades out. Scattered streaks of lacing are left around the glass. Smell is of raspberries, tart gooseberries, farmland, dusty barnyard, and light vanilla. Taste is of the mentioned aromas with funky plastic, rubber, grape leaves, bugs(bacteria fermentation), raspberries, and apples. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, sour, with phenols of funky plastic, and exotic plants.

Pure raspberry red coloured and fully veiled. Light and natural white head. Purely extracted raspberry, savvy and full of vitality, yet nervously juicy. Growing cherry presence as it warms. Hard to decipher, the wild yeast brings up a cheesy and bready backing, but the main character might be the huge citrus backings: lemony, grapefruity. Elegant to the max. It unveils itself not as perfumey as the original Framboos at this point, but perhaps as vibrant, not as acidic, but more jammy and in its own way, almost as brilliant. Fleshy palate, pie-like, delicate in its character fullness. Champaigny body. Superb and to me easily one of the best new beers of the year.