3 Fonteinen Hommage

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

Courtesy of AllAboutStout

Bottle: The aroma consists of musty raspberries, moderate woodiness, and mild tartness. It pours a transparent reddish-orange and a small pink head. The flavor starts with a quick sweet raspberries. The flavor turns to moderately tart raspberry in the finish with some faint woodiness. The woodiness lingers in the aftertaste. Light-medium bodied with somewhat lively carbonation.

Bottled on 2/14/2007. Thanks Matt! The beer pours to a deep ruby garnet body with a super rapid dissipating head. The aroma is really complex with a raspberry puree and leather mixed with sour yeasts. Light sugary candy and some cherry juice. The flavor is leathery puckery cherry and raspberry juice with interesting barnyard components. The palate is really nice. Not overly tart or acidic but perfectly balanced between the two. Nice texture in the mouthfeel and perfect carbonation.

Sample think that sparky 27 was responsible for this one two. Raspberry sour aroma with what seemed to be winter silage aroma from the old cold Wis days. Good raspberry flavor with a sourness to it. Also something in there couldn’t quite figure out what it was. So will just call it the funk you guys talk about.

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, courtesy of wetherel at the pre-BA Alesmith Release Wait and Taste. Thanks, John! Pours a bold ruby color; light pink head with solid lacing. Funky, cheesy aroma: lots of funk and tart red fruits (predominantly raspberries, with a bit of ripe cherries). Medium-to-full mouthfeel: funky cheese and ripe raspberries; relaxed tartness and overripe red fruit; dense, pleasantly funky lambic; medium, tart fruit finish.

February 2007 Bottle Date, Sampled January 2008
A light carbonation for a bottle conditioned Lambic, the beer pours with a head that starts out one finger thick in height and is a pinkish stained, pale tan color. The beer sits in my glass a deep, cherry red color and shows a bright, lightly hazed, cranberry color when held up to the light. The aroma is quite fruit focused at first with aromas of cherries and raspberries being noticed. The raspberry note is not quite as dominant as I was expecting and cherry like aromatics come through more than I was expecting. I think a big part of this is the particular type of raspberries used here; they don’t have that huge, sticky, in your face raspberry distinctness that one usually finds; instead it is a much more fleshy, fruity, softer raspberry character that is almost cherry like at times. The pure fruit focus of the aroma quickly dissipates to a mix of fruit and typically funky Lambic aromatics. Musty, worn leather, moldy cotton, damp cellar notes, aged-damp wood aromas, uriatic acid, definite barnyard butyric notes, wild mushroom notes and perhaps a hint of ripe cheese all are quite noticeable and in fact become the more noticed part of the aroma.

Tart, yet not grippingly so, the beer is very dry. For some reason I was expecting a bit of residual sweetness, but I am glad there is none. The acidity of this beer has both the typical Lambic notes to it, but also a fruity acidity that is definitely berry like. This is a pretty soft interpretation of a Lambic, the acidity is certainly not overpowering here. This has quite a bit of body; fruit tannins and woody tannic textures add a heft to this brew. Fleshy cherry flavors up front yield to smooth raspberry notes towards the middle and lingering on into the finish. A bit of raspberry seed character (slightly tannic, a touch nutty, but definitely raspberry) is also found in the finish. Butyric acid notes add a soft funky note that underlies the entire flavor profile; sometimes sharp, with notes of musty leather, something a bit like a liquid phenolic-plastic soaked cotton ball, touches of damp wood and a light oak character.

As my palate gets used to the acidity and funk, the fruit flavors become more noticeable; specifically the raspberry notes pick up in intensity a bit. A bright, yet still bone dry, raspberry pulp flavor with touches of cherry flesh to it. The carbonation of this beer is definitely on the light side (especially for a bottle conditioned Lambic), but it does add a certain texture to the beer and allows for that tannic heft to come into play a bit more. The second pour of my 750ml bottle just seems to disappear far faster than I would like it to; this is so drinkable and tasty.

Not as intensely fruity as I was perhaps expecting, and it is on the soft side for a traditional Lambic (even for a 3 Fonteinen one). A bit harder, with a more pronounced fruit character would make this just about perfect. It seems to be missing that jam-like (sans sweetness of course) fruit intensity that I was expecting, though I like that this is quite dry and quaffable. Still this is a very good beer, though I have a feeling this won’t age nearly as well as the Framboos has / did.

Bottle from MaltOMeal at the Houston sour tasting. Thanks, man! Pours an average muddy, iced tea brown with a nose of body odor and cedar. Flavor is sour cedar-infused fruit with wooden planks in the finish. Average mouthfeel. Refreshing beer.

Bottle at tasting at Chris Fischer’s (from Liars Club) house. Pours with a ruby red body topped by a medium thick to thick head with some lacing. It’s tart and sour with a nice funk and notes of raspberry. Light bodied, crisp and smooth.