3 Fonteinen Hommage

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

Shortlived dark pink head, fed by very good carbonation over deep red beer, varying from clear ruby over the colour of bloodorange juice to a muddier brownish red. Having rested the necessary months, here are the raspberries - superb! There’s an additional fruity smell, that was in the beginning clearly cherry. Little perfumey, but in the best way possible. Very perfumey flavours as well, a jumble of raspberry, cherry, lemon, sour apples, a tutti frutti of the best quality. Finish is still mainly sour cherries, very ripe. Aggressive acidity, the lactic, fruitacids and the carbonation confluent. Still, there is that much fruit, that no one could call this light. I did not believe the Master when I told him, after the first tasting, that I found too much cherry, he told me it would better with aging. Now the drinking accompanies humble pie - Armand was right. This is heaven and it is growing full of raspberries.

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.

bottled 02/07. Generously shared by beastiefan2k. Deep blood red colour. Aroma is very fruity with sweet dark cherries and spicy cherry skins and pits. The aroma is very spicy and earthy with a lovely soft sourness. Really incredible nose. Soft vineous character, earthy and fruity. Light and restrained funkiness. Lots of nice earthy spiciness mixed with a leathery funk. Lightly lactic on the finish with more soft fruitiness on the finish. Fantastic brew.

750ml bottle consumed August 2007 (?). Pours a luminous dark red with a small white/pink head. Seriously seedy, fresh, juicy rapsberries in the nose, vibrant, sticky, hugely forward and intense in the aroma. Musty, sour seedy raspberries, and not just sour from the lambic yeast, but actual sourness from the raspberries, very much an under-ripe, seedy, hugely fruity and juicy. Amazingly complex, juicy, fruity, tart, sour, everything I want in framboise. (4.2)

2007 750ml bottle consumed March 2009. Clean first pour reveals cola-like carbonation that fizzles dead quickly on top of a clear and bright ruby red body. Lactic acid melds exquisitely with the raspberries, but this clean pour seems to lack depth and comes across as plain and subtle. Subsequent pours with some yeast mixed in reveals significantly more depth in the nose. Body is spritzy, there’s some medicinal notes in there, some aspirin, etc. Good but not mind-blowing. Decent balance of lactic acid and acetic acid (resembles Flemish red, actually) which seems to stem from the raspberries themselves. Nice, but somewhat underwhelming. Maybe this one truly does need a few more years, but I think it’s more to do with the base gueuze blend of 3F at the time they made this (look at 2006 and 2007 oude gueuze, it’s not exactly the best example of the beer they’ve made). (3.8)

Bottled. Dark reddish coloured. Unclear. Light reddish head. Raspberries, sweetness, earth and some marcipan in the aroma. Flavour full of earth and raspberries. Acidic touch and sourness with a light sweetish touch. Has some light barnyard notes. Full bodied. Very dry. Sourish fruitsweetness in the end. Very very nice.

750ml bottle from the Sam’s in Downers Grove, Illinois: It pours a slightly hazed ruby body with a brown tint and a modest pink hued head. It has an aroma of sweaty horse hide, damp wood, and overly ripe (and getting riper) berries and cherries. A couple of fresh raspberries were dropped into the flavor pool as well as some mild tartness. The finsih is dry and leaves a funky feeling in the mouth. Intersting drink that I kindasorta like, but I really don’t want to shop in the produce marts of those who found "fresh fruit" in this. [Insert winking emoticon here.]

Bottle@Home. Raspberry and cherry pits aroma. Hazy, red colour, pinkish small h, fair lace. Sweetish, sour, light bitter, raspberry, woody, tart. Flavourful and balanced. Great stuff!

Bottle. Hazy orange brown with a small head. Aromas are musty and sour. Barnyard with vanilla. Woody with astringent vinegar. Flavours are sour, acidic lemon juice and vinegar. Some raspberry sweetness. Addictive.