3 Fonteinen Millennium Geuze

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

Huge thanks to hopdog for breaking out this expensive, much desired, bad-boy of Geuzes... Appears a hazy, light golden with an orange hue. A small, white head fades into a mild cap. Mild spots of lacing are left around the glass. Smell is horsey, funky, plasticy, with notes of tangerine, apple tartness, and sweet tart candies. Taste mimics the aromas with a standout of citrus, green apple, and funk. Mouthfeel is medium/light bodied, tartness lingering up front with citrus lingering in the finish. If you’re a fan of Gueuze’s, consider this one at the top of the list.

750ml corked bottle. Opened to a loud pop and was a light gusher (good thing we had all our glasses ready just in case this happened!). Poured a deep and cloudy golden color with an averaged sized white head. Aromas of brett, funky, yeast, wood, and apples. Tastes of green apples, yeast, citrus, brett, and fruity. My description of both the aromas and tastes doesn’t give this one justice! Had a very nice sweet to tart balance. This one was worth every penny I had to spend to get it (I think this is the most I ever paid for a beer).

Poured a hazy yellow / orange color, with a medium sized, tan head that left light lacing on the glass. Aroma of brett, hay, light cork, strawberries? and lots of wood. Taste of citrus, with light green apple, more spicy brett, and tart grape, with a lengthy sour finish. Well balanced, fruity, and complex, the best lambic around! Thanks to Steve for sharing!

Akkurat, 1998 Phew, where to start, another product that is greater than nature. This one displays a fantastic age despite being 9 years old, gigantic white foam that mostly keeps on and covers this typical golden, veiled shade. Harmonious apple, barnyard and strong hay flavours are, as it warms up, quickly joined upon by various crunchy wheat notes that are actually timid besides the intense woodiness, multi-dimensional at that: You have the barrel, oaky woodiness though its astringency stays limited and you also have the funkier, airier one, immediately reminiscent of leather, horseblanket some might say and more pungent, brett laden. All those flavors are kept tightly together by a sense of freshness that remains vigorous and the usual perfect drie fonteinen classy, homogeneous palate and effervescence. I don’t really know what to make of it ultimately, I can’t really set it apart from the regular gueze in terms of appreciation. Possibly the second most woody 3F after J&J Roze, the latter I must say I prefer, not as intense as the Blauw, more agressive than the 50th anniv., tighter than the Akkurats 50/50. What’s left? A unique creation, in the middle of a formidable lineup, but really with that brewery you’re just drinking some of the classiest beverages in the world at discount prices.

10/28/06. Poured out of 750 mL bottle, obtained in a trade with BierKonig on RateBeer 8/17/06. Lightly hazy, luminescent gold-orange color with a frothy, sudsy head that collapses a bit, presumably under the weight of the yeast I may have stirred up when pouring. Looks almost like an active krausen. Body has beautiful color. Even more beautiful aroma-- bandagey phenols, some musty dusty cloth with some slight tartness, slight spice and white pepper, even a touch of a nasal burn from some alcohol apparency. Quite a surprise, but it’s not unwelcome at all. This isn’t a high alcohol burn like a high-octane, out-of-control monster. This is an alcohol burn that prickles and pokes like pepper, or like a quick whiff of sauteed garlic and onions as they release their potent perfume before caramelization. Perfectly balanced in harmony with the acidity and funk. Some lemony taste, grassy and straw-like, phenolic with a stern woody dryness and scrubbing quality; dusty and old like a musty attic, beautifully funky with an incredible hop bitterness still so prominent. Some soft elements of acidic, drastically underripened fruits in sort of an apple/lemon/pear medley even with some white grapefruit and white peach. Fluffy, spritzy and effervescent carbonation create a lighter feel to the medium-light body, complemented again by the complex acidity to make this so utterly dry and fantastically drinkable. Bitter in the finish, a near-perfect blend of components that capture the best of geuze with charactericstics that don’t typify the style (bitterness, alcohol nose), simply beautiful beer-- dry and mouth-wateringly good. I hope I get to try this again some day while it’s still at its peak, because I fear I may be underrating it. Such a unique, fantastic geuze. Not a shade of degradation or wear from the 8 or so years of age.

Hazy golden body, huge white head; Medium sized nose, deep, complex, balanced, ripe apple, ripe pear, earl grey the; Huge soft carbonation, harsh, not all that acidy; Long finish, warm overripe apple, harsh. Not the best I have from 3 Fonteinen, actually the worst.

Pour is hazed dark golden with a fluffy and rocky white head...smell is fruity and tropical at first...lots of grapefruit (not the hoppy grapefruit, but the breakfast one) and tons of different orchard fruits....and of course a delicate and wonderful barnyard funk of straw, grass, and horseblanket....I don’t know what else to say about the flavor, since it was identical to the aroma...so I guess read it again...lively mouthfeel, and what an amazing beer.

From a 750mL Bottle. Cloudy, banana yellow pour with a towering head of brilliant white. Wow. Delectable aromas of pineapple, apples and pears gently tantalize my senses, perfectly paired with a funky aged cheese (in the good way) and balancing sour character. The fruity, funky, and sour layers are so intruiging and subtly complex that every whiff uncovers a new, equally astounding sensation secret. Light, crisp body with a clean drinkability and refreshing, while at the same time, complex palate. Funky, oaky notes dance on my tongue softly at first before finishing with a crisp sourness thats refreshingly tart and far from burning - perfect palate. Complex, funky, fruity, even a bit spicy, refreshing, long finish - this beer has everything going for it. Some soft lemon zest and woody peach pits leave me with more to mull over in the final smack. I’m very lucky and grateful to have had the chance to taste this brew. Outstanding!