3 Fonteinen Oude Geuze

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

Bottle - 1999 edition. Urine-yellow brown in color. yeasty, grassy, musty. Very smooth, even delivery. Expectedly sour but not overdone. Quite dry - quick evaporation. Nice job here.

Sampled at the 1st annual Stone Sour Festival 2007. Awesome top 3 of the day. Very drinkable, very delicious. Loved how it felt in my mouth, loved how you wanted more after every taste.

What can I say? I guess that beers like this are a reminder of just how fantastic the world of beer can be. It looks absolutely fantastic, with a steady stream of bubbles holding up a thick, foamy head. Aroma is heavy on the citrus (lemon particularly) and oak (in the best possible way) and light on the more wild elements that enhance something like Girardin and detracts from something like Cantillon. As a result I’d say it’s not the most complex aroma in the world of gueuze but it’s incredibly focussed, and it’s focussed on deliciousness. It tastes so soft, fresh and juicy after more than two years in the bottle, with an incredibly clean acidity. So incredibly drinkable... and these days I think that’s the point with gueuze. It’s the kind of thing that makes you stop getting all geeky and just sit there and drink. Fantastic.

Bottle. Golden colour with a white head. Aroma is sour, yeast, apple. Flavour is sour, apple, yeast. Nice beer.

Bottle from 2003. A hazy gueuze with a lovable foamy top. Even though it has aged for a while it doesn’t have that peculiar cellary aroma most gueuzes tend to get. Another observation, because of the age, is that the carbonation is still very heavily present and also the familiar tart and sour flavor. An ejoyable and wonderful beer.

Bottle purchase at Delirium Cafe, Brussels. The classic recipe for a gueuze - something foreign to American brewers. Needless to say, it is also a very acquired taste in my opinion - and I also have very little experience with lambics. Big frothy head, mild carbonation. Intensely sour from start and finish. Coupled with yeast and hints of lemon. A great example of the style.

Bottle. Golden color with a foamy white head. Strong sour, wood, and emon aroma and flavors. Wonderfully tart and dry with an acidic and earthy finish. Cheers to Nuffield who I talked to on the phone while drinking this fine beer.

Poured with aplomb from a wicker basket (and a great height) at Pocchenellekelder, Brussels. Where do you begin? Hazy orange with an initially creamy head of suds. All the saliva-tickling lemon juice sharpness you’d expect, but combined with a depth of sodden, peaty malt whiskey woodiness and blue cheese dankness I’ve never encountered before. Lemony, meaty, tingly and slightly smoke-tinged. Mould and sherbet. Lingers with a distinctly creamy, blue-veined mouldiness. Brie-smeared cellar walls, sherbet lemons and whiskey. Didn’t necessarily understand why, but absolutely loved it. Sorry, Dave.