3 Fonteinen Oude Kriek

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

Bottle sampled. Pours red with a small pink head. Aroma of fermented cherries, funky yeastiness, and sourness. The flavor is acidic, wood, sweet cherries, and heavy sourness. Good body, not a good style for me, just ok.

Bottled. Dark ruby red colour, not much head. Aroma is extreme sourness along with some cherryish notes. Flavour is the same. A very nice thing, but still lacks some of the stuff that’s in the Van Schaerbeekse...

Deep burgandy colour... Red wine nose ... little sour in nose ... Sharp sour Fruity... wouldnt recognise as cheery.

Bottle @ 16th Weekend of Spontaneous Fermentation 2007, Opstal. Clear dark red color with a average frothy fair mostly diminishing pink head. Aroma is moderate sour / acidic, light cherry, sweetness. Flavor is moderate sweet, acidic and bitter with a average duration. Very nice balance. Body is light to medium, texture is watery, carbonation is flat.

750ml bottle@Kristiansand lambic festival. Hazy red body with a creamy pink head. Aroma is acid, cherry and some kind of fruity sweetness. Flavor is quite sour, vinegar with a definitive cherry touch. This beer manage to be rather sour and sweet at the same time. I had a sample of a really well aged version of this in Brussels some years ago, that one was really well balanced and smooth, just fantastic. I believe this kriek needs a few more years in the basement to stabilize the acid level. Still a classic after only two years.

75cl bottle from ’05. Pours a deep ruby red, not much head. Very funky wet dog smell combined with the sour cherries. Flavor is of tinned fruit and vinegar and the lambic barnyard taste. At once vile and pleasing. Dry woody finish, very sour. Very much a geuze with cherry’s. Its hard to drink more than a small amount at any one sitting. You’re either into these beers or your not: hate to say it - I’m not.

Dec 2005 bottling, corked and caged. Pours a mostly clear ruby body with no head and no lacing. Aroma of old oak logs, tart cherries, vinegar and barnyard. Body is still, very little carbonation. Taste is funky, acidic and vinegary. Very oaky, tart wihout sweetness. Cherries aren’t really noticed. Not like the krieks I’m used to, more of a sour cherry infused geuze.

2002 bottle. Red with a small pink head. Sour cherry aroma with amazing notes of wood and vanilla. Flavour is acid, with the cherries and the wood, and with a somewhat sweet wooden aftertaste. 2005 bottle rated with the same comments and numbers.