3 Fonteinen Armand’4 Oude Geuze Lente

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

Serve in Flute, Stem glass, Tulip, Tumbler

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   update pic

9th July 2011
Scopeys East Croydon tasting. Big thanks to Paul for bagging this one and sharing it! Hazy amber beer, tidy white head. Mildly sour nose. Crisp dry palate. Mild woody and mild fruity sourness - trace of vinegar. Trace of white wine. Dry finish. Ok - there was much serious nodding of heads going on for this one from people I respect and who know beer, whereas yours truly was mostly scratching his. I mean I like this beer and I would happily have it again but I’m not getting this upper 4 wow factor at all. If I live to be a 100 - I may never fully understand this style!

Bottle at my East Croydon tasting. It pours hazy copper, with a thick foamy white head and high carbonation. The nose is grass, floral, farmyard, sweet strawberry, green apple and lemon. The taste is tart lemon, Granny Smith apple, lemon sherbet, white currant, tart white grape, strawberry sweetness, floral and grass. It is complex, yet is still subtle and delicate. The balance is really as good as it gets, with lots of tart, juicy fruit upfront which slowly fade out towards the finish. Fresh, crisp and utterly drinkable. Wow. Truly a spectacular gueuze.

Is a masterpiece, my favorite liquid lemmon cake! Una pieza maestra, Mi tarta de limón preferida.

UPDATED: FEB 23, 2013 Bottle at the East Croydon Beer Tasting. Scopey quickly becoming legend. Pours cloudy gold with a delicate, white foam head. Rich grass aroma with leather and faint lemon. Flavor is quite exquisite, extremely clean and fresh, lots of grass, sour, modest zesty lemon. Medium bodied with fine carbonation. Super clean finish, more grass, some tart citrus, low acidity, hints of white grapes. Just incredibly drinkable, grassy and fresh with cleansing sourness. Superb. (4.7)

Bottle at RBWG. Brad is the man. Yep, as good as last time. (4.7)

UPDATED: AUG 10, 2011 Huge, unstoppable flow of yellow, thick-set head over lively carbonated copper-orange beer, hazed. Very nice, outspoken barnyard odours, wet straw, sunflowers, dried flowers, saddlesoap, orangepeel - gorgeous, very complex, not overly acidic. Superb mix and balance, with citrus, orange, slight minerality, wood, duck fat, saddlesoap. Very tart finish. Medium bodied, lively carbonation, obvious wheatslickness. Backthroat the acids finally emerge: lactic acid, but also a point of acetic. Balance is just on the edge. Glup. € 25,- A lot of money, but this time, it’s worth it.

75cl bottle @ 3F with Armand. A great Gueuze? A masterpiece and even a greater honor to have Armand do the tasting and explain every little detail about his beer. Je dois dire que c’est toujours difficile d’expliquer l’expérience d’une ’bonne’ gueuze tellement la dégustation change d’une bière normale. Ici, j’avais le droit d’avoir le maître lui-même pour me guider dans cette dégustation. Il faut aussi savoir que cette bière sort des derniers tonneaux qui ont échappés à la perte qu’avait subit 3F il n’y de cela pas très longtemps. Bière est orangée tel ce soleil frileux du printemps se cachant derrière une mousse blanche rappelant les nuages du Pajottenland. Un léger trouble est présent, le tout est couvert par cette mousse fine mais soyeuse que je n’attendais pas pour une gueuze. L’arôme qui se dégage de cette bière est tout simplement sublime. Armand explique que il utilise là un houblon anglais challenger vieux de sept ans qui a déjà une caractéristique de résister au mildiou donc idéal pour cette bière mais aussi de conférer un nez savoureux. On passe donc de notes boisées de chêne, fruitée vers l’abricot sec laissant une fine note aigre et muscée. En bouche, la découverte est intense et l’on retrouve là toutes les notes d’une gueuze de haute qualité. Le houblon se fait ressentir, pour un palais qui est complexe et continue à se développer au fur et à mesure que la bière arrive à température ambiante. Sec en bouche, aigre, note rappelant un peu l’arrière-goût de l’aspirine qui accompagne cette touche aigre/acidifié, fruité et herbacé et de terre. Un malt qui est en retrait et une très fine note épicée venant peut-être du chêne. Une gueuze qui va continuer à évoluer avec le temps et qui sera à redécouvrir. Ce score reflète aussi une expérience dans la dégustation qui rajoute au plaisir de la découverte.

UPDATED: NOV 4, 2012 75cl, new exclusive brew Anno 2011, from De Hopduvel Gent, complex sour brew, woody and slightly bitter/fruity, yet easy to drink, very balanced, hazy, rocky head, very good brew, yet very expensive!

75cl bottle, RBSG grand tasting, thanks GT2. Medium white head, lightly hazed amber body. Aroma is medium sweet, horseblanket/funk, some sour, lemon, white pepper. Taste is medium sweet, lemon, sour, some funk. Light-medium body, some acidity.

Enjoyed a bottle of this at a wonderful summer night on the balcony. Bottle looks awesome. Simple, but great. Beer in the glass very zippy, deep golden-orange, nice head. Mild sourish aroma. Starts a bit sweet for a very short moment, then wonderful well balanced sourish, mild, fine fruity like apricot. The sour notes stay mild and keep the beer very drinkable. Finish with a grasy touch, fruity notes of lemon. I already love this beer!

In bocca la presenza di CO2 è piacevole, aiuta a gustare completamente questa birra che ha la capacità di avvolgere la bocca e la lingua con le sue note fruttate. In particolare concetratevi sul fondo della lingua quando assagerete questa birra.