3 Fonteinen Oude Geuze Vintage (all from 2002-*)

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

Bottle. Amber beer with no head. Tart, oaky aroma. Tart flavor with apples, earthiness, and yeast. Low carbonation. Lingering tartness.

1. Vintage 2003 Bottle at the King’s Hall, Stoke on Trent 27/10/2006 Dry fruit aroma. Golden coloured and slightly hazy in appearance. Sour tasting. Some dried fruit flavour in a crisp dry finish. 2. From the Bottle dated 24/12/2005 at the GBBF, Earl’s Court 05/08/2009 Sour and slightly spiced aroma. Golden coloured hazy in appearance sour and fruity with a little dryness in an oaked finish.

Rating of the Vintage 2002 (tasted sometime during 2006). Dug it up from my old handwritten notes: Same as 2003, but apple (cider) in both aroma and flavour. Oddly I didn’t rate aroma as high as the 2003, though from my notes, the 2002 seems more complex. Felt more soft on the tongue without a lot of carbonation. 25/10 first ratebeer entry: Vintage 03. Hazy with white head. Sour aroma with citrus and lots of cellar...Sour in flavour with berries and quite fresh. 8-3-7-3-14

Vintage 2003. Cloudy golden copper body with a large white head. Some barnyard in the aroma with green apples and hay. Green apples is the main taste and it comes with its usual sourness and acidic finish. Acidity level is average for the style. Side by side with a Girardin Black Label (the reference?) this one was almost as good, a bit more fruity and lacking the brettyness of the BL it was nonetheless sharper and more aggressive. Excellent. BEWARE: I also brought back a bottle home that proved to be disappointing (mellow, too fruity, lacking punch). Being a positive person I’m only rating on the good one. I wish women would do the same with my performances.

Hazy orange, low head. Iron Notes, leather, horseblanket. Spongy retronasal. Quite subdued really. Dry finish. Sparkly mouthfeel -slightly overcarbonated.

Bottled 4/13/02... This beer rocks!... Murky golden ale with a huge, wispy, white head. Great retention. The nose is acidic with a lot of funkiness; sharp cheese, lemon, wet leather and barnyard. Well-balanced for a gueuze. Just enough sweetness to hold the acidity down... unusual for a gueuze. Medium-bodied and a bit creamy with fizzy carbonation. Different… world class! Thanks to marsiblursi for providing the bottle!

750mL, bottled 04.13.02; many thanks to hopscotch for bringing this along. Pours a large, off-white head, good retention and lacing; cloudy yellowish-brown appearance. Enticing, citrus and barnyard funk in the aroma. Nice, chewy tartness up front; medium-to-low acidity, fruity, citrusy core; something of a belgian ale profile buried underneath. Medium, tart finish. A fantastic, drinkable gueze rendition.

(750ml bottle, bottled 4/13/02, thanks hopscotch) Cloudy apple juice body topped by a big white head that mostly dissipates. Aroma is mildly sweet, barnyard, some vinegar, funk. Taste is minimally sweet, horseblanket, lemon, funk, vinegar, light lime. Solid sourness, but not overwhelming. Somewhat dry finish. Light body, light acidity.