3 Fonteinen Oude Geuze

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

Cloudy, glowing orange-amber body. Small, fizzy white head that quickly disappears completely. Virtually zero lacing noted. The aroma is funky as hell, yet adequately fruity and very complex. There is an ever-present, funky barnyard overtone across the board. The funk subsides enough to reveal a bevy of fruity scents, including sour lemon, tart apple, overly ripe peach, drying dust, and even hints of sweet caramel. Flavors resemble citrus flavored rock candy, with sour lemon and tangerine being the primary components. Medium body with a smooth palate and a mouth puckering citrus finish. Not my favorite style, but this is an awesome brew. When paired with the right dish, this could make for an outstanding culinary experience.

1997 bottle sampled - if you can call it sampling, I drank the whole 750ml by myself - at the restaurant in Beersel. Served in the classic wicker basket.

Opaque and peachy tangerine colored, and sported a lively but fleeting head.
An old leather tobacco pouch, for a Beer that old it had a striking freshness to it that tickled your nose, almost like freshly cut lemons, it wasn’t as dusty or musty as I expected.
Still very much alive after a decade corked and caged, it had a very mineral flavor that reminded me of some of Fantôme’s offerings. Acidity in the mid range (for a gueuze), and the aftertaste left a certain oxidized feeling in my mouth that might betray it’s age, but was still quite enjoyable, especially with my mussels. A real treat.

It starts out tart with a very smooth dry finish. I enjoyed it but my wife and kids hated it, good taste does not come to us genetically.

2003-poured into geuze/lambic glass. crystal, bubbly clear light golden copper color with good fizzy head. sour wild yeast aroma, tart. sweet front to sour finish. very spritzy palate, earthy finish to aftertaste. age takes the bite out, the acidic tones of a geuze don’t stick as much. the stickiness is less presence, makes it smooth. very good.

Slightly hazed orange with a dense fine white head. Sour tart in the nose along the lines of Liefman’s. A bit bit of salt, strawberry, some lactobaccilus and straw. Low fine carbonation with a bit more thickness than water. Tart and lively. Heavy on the lactobaccilis. A bit of salty fruit. this gives a nice bracing sharp refreshing tartness. Really clean, lingering tartness in the finish. Not bad, but I’m a sucker for the style lately.

Bottle @ Rudolf’s ’Sourfest’. 2006 Vintage. Hazy orange yellow body with a smallish foamy white head (3+). Pretty funky musty yeastiness in the aroma, light wheaty notes. (7+) Pretty sourt first wave washes brazenly over your tongue, dropping chewed lemon seeds along the way, and whispering secrets about its cousin the grapefruit. (7+) Average palate. A pretty solid Geuze. 7+/3+/7+/3/16-17

750ml @ Rudolf’s sour tasting with Rudolf, Jerc, Frylock & IPFreely. still not ready for this huge amount of sourness. Lots of funk, sour, tartness, some wood. good but still too sour for my virgin palate 7-4-6-3-14 1999 bottle at Rudolfs Lambic Tasting 2009. Courtesy of Ethan from Premier Gourmet. Liking these much more now. Taste was funk, earthy, mildly carbonated with a fruity wine-iness. Best of the day 7-4-8-4-17

750ml bottle shared by Sliffy & Pud - Poured Amber and quite cloudy with a good sized offwhite head. Aroma is straight up funk, cheese, and big sourness. Behind that I could get just a hint of oak. Flavor is much the same. Lots of funk, sourness, cheese and behind that a hint of some oak and maybe some pear. Lively carbonation leaves you with a fizzy mouthfeel and slightly acidic.