3 Fonteinen Oude Geuze

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

Bottle, 2/2004. Pours cloudy light orange with a good white head. Wow, the aroma on this gets my mouth watering. It is very fruity, citrus, some wheat. I taste tart fruits, lots of sour and some oak. Goes down silky smooth, finishes dry and sour. Great brew.

I was forwarned that this beer was "funky", like bleu cheese...it looks great, though, slightly cloudy body and a lush, white head. Rich, sweet, wheaty aroma - very full and pungent. The amount of carbonation in here is striking...I’m not sure I really like my sour beers this foamy and bubbly. Very sour flavor indeed, and there is something cheesy about it in its biting sourness. This beer is a good lambic, but just not for me.

Bottled Feb. 2004 - clear, sparkling strawberry blond color, with soapy, lasting head - extremely complex horseblanket, blue cheese, hay, citrus, and light acidic aroma - soft carbonation in the mouthfeel - very dry, with moderate sourness for a lambic - loads of aged, funky cheese flavors - a bright, acidic fruitiness blasts the tongue before the cheese/funk takes center stage, though - lemon, grassiness, some light grain and a tiny, tiny hint of peach sweetness come in near the long, dry finish - very light oak character throughout - never loses it gueuze funkiness - not for the uninitiated, but quite a treat for those that are.

(Bottle, bottled 17 Feb 2002) Pale amber colour with huge off-white head. Yeast sediment making it hazy. Fruity, acidic nose with notes of grapefruit, barnyard, horse blanket and a slightly smokey hint. Fruity, earthy, acidic and very fresh taste with loads of grapefruit, lemon and green apples. Medium body, very dry and sourish. In perfect balance and very complex. Amazing stuff.

Pours orange with a small white head. Very dry and farmy in the nose, earthy with a light citrus hint and sourness builds. This beer finishes with a medium acidity that goes well with some tart fruitiness, straw and wood.

On tap at 3 fonteinen. I first tried this about a year ago at Oliver Twist (Sthlm, Sweden). It was my first shot at gueze and my mouth was in shock for weeks afterwards. Since then I have learned to love the style. After a foray into the realm of other gueze producers (mainly Cantillon) I was very curious as to how this beer would be after the first shock had settled. So, this is by no means as sour as a Cantillon, but ten times as stinky. If someone could just Frankenstein me a gueze with the sour punch of Cantillon with the horsy cheese breath of Fonteinen.. But back to the beer at hand, 3F-revisited... I loved every drop of it!

Bottle dated 22 Jan 2004. Poured a dark orange color with little head. Musty, tart, citrusy sour funk aroma. Taste begins aggressively tart, and finsihes with a lingering sourness, but has an added flavor I can’t quite describe since my lambic vocab isn’t well-developed.

’99 Vintage bottle pours a hazy golden color with sour tart yeasty and citrus aromas. Sweet tart almost acidic green fruit flavors with a long sweet citrus finish 7/4/8/3/15 = 3.7

I’ve had this beer many times but haven’t gotten around to entering different numbers. Lots of farmhouse hay citrus tart and acidic fruit. Drinkable and really tasty. 8/4/8/4/15 = 3.9