3 Fonteinen Oude Geuze

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

Hazy gold. Small off-whitehead. Lovely sour aroma of horseblankets, leather, barnyard, lemon, green apple, & peach. Light, dry, acidic feel. Extremely smooth, balanced, and complex. Everything you would expect from a gueuze: horseblankets, leather, barnyard, lemon, green apple, peach. Subtle underlying sweetness. Dry, tart finish. My second 5.

Bottle: Poured a clear orangey color lambic with a huge slightly off-white head with excellent retention. Aroma of barnyard and sourness is quite evident. Taste is so well balance between sourness, tart, little bit of acidity, green apple with some nice funky yeast also thrown in. Probably one of the finest Lambic that I had the chance to try and the fact that the acidity is lower then Cantillon makes it easier to drink larger quantity. Re-rate 2006 (bottle date 1999): Complexity in this beer is just incredible (farmhouse, horseblanket, oak, tart) and appearance is just perfect (huge foamy head with perfect retention) Can really ask more from a gueuze. 2008 re-rate: 2007 dated bottle. Not as complex as earlier vintage and definitely not as funky. I wonder if it need to age or Fonteinen own lambic is less funky their the Girardin or Lindemans they were using previously to mix?

Feb 28, 2004 bottling. 750 ml corked and caged. Bright deep golden colour, thick moussey white head. Very spritzy appearance. Beautiful appearance. Aroma is soft and funky. Tart aroma of lactic and malic acids, some light apple and pear aroma, dusty and cobwebby. Complex, herbal/woody aroma. Cologne and musk combined with some interesting berry-like fruity aromas as well. Falvour is amazing, pear, cologne, strawberry, grapes wrapped in lactic sourness. Very dry tasting but the texture is creamy and perfectly balanced. Perfumey flavour, a little yeasty with a long chewy leathery finish. Doesn’t hit you with any one flavour but rather is a perfectly blended medley of very subtle ones. Warming brings out some light vanilla and oakiness. Fantastic gueuze. Funky, fruity, amazing.

Vintage 2000. Rich orange cloudy beer with a thick white head. Sweet fruity aroma over a crackery pilsner maltiness. Loads of earthy, funky, cheesy funk. Sour and peachy with soft grapefruity sourness, barnyard. Soft, leathery, bretty funk. Another incredible brew from 3 Fonteinen. 9 5 10 5 19

2000 vintage.

This is my first, and possibly my only ever 5. I drank this on the eve of my college graduation, with my closest friends and girlfriend. Having saved the (rather expensive) bottle for many months specifically for this occasion, this beer not only represented the culmination of my 20 years of education, but after slighty over a year what will probably be the climax of my beer drinking life; thus, I felt it would be sacrilage to honor this beer, or more importantly this occasion, with anything but a 5. After all, I use this site primarily for my own records, and this will surely be a memory I’ll be happy to see at the top.

Granted, this beer was also quite awesome.

450 beers later and a year of drinking, sniffing, analyzing and rating, I am quite proud of the knowledge, palate development, and respect from others I have gained in the beer world. I am able to sit down with one of the world’s great drinks and see deeply into it; to notice complexities not readily evident, and, for a beer of this intensity, be able to bear and tame the visciousness in my mouth.

Drie Fonteinen Oude Geuze, 2000 vintage, pours a brilliant yellow orange with hazy highlights and a pillowy, wispy cloud white head. The head fades fast but leaves subtle, soft lacing along the slender edges of my glass. A powerful, pungent aroma leaps forth from the brew, consisting strongly of tart lemons, funky barns, and a stroll along the countryside. Once in the mouth, it is even more intense, striking at you with a brutal sourness that begs to be adored, overlaying a perfect horsiness and a touch of sweet lemon. Zesty orange and kumquats show up for the show as well. It is fizzy and biting, and leaves a warm feeling in the mouth, though different than that of strong alcohol. This is far and away the best gueuze I have had, featuring perfectly balanced and drinkable flavors, right on target, though not being the least bit tame or for the weak of heart. It was the perfect beer to celebrate the beginning of the rest of my life.

mon dieu! i’ve died and gone to heaven and all the angels are belgian brewers! ah, geuze, either you love ’em or you’re nuts! the beauty of this golden, richly foamy-headed geuze takes my breath away. love that citrusy-hay-earthy nose and the dry, tart grapefruit tingles the tongue, tipping my tastebuds towards nirvana!

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!

The nose off this was insane, outstanding, raw cooking apples, lemons and lime zest, yeasty, something seriously good. Taste was similarly complex though i have to say maybe a bit too sour, the hops giving a seriously dry finish. RERATE: 1999 Vintage. Holy shit man, this is outstanding by now. The sourness has mellowed but still key, amazing experiance, soo complex and draws me bck in for more, my god i could do this all day every day.

Two vintages (2002 and 1998) sampled at SBF 2003. The 2002 is IMO better and has still the sharpness that has been matured away in the 1998. 1998 is maltier. They should definitely be treated as different beers here on Ratebeer since the cuvees ( the mixes) are quite different depending what Armand den Belder (the blender) felt was best that year. Ratings apply to the 2002 vintage. Hazy yellow-brown beer. Firm white head. Acidic aroma with tones of meat, dill, soil, wet stones, moulded cheese, cork, wood, spices and cream. A bit sweet and oxidized. Dry and acidic flavor with tones of soil, damp basements, mould, rocks, amd a fruity maltiness with a certain amount of sweetness. One bottle is almost too much for me but shared with a friend it is a one the greatest gifts there is from the world of malt, water, hops and yeast.