3 Fonteinen Hommage

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

This beer is an homage to what? It's a very nice raspberry based lambic from an exceptional brewer. It pours a reddish colour with a thin head. The aroma is tart raspberries and funk. The flavour is tart, raspberry laden with a huge sour bite on the tongue!

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

Bottle at tasting at Chris Fischer’s (from Liars Club) house. Pours with a ruby red body topped by a medium thick to thick head with some lacing. It’s tart and sour with a nice funk and notes of raspberry. Light bodied, crisp and smooth.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

February 2007 Bottle Date, Sampled January 2008
A light carbonation for a bottle conditioned Lambic, the beer pours with a head that starts out one finger thick in height and is a pinkish stained, pale tan color. The beer sits in my glass a deep, cherry red color and shows a bright, lightly hazed, cranberry color when held up to the light. The aroma is quite fruit focused at first with aromas of cherries and raspberries being noticed. The raspberry note is not quite as dominant as I was expecting and cherry like aromatics come through more than I was expecting. I think a big part of this is the particular type of raspberries used here; they don't have that huge, sticky, in your face raspberry distinctness that one usually finds; instead it is a much more fleshy, fruity, softer raspberry character that is almost cherry like at times. The pure fruit focus of the aroma quickly dissipates to a mix of fruit and typically funky Lambic aromatics. Musty, worn leather, moldy cotton, damp cellar notes, aged-damp wood aromas, uriatic acid, definite barnyard butyric notes, wild mushroom notes and perhaps a hint of ripe cheese all are quite noticeable and in fact become the more noticed part of the aroma.

Tart, yet not grippingly so, the beer is very dry. For some reason I was expecting a bit of residual sweetness, but I am glad there is none. The acidity of this beer has both the typical Lambic notes to it, but also a fruity acidity that is definitely berry like. This is a pretty soft interpretation of a Lambic, the acidity is certainly not overpowering here. This has quite a bit of body; fruit tannins and woody tannic textures add a heft to this brew. Fleshy cherry flavors up front yield to smooth raspberry notes towards the middle and lingering on into the finish. A bit of raspberry seed character (slightly tannic, a touch nutty, but definitely raspberry) is also found in the finish. Butyric acid notes add a soft funky note that underlies the entire flavor profile; sometimes sharp, with notes of musty leather, something a bit like a liquid phenolic-plastic soaked cotton ball, touches of damp wood and a light oak character.

As my palate gets used to the acidity and funk, the fruit flavors become more noticeable; specifically the raspberry notes pick up in intensity a bit. A bright, yet still bone dry, raspberry pulp flavor with touches of cherry flesh to it. The carbonation of this beer is definitely on the light side (especially for a bottle conditioned Lambic), but it does add a certain texture to the beer and allows for that tannic heft to come into play a bit more. The second pour of my 750ml bottle just seems to disappear far faster than I would like it to; this is so drinkable and tasty.

Not as intensely fruity as I was perhaps expecting, and it is on the soft side for a traditional Lambic (even for a 3 Fonteinen one). A bit harder, with a more pronounced fruit character would make this just about perfect. It seems to be missing that jam-like (sans sweetness of course) fruit intensity that I was expecting, though I like that this is quite dry and quaffable. Still this is a very good beer, though I have a feeling this won't age nearly as well as the Framboos has / did.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Bottle, RBESG 2007 in Glasgow, Grand Tasting. Red colour, hazy. Strong aroma of ripe raspberries and farmhouse. Very sour flavour (vinegar), distinct notes of raspberries.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

Bottled. Muddy red colour with small head. Aroma is raspberries, sourness and slight mild acidicness. Flavour is really sour and dry raspberries. Already quite promising, so it would be nice to see what a bottle will be in some years.