3 Fonteinen J & J Oude Geuze Blauw
Mixture of 1 year old Lindemans lambic and 4 year old Girardin lambic. Fermented and ripened on oak barrels. Not filtered, refermented in the bottle. Blue "male" labels.
4.3
345 reviews
Beersel, Belgium
Community reviews
Bottle (6-9-2003) at the DC Mini Tasting. Thanks Travlr! Hazy golden orange with off-white head. Aromas of funk, tart notes, light vinegar. Tastes of tart acidic notes, oak, wine, grapes, vinegar. Light body with a dry finish.
From a bottle shared at the DC mini tasting in December 2015. Vintage 2002. Thanks Travlr! Pours a hazy copper with with an off white head. Aroma of latex. Flavors of dank basements with oak. WOW!
Bottle shared at the Moeder Lambic cellar session 2015. provided by bart. thanks again! poured an beautiful hazy dark golden colour with a medium seized white head. the smell has a awesome blended mixture of citrus, lemon zest, funk, barnyard, wet wood, and some spiced yeast, wich could be from the girardin. it’s sounds so easy. but this was by far the best smelling lambic that has made it into my nose! taste has again that real citrussy character, with old dusty grains, wood, tart funk, some spiced peppery yeast. that typical "horseblanket" kind of feeling, just so so good blended and age to perfection. smooth as silk with a perfect acid sour finish. just the perfect geuze! so so lovely
Bottle shared @ De Heeren Van Liederkerke. Pours hazy, a bit darker than golden with a large white head. Well the head is just insane. Never seen anything like it. Looks like a hilly landscape, sticks to the glass like glue and stays just forever. Aroma is deep funk, citrusy, wood, hay, dank, barnyard, cobwebs. Quite acidic but not overly. Works really well with the other flavours. Very dry and tart. Really well balanced. Medium body with silky soft mouthfeel. Quite some carbonation but not too much. Absolutely gorgeous.
Bottle at Heeren van Liederkercke. Slight hazy nice orange golden color with big beautiful fluffy creamy white head. Looks great. Massive funk, soft wood, light green walnuts, herbs, dusty cellar, sour grapes. I could go on and on, very complex aromas. Taste is over medium sour with light bitterness. A bit under medium bodied with lovely champagne like carbonation. Just really great classic gueuze style, massive.
The bar in which I rate all gueuzes was set by this fantastic gueuze. I’ve never experienced a gueuze that had such a fascinating cider quality!
This is the only whale gueuze that is worth searching for. You will not be disappointed.
Bottle at Ryan’s. Huge courtesy of Ryan! Damn Dad! Pours a light Amber body with huge thick creamy white head. Aroma is rich earthy yeast, aged goida cheese, sour fruit, old dust and basement. Incredibly subtle but nearly perfect; notes of aged cheese, sour fruit, tart character, dusty basement - essentially a perfect blend of gueuze. Incredible.
Bottle @ Heeren Liederkerke. Pours a slight hazy orange amber beer with a big creamy white head on top. Aroma is great, grainy, hay, barnyard, cheese, dank cellar funk, codwebs. Flavor is very smooth and tart. Medium sour funk going on here, great dry, woody presences in there as well and an awesome balance. Acetate
Aftertaste is medium tart, dry finish. Great stuff.
Dark orange pour, white head. Citrus nose, must, hay, oxidation, pretty funky, grapefruit. Taste is big grapefruit, more tart citrus, oxidation, funk, finish is soft, tart and sweet. Watery mouthfeel.
Lost the specific text in the rating for these beers . Opened at a tasting with Armand himself . Will update rating with text when I found the papers, only scores for now .
Aroma is really nice with great herbal and earthy notes. Moderate barnyard funk with medium light tropical and some fruit. Moderate citrus and light oak.
Pours a cloudy copper orange with a faint, forced, thin, rocky head.
Flavor has fairly strong acidity. Rather herbal, earthy character. Faint tropical fruit and citrus notes. Light stone fruit character. Light oak with really nice barnyard notes.
Mouthfeel is medium bodied with low carbonation. Low astringency and low alcohol warmth.
Overall, a nice beer with great barnyard funk and nice fruit notes. Bottle could have used more carbonation though to make this beer really pop.
Way worse than druiven. I also don’t like the way it looks. It’s too sour. I’m drinking coconut water instead.
At Heeren van Liedekercke, with S&G Tasting group, first day trip.
APPEARANCE: clear darker blond beer, small stable white head.
NOSE: very sour, complex, wood, brett, funk.
TASTE: very sour, rather dry, wood, little fruity, complex.
750 ml bottle shared by ygtbsm94. Thanks Brad! Pours a hazy orange with beautiful white spongy head that leaves a lacing on the glass as thick as the head was once it settled down. Aroma is citrus sourness, straw, hay and brett barnyard funk. Flavor is amazingly complex: perfectly balanced sourness with notes of citrus (grapefruit, lemons) and mild wood. One of the best sours I’ve ever had - everything about this beer is appealing. The mouthfeel, balance of flavors, carbonation, finish, all make this an outstanding beer.
From note 1/23/10 (Geist Dark Lord Tasting).
Bottle - thanks Staffan for doing the leg work here - pours a nice amber. Nice grassy, sour aroma. The taste is tart, sour, grass, and barnyard funk. Solid!!!
Properly cellared bottle thanks to BrewDan. Pours a golden yellow, one finger, frothy white head on a gentle pour. Nose is mushroom and funky brett. Taste is heavy, but well rounded flint and dry funk that ends in a crisp sourness. Some light notes of Parmesan cheese are in there as well. Medium carbonation and finishes very dry. Extremely earthy and unique!
Bottle thanks to hoppypocket. Glowing orange with huge creamy white foam. Impressive for a 9 year old beer. Aroma is distinctive barnyard, citrus peel, old cheddar and some old lambic (menthol). Taste is out of this world. It feels so fresh while being bone dry. Lots of citrus, must and some herbs. Feels like orange juice, nice moderate acidity with orange sweetness. Lively carbonation and light bodied. Awesome and refined, probably the best gueuze I’ve had.
Sip from a generous soul at dark lord day. Probably my only chance to ever try it. Smooth. Slightly tart. A bit sour. Wish I could have tried more of this uber whale.
Bottle shared at DHVL side by side with Roze. Pours cloudy dark golden with a medium off white head. Aroma initially strikes as a swimming pool in a barnyard, with old musty dank cellar, cobwebs and wet dog. Flavour is light sweet and moderate acidic. The mouthfeel starts off soft and silky leading into a mellow but more acidic finish. Full bodied with soft carbonation. Beautiful!
Tasted a couple of years ago at RBBSG and thanks to travlr! Pours a cloudy dull honey color with only a small ring of carbonation. The smell is complex with vinegar, funk, organic matter, earth. The taste is funky, woody, tart and slightly puckering with a dry aftertaste. Light body with medium carbonation. A real treat!
Hearty pop from the cork. Hazy, straw colored body sprouts plenty of foamy, white head.
Inescapably funkalicious aroma. Deep, funky, untamed. Off the charts awesome aroma.
Dry hay, gueuze-y funk; sourness is there but not too bold. If you don't know what people mean by horse blanket in gueuze, you certainly will after this. Layers of depth and intrigue; gueuze really doesn't get much better than this.
Fortunate to be my second time with this one, and damn it's still drinking like a champ. Love.
2003 J and J version (not 50/50) drunk Summer of 2009 at my Farewell to the beer scene tasting
Inserted this one in the middle of the lineup, thankfully, so the palate was not fatigued. At almost six years old, it still poured a wonderfully frothy, white head, showing moderate retention and plentiful carbonation. Soft, straw/white-gold body, plenty of sediment on the bottom.
The nose creeps up on you, this is certainly not getting you by means of raw force/strength. The best part, and i will admit to being slightly hazy on all of the details, being that this was four years ago, was a soft, but yet tart hickory skin/limeade-like note that seemed to hover in the background and keep gaining strength as the beer warmed/breathed. Very dry and with tons of lactic acid but yet all well-presented. Some barnyard notes emerging late but just the most succulent, soft, yet strong brett notes I’ve witnessed.
In the mouth, the carbonation is fairly reserved for the style, with a warm woodiness that plays well with the tart, limey brett notes. Not overly sour, though significantly moreso than the Milennium gueuze I had a few months ago. Very "true" flavors of gueuze, lactic, brett fruity tartness, light band-aids; all that I associate with Girardin, though not as intensely sour as that usually seems. Interesting mineral-like note to it as well. Finish leaves lactic acids lingering, with a bit of cheesiness and more unripened citrus fruits. Carbonation is soft by now, and the body is medium, with a supple texture from the malts and wheat. Wonder if I’ll ever try this again! Thanks to whomever traded me these (can’t remember at this point).
Bottle drunk 6/10/16, shared by Joe Z. Thanks!
Wow was this in just immaculate shape. Even handily beat the Roze we opened just before it. Limestone, white grape, soft oak, hickory nut skin, light band aids, very light sulfur....most of the stuff I look for in the top lambics. Carbonation still VERY strong. Texture is perfect. Really can’t ask for much more from a gueuze. Previously had it at 4.6.
Acquired in a trade from Mads in Denmark in February of 2013. Allowed this beer to sit horizontal in my basement for 10 months and now I’m ready to open it up on a random Saturday night by myself before a trip. Nothing fancy, just because. Also, temp of this thing is 55 at serving in a Cantillon Tulip. I allowed the glass I poured to sit for 15 minutes to sort of liven up a bit and just sort of chill the fuck out. It was bottled like 10 years ago...best let this beast chill! The cork was perfectly intact but had escaped out of the bottle by a couple of centimeters. The cage held up great.
A - Appearance is on par with Oude Gueuze Vintage 2002-2005 era. Mahogany oak and minor orange notes. A more reddish brown than gueuze being released today. Is that just age? Probably not because the 20 year old gueuze I’ve had from others wasn’t this dark. The cork whisper heavily but did not explode or gush thankfully.
S - There are a few levels to this nose. You can do a one ounce pour, swish heavily and you get this blossom or oranges, lemon skin, wet hay and musty fecal aromas. Then if you let the beer chill out for a bit, it’s this cheesy old shoe with what I’d consider to be the cheesiest basement aroma like the moldiest old stone basement. Something to consider at this age though is storage conditions.If it was kept in an old damp basement, that will certainly influence the nose.
T - This is probably the most orange and lemon forward gueuze I’ve ever had. It’s also the most moldy wet blanket gueuze I’ve ever had. I’m reviewing this beer over a few glasses so I can get the full effect. It’s not really sour, more tart like a lemon, fruity like clementines and moldy, funky just leathery wet hay. It is the most "rotten" tasting gueuze I’ve ever had and, to that effect, I freaking love it!
M - The carbonation is as I expected. Not a huge explosion just a nice cork wisp with a 1 finger head that faded slowly. The beer still explodes nicely on a heavy swish with a Harbaugh approved 15% carbonation (do I really have to explain to him what that means? He’s a freaking science teacher right?) Lingering rotten grapefruit rind sticks around.
O - For what Blauw is trading for now, it’s slowly moving past its prime. The first review was in May of 2005. So that well debated 10 year fall off that Drie Fonteinen gueuze has is starting to hit. I want to say the mold / damp hay I get is totally because of storage conditions which is understandable. Is this worth a case of Framboos? No way. It’s still really freaking delicious and hopefully people rating it now get to have more than an ounce of it. It’s best shared 2-3 ways like most 75CL Gueuze. Amazing this is a whale now but age & bottles in circulation will do that. Personally, Golden Blend, Armand & Tomme, Lente, Zomer and 2007 Oude Gueuze Vintage score higher than this in my book but for different reasons. They’re all younger than this beer and brighter. I prefer them to this but this gueuze was still an experience worth going through.
Enjoyed July 13, 2013. Poured from a basket into a Drie Fonteinen stem. Cork shot out with a pop, and gushed about 2 ounces. Have glasses ready! Pours a mildly hazy, golden orange with three plus fingers of sticky, frothy white head. Lots of retention, and lacing. Smell is stunning. Overly ripe peaches and apricots, lemon rind, and a deep earthy funk. Incredibly well balanced and integrated. As it warms, the funk evolves, opening up with barnyard and minerally earth. The stone fruits become more prominent and tropical. I could smell this forever. Taste is bright peach flesh, funk, and tropical sour fruits. Some lemon rind. Lightly sweet. The funk becomes more pronounced as it warms, yet never overpowers the beautiful fruit aspect. Truly incredible how vibrant this is after 10 years. Despite being a massive gusher, this was perfectly carbonated. The balance of flavors lends this to be incredibly drinkable and refreshing. Simply, this beer was nearly flawless, and probably the best beer I’ve ever had the pleasure to enjoy. Vibrant in every way, yet utterly balanced.
75cl bottle at Akkurat as Gold Gueuze 50/50. It pours a golden/light amber colour with a nice white head. Aroma is nice and complex: wet wood, strong funkyness with fruitiness and some spiciness. Nice acidic notes, recalling the classic cheesey and horseblankety notes. Taste is rich and probably as complex as it gets, every sip is a different note, stunning. Strong funkyness again and tartness sorrounded by a sort of yogurt-like sweetness. Huge citrus and lemon peel notes. Grassy notes in the background. Some wood and fruit too. Mostly dry finish. Palate is creamy, silky, with good carbonation. Amazing complexity and drinkability. Feels like this is a mature world class Gueuze, but not sure it tops the Millennium.
A great lambic. Sourness nicely combined with the fruityness. A nice cleaner.
Bottle @ Akkurat, 50/50 gold label.
Amazing gueuze perfection. Armand proves once again he’s the best-
Tasted in early 2013 from a corked and caged 750mL bottle, big thanks to whoever brought this to an epic tasting. Pours hazy orange with a white head that leaves thin lace. The nose is classic, cheesy 3 Fonteinen funk, tons of citrus and white wine vinegar, and a bit more malt than some Gueuzes that I have had. The flavor is very dry, nicely sour, and orange zest with a touch of oxidation actually adding complexity to this brew. The body is medium with some tannic texture, light carbonation, and a very long, sour and complex finish.
750 ml bottle to snifter (HUGE thanks to dudeabide). Looks great; a hazy orange with white head that dissipates into lacing. Smells incredible! CHEESE and funk! Tastes like it smells with a nice, lively mouthfeel. B.O.M.B.!!!!!
The pour is golden orange with a thick white head. The nose is lemons, orange funk, leather, straw, berry. The taste is high sweet, low bitter, nice and tart. The texture is crisp and clean, body is light and finish is long.