3 Fonteinen Oude Lambik
3 Fonteinen Oude Lambik is the result of a specific brewing process with a high proportion of unmalted wheat, spontaneous fermentation in an open coolship, and slow and complex fermentation and maturation in oak barrels of different sizes and shapes. This beer is completely flat as the carbonation evaporates through the wooden staves.
Please note the age of the sample you are reviewing when entering your rating. 3 Fonteinen Oude Lambik is considered all 3 Fonteinen lambic above 18 months of oak barrel maturation after brewing, and every blend of young and old lambic, prior to bottling and bottle evolution to geuze. It is poured in some selected places, and in the lambik-O-droom on dedicated hand pumps. As it is unfiltered and unpasteurised, the time between the oak barrel and the serving moment is kept as short as possible.
Please note the age of the sample you are reviewing when entering your rating. 3 Fonteinen Oude Lambik is considered all 3 Fonteinen lambic above 18 months of oak barrel maturation after brewing, and every blend of young and old lambic, prior to bottling and bottle evolution to geuze. It is poured in some selected places, and in the lambik-O-droom on dedicated hand pumps. As it is unfiltered and unpasteurised, the time between the oak barrel and the serving moment is kept as short as possible.
3.8
190 reviews
Beersel, Belgium
Community reviews
Barrell sample. 18 months.
Sample from barrel @ 3 Fonteinen Open Beer Days. 18 months old. Smooth, earthy and funky with some cellary notes, yeast and farmyard. Quite easy going.
sample at brewery, another tasty ingredient to the oude gueuze. This one was a little more complex than the one year old. Gunpowder and berries take over as the barn notes share the spotlight. Flat and dry. Some herbs,
Glas van 75cl-fles in brouwerij 3 Fonteinen lambik-O-droom te Lot. U: Troebel oranje zonder schuim. G: Licht sulfer, paardedeken en brettanomyces. S: Fruitige aanzet gevolgd door een licht zuurtje. Wat limoen, perzik en lichte toets van sinaasappel. Lichte accenten van brettanomyces en paardedeken. Mals. M: Doordrinker met medium carbonatie. M: Dorstlesser zonder carbonatie.
Bottle in 3 fountain brewery.
Blend of 1, 2, 3year old. Well made lambic
Bottle at 3 Fonteinen. Amber color, white head. Sour taste with citrus, sour apple, wheat, earthy notes and ripe fruits. Sour finish with citrus, sour apple, wheat, ripe fruits and earthy notes. Very nice lambic, although a bit too smooth.
Pours cloudy golden with low white head. Aromas acidic and light tart with citrusy and earthy notes. Taste has tart and funky notes of sherry cask, citrus, eart, hints of autumn leaves
Pours hazy amber with flat head. Aroma of hay, grass, light citrus, funk. Taste is rich tart, crisp grapes, grass, a bit of lemon... somehow gives me the aftertaste of tequila, salt and lemon... Light and crisp body with average carbonation.
@ 3 Fonteinen. Smooth sour beginning. Round and smooth. Wood, smooth horse blanket, round and refreshing. Very round and deep, hints of sourness, horse blanket, refreshing with a very smooth and subtle sour aroma. Fantastic mild and deep. Long woody smooth aftertaste. Great.
@ 3 fonteinen Lambik-o-droom.
Aroma is leather funk and earthy. Dandelion in taste, barnyard. Very smooth palate for a lambiek. Slightly wry but soft palate, leaves oily filter. Leather and flowers in aftertaste.
From bottle at Lambik o Droom as 2013 oude lambik. Pours clear golden, still. Aromas of green apples, orange, light leathery, stable funk. Taste has green apples, vinegar, leather notes, orange, citrus, light grapefruity notes and a horsey finish.
Bottled. Pours hazy deep golden with a tiny white head. Aroma of lemon, wood, barnyard and other funky notes. Slightly sweet flavor that ends up being dry and tart. Light to medium bodied, watery to oily texture and flat to soft carbonation. A very nice Lambic indeed.
The old lambic (three years in the case of the sample I got) of Drie Fonteinen, along with the young version an essential element in understanding their bottled products. Sampled alongside a young one, big thanks to Werner for that! As good as no head, apart from some early, loose, off-white bubbles that dissolve in seconds, clear peach golden colour, warm and bright - deeper orangey and more clear than the young lambic, as is to be expected. Noble, expressive aroma of old dry sherry, sweaty clothes dried afterwards, dry white wine, old wrinkled apple peel, dusty attic, plum peel, very dry cider, hay, old crumbling bread. Restrained esteriness in the onset, evidently a lot less ’wild’ and vivid than the young lambic, hints of unripe gooseberry, grape peel and fermenting pear, wry and sour but practically no lemony or vinegary acidity anymore like the young one has, grainy and bit vinous middle, bone dry ending wit noble, almost lightly furniture-like woodiness to it, deep, ’old’ leathery and dry hayish Brett effects lingering retronasally, fruit peel wryness and a faraway earthy hop touch rounding things off. As classic, noble and refined as it gets for an old lambic, and very interesting to taste it side by side with its younger self - a very informative insight in the art of blending lambics, something I have cherished a deep admiration for since many, many years.
Un très beau lambic frais et acidulé, puissant et complexe, avec une bouche droite et tendue
Sampled at BXL. Clear amber pour with no head. Notes of citrus, mineral funk, horse blanket, mould. Medium to full body, flat. Quite interesting.
Draught@BXLBeerFest. Clear, pink-orange, no head. Typical yeasty lambic nose. Sharp sour taste, turning into pleasantly clean skihhtly tart finish.
Hazed deep golden color with a frothy white head. Fine intensity in the aroma. Funky business. Medium body and an average carbonation level. Acidic and dry texture. Green apples, fumky, citric, wood and yeast. Solid stuff.
[Bottle (2011) at The Blåbær Lambik 2017 Release queue outside Himmeriget in Copenhagen, Denmark]
Pours hazy honey, barely any head. Aroma offers sharply tart pomme fruit. Flavor features tart fruit and a hint of woody hops. Mouthfeel presents decent body, OK fizz and a tart finish. Oude to joy.
Draft at Verzekering. Pours cloudy amber. Aroma is good funk, farmhouse, old cheese, stables, straw. Body is light, funky, lightly tart and sour, with some sweetness backing it up. Smooth experience, basically flat. Short funky palate. Good!
Cask pour. Hazed copper with no carb. Strong wood and lemon acidity. Some mellow fruit in the taste. Drying and a little earthy on the finish. Medium body and medium carbonation.
At the brewery as Assemblage, blend of three years if I’m not mistaken. Pours dark golden, no head. Fruit, moderate+ sour, pronounced wood, funk, dry finish. Medium bodied.
Pour from bottle at Lambik-o-droom. Hazy amber with no head. Woody, grassy, grainy, hints of nutmeg. Mild sour and light bitter. Medium body and no carbonation. Woody grassy funky.
On tap. Fast klare orange goldene Farbe. Geruch angenehm säuerlich fruchtig, Steinobst, leicht holzig, Äpfel. Geschmack angenehm säuerlich, Steinobst, rote Früchte, holzig.
Vollmundiger säuerlicher Antrunk mit trockenem, mild herben Noten. Weich, angenehm bitter, spritzig. Trockene dumpfe Hopfigkeit, zum Ende deutlich holzig. Langer, weich säuerlicher Nachhall. 11/12/12/12//12
Earlier Rating: 6/3/2011 Total Score: 2.3
Hopfig-säuerlicher Antrunk, der mit seinen Beinoten aber angenehm ausfällt. Wenig frisch, fast laff. Im Verlauf wird die Säuerlichkeit fast unwichtig, der muffige Hopfen stärker. /8/6/6//7
Pours bit darker blonde/light amber. No head. Smell is full, funk, wood. Mild sour . taste is very full , dry, oaky. Very full wood ! Dry mouthfeel, nice as expected. Malty aftertaste
Earlier Rating: 4/20/2015 Total Score: 4.1
Pours unclear towarss amber. Smell is funky and wood.
Taste is mild, with an intense sour background. Very woody. very nice
Tap at Grote Dorst. Hazy dark golden color with no head. Aroma is burnt bread, wood, not so much funk. Taste is burnt bread, some milky yeasts. Oily mouthfeel. Flat. Okay, probably one of the last pours of the bag, but still: it showcases the 3 Fonteinen character. 7-3-7-3-14.
Assemblage at the Lambik-O-Droom. Hazy orange color with soapy bubbles. Aroma is funky. Taste is funky, with quite some residual sugars, apples and candy. Flat. Very interesting. 7-4-7-4-15
Heel donker geel bijna oranje. Een intemse geur van paardestal met een licht zurig tintje. De smaak is droog, haverig en deegachtig.
From notes. Enjoyed on draft at the Drie Fonteinen Restaurant on November 12. This one had an advertised age of 6 months. The pour is a dark orange, almost brown, with no head at all. This is syrupy and looks nothing like I was expecting for a lambic. The aroma is very sugary sweet. There is a strange bitter malt going on. There is a light Bandaid thing happening, but it’s just interestingly sweet. The flavor is definitely syrupy. This is sugar sweetness, a strong barrel, and just a strange flavor overall. The mouth feel is very heavy and syrupy. There is no carbonation and a lingering medicinal sweetness. I will never understand the lure of young, unblended lambics. Not my thing at all.
Draft at brewery. Decanted from a barrel pull by Armand. 18 months old. It pours a clean golden color with no head. Aroma is mildly funky, grassy, lemony with a light vanilla oaky note. Taste is also lightly spicy oaky, with mild vanilla sweetness, medium tart and lemon peel. Medium bodied with soft carbonation. Overall, good unblended lambicalcohol,
Draught at the brewery. Pours hazy amber with a small and quickly dissipating white bubbly head. Aroma is light cellar and oak notes, medium cracker malt, tart lemon. Flavor is moderate tartness, lemon notes, light cracker malt, cellar and oak notes with a dry finish. Light body and nearly still.