3 Fonteinen Zenne y Frontera
Zenne y Frontera is een unieke creatie van meesterbrouwer en -geuzesteker Armand Debelder en maître-sommelier Andy De Brouwer. Dit natuurlijke millésime bier is een assemblage van jonge lambieken die nog eens 12 maanden gerust hebben op 40 jaar oude Oloroso en PX sherry vaten. Door de lange rijping worden de geuzige toetsen van onze authentieke 3 Fonteinen lambiek geaccentueerd door de typische, fijne Oloroso en Pedro Ximénez karakterteristieken. Door de Zenne y Frontera voorzichtig te karafferen evolueert het aroma en de smaak van deze unieke lambiek van fris zurig naar een complex notig en vol fruitig boeket.
Zenne y Frontera is a unique creation from master-brewer and geuze-blender Armand Debelder and maître-sommelier Andy De Brouwer. This natural millésime beer is a blend of young lambics that have been aged for another 12 months in 40 year old Oloroso and PX sherry casks. Thanks to the long maturation, the geuze-like notes of our authentic 3 Fonteinen lambic are well accentuated by the typical, fine Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez characteristics. By gently decanting the Zenne y Frontera, the aroma of this unique lambic will evolve from vividly tangy to a complex nutty and fully fruity bouquet.
First released in September 2015.
Zenne y Frontera is a unique creation from master-brewer and geuze-blender Armand Debelder and maître-sommelier Andy De Brouwer. This natural millésime beer is a blend of young lambics that have been aged for another 12 months in 40 year old Oloroso and PX sherry casks. Thanks to the long maturation, the geuze-like notes of our authentic 3 Fonteinen lambic are well accentuated by the typical, fine Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez characteristics. By gently decanting the Zenne y Frontera, the aroma of this unique lambic will evolve from vividly tangy to a complex nutty and fully fruity bouquet.
First released in September 2015.
4.4
181 reviews
Beersel, Belgium
Community reviews
Batch 2 into a teku showing pale amber with sparse white foam.
The nose shows pronounced notes of nutty sherry and brett.
The palate is lightly carbonated and medium bodied. Moderately tart with moderately intense acetic notes of nuts and light bread with pronounced notes of brett and barnyard throughout. More acetic vinegar and brett on the finish.
From backlog. Just a sip at bottleshare, Escondido, Ca.
Golden with white head. Fruity, berries, sweetness, funky, super good
Shared Batch 2 bottle. Pours a murky gold with a tiny white head. Aroma of fruit, berries, and funk. Taste is tart stone fruit, sweet fruit, citrus, and funk. Superb.
750ml bottle B5. Pours cloudy yellow, allmost no head. Aroma is funky, dried apricoty. Taste is very complex, dried yellow plums, quite acidic, gooseberry, dates. Niace acidic aftertaste. Medium body, low carbonation. Very complex and really nice.
B6. Aroma is very similar to b5, bit more funky and fruity. Taste is more fruity, apricoty, melony, acidic.
B6 Has more different layers, but 5 is more complex. Overally really amazing. 6 is too young to drink.
These two batces are allready so different that RB should consider them to be different check ins.
Overall rating after tasting event of batches 3 to 6.
Simply amazing. There are few moments where beer leaves me speachless and this was really the case. While 5 and 6 were rather rough with 3 and 4 it was a ride to another galaxy. Truly amazing.
cloudy orange colour with a small white head; complex aroma of sourness, wood; complex, sour flavour with a long, medium sour finish. Amazing.
Super farmhouse nose. Horse blanket. Must. Some fruit. Sourdough. Gold minimally hazy. Mix between sour and funk. Don’t pick up the sherry. Some tannic sweetness. Low carb.
Shared at Pre-Borefts Tasting 2019. Batch No 5. A hazy orange golden beer. Aroma of tart orange fruits, funk, grapes. Taste of mild sweet and tart orange fruits, funk, herbs, apricot.
Hazy, orange-amber colored, small non lasting white head. Medium sweet, tart fruit, earthy, woody notes, sherry, bit vinous, medium+ sourness, funky barnyard, dry finish. Medium bodied, soft carbonation, oily.
750ml bottles @ 3 Fonteinen. Batch 3: Smooth, earthy and slightly tart with some sherry, oak, funky sourness and farmyardy notes. Quite complex.
Batch 4: More acidic, tart and sour, with some sweetish notes too.
Overall 3 and 5 were quite similar in the fresh barrel notes, while 4 and 6 are more lambicy and sour.
Edwin Z. is drinking a 3 Fonteinen Zenne y Frontera (season 17|18) Blend No. 50 by Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen at Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen & lambik-O-droom
At the source, Soft, smooth, woody, cheese, barnyard, didn’t get the sherry, gentle sourness, quite nice. Funky..
Bottled poured into a decanter, batch 6 @ Lambiek-O-Droom. Beautiful murky golden color, cloudy, foamy white bubbles that quickly disappear. Beautifully rounded and soft nose and taste full off pungy funk upfront, tard, vinegar acidic but fruity with lemon and grapefruit zest, peach, white grapes, some sweet caramel-ish and nutty tones, vanilla and maybe a tat of sherry, ending in a dry earthy finish. Balance is incredible. Opens a lot as it breathes. Huge sweetish acidic fruity linger. Firm body, oily thick mouthfeel, lively soft carbonation.
Well, here is then, a new 3F legend, bottle bought from a private collector - for a crazy price, but I could not resist. Shared with Jan of Weerspannige Brouwers. Medium thick, moussy, densely packed, pale yellowish white, lightly lacing, very stable head over a misty peach blonde beer with light orange hue. Complex and extremely elegant bouquet of gooseberry, unripe melon, lime juice, fermenting hay, wet wood, dry sherry indeed but well integrated into the whole, cava, moldy lemon peel, slight vanilla (oak?), unripe pear, mandarin peel, yoghurt, stale sweat but subtly so, passion fruit. Rich estery onset full of gooseberry, redcurrant, unripe plum and passion fruit, tart with a sweetish edge somewhere, champagne-like carbonation just fit for the style; soft lemony acidity (’mals’) and sedate lactic sourishness dominate the whole and dry the palate but again in an extremely elegant, ’friendly’ and softish kind of way, over a backbone of bready barley and soapy, deeply sourish wheat. Mouthfeel is soft and creamy, more ’moelleux’ than usual for a geuze. Passion fruit and gooseberry tartness persist towards the finish, pairing up with a brief but well-placed earthy ’old’ hop bitterish touch and drying, noble woodiness, bearing a sherry accent which blends in perfectly with the natural oloroso-like features of the lambic; a genuine sherry flavor subtly lingers in the back of the mouth after swallowing while the soft lambic tartness persists. A very subtle vanilla-like sweetish accent pops up too distinguishing this from other geuzes, along with the subtle sherry accent. In all, however, this sherry factor is just a touch of colour, rather than a dominant flavor imposed on it - I can easily see how this got its reputation and raving scores here. This is among the most elegant, noble and ’aristocratic’ lambic beers I ever had the pleasure to taste, it really doesn’t get much better than this. What a masterpiece... I’m even inclined to purchase another bottle for the same price and keep it in the cellar for some years. The perfect geuze, perhaps?
750 ml bottle, shared by Werckmeister, many thanks! Pours a lightly hazy golden color. Lots of barrel character in the aroma - sherry, Oloroso sherry, some mild funk, leather, tart grapes, wood. Medium body with a medium acidity and a medium woody and fruity tartness. The flavor starts acidic with citric notes, some vinegar, wood, wherry, tart grapes, unripe gooseberries and berry peel. Finishes dry and woody with more sherry. Good amount of acidity but still smooth with intense and very well integrated sherry notes. Delicious smell! Very good!
Aroma: 8
Appearance: 4
Taste: 8
Palate: 4
Overall: 18
750 ml bottle, many thanks to Werckmeister for organising this!
Once the beer breathes a few minutes, the aroma is unbelievable! Sherry, young cheese, juicy stone fruits, grapes, horse blanket, some curry, wood, some citrus. So rich and complex!
Tastes beautiful, quite similar, while the sherry is a bit more subtle, more prominent funk.
Medium, a bit oily mouthfeel, with a moderate carbonation. Finishes smooth, medium dry, a bit musty, wooden, fruity, with moderate sherry, green apple skin, citrus, some grapes, slight cheesy funk.
Wow! As the beer was breathing a few minutes it was perfect, so rich and deep, with beautiful sherry and almost a bit juicy fruit notes. Especially the nose was simply amazing! As it warmed up, the funk took over and it became a smooth, more classic Geuze. Really outstanding, very complex stuff! Score: 10 / 4 / 9 / 4 / 18
0,75l bottle at home decanted for 30 mins. yellow rather hazy color, very small white head. smells wood, funk, earthy, cheesy, bit herbal, spices. very nice smell. full body, soft carbonation. tastes very wood forward, citric, grassy, earthy, spices, peppery, funky. finishes dry and medium sour with notes of wood, citrus, grass and earthy notes. very very nice one, super wood forward not that much geuze-character, very nice but, almost a bit too smooth.
8, 4, 8, 4, 17
Bottle from a friend. Hazy yellow color, white head. Sour taste with citrus, tart, earthy notes, sherry, sour apple, oak and vinegar. Sour finish with citrus, tart, earthy notes, sherry, sour apple, oak and vinegar. Exquisite lambic.
Bottle from Todd. Orange/pink pour, flat. Fruity, sweet aroma, brandy. Taste brings tartness, grapes, hint of tomato.
6/X/18 - 75cl bottle @ late RBBSG, Brouwerij Totem (Evergem), BB: 1/III/24, bottled: 1/III/14 - (2018-1547) Thanks to Bierridder_S for sharing the bottle!
Little cloudy orange beer, small creamy off-white head, little stable, non adhesive. Aroma: funky, fruity, wood, brett, dry musky impression. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: acidic start, fruity touch, dry, spicy, lots of lemon and lemon peel. Aftertaste: bit fruity, dry, some tannins, lemony, nice acidity, dry, some green apples, nice stuff!
06/10/2018 - sampled from bottle on RBBSG 2018
Hazy dark yellow, no real head. Nose is grainy, bit lemon, sherry, wood. Taste is grains, bit apple, bit lemon, lots of oak and sherry in the end. I had the impression that the age was perfect at this point. the lambic and sherry tastes were nicely working together. Great one ans as for me uncomparable to anything else.
Aroma of barnyard, sweet wine, tokaj, elderflower, grapefruit. Taste of barnyard, big brett, citrusy, grapefruit, musty. This was very good, but to be honest many batches of normal OG is better, and the Golden Blend b2 next to it was better.
Poured at Shelton Festival. Pours a cloudy orange with small white head that lasts. The aroma is strong funk, oak, sherry, lemon zest. Medium body, lots of funk, oak, nutty, nice sherry, really enjoyed this.
The thing about this beer is that it is impressive in its composition and balance. What is surprising is that you get a lot of nut like flavor in the aftertaste. There is a strong barrel driven profile but the sourness is really light. It is an impressive beer but not that great as I hoped it would be.
Mocno dzikie, z nietypowym orzechowym posmakiem po cherry. Delikatne, kwasnosc nieco niższa niż w innych gueuze 3 Fonteinen. Wspaniale smakuje podane w Lambik-O-Droom z kieliszkiem cherry Oloroso i PX. Spodziewałem się intensywniejszego smaku, ale bardzo ciekawe i unikalne.
2014 vintage, poured into a decanter, at the Lambik-o-droom. Semi-hazy amber pour with a thin, velvety off-white head. Easily identifiable 3 Fonteinen lambic funk, green apples, mineral notes, light fruit oxidation, a bit of grapefruit, sherry (or I should say Oloroso), very light caramel, oak, light vanilla. Very interesting to have side-by-side with Oloroso and PX. Compared to batch 2 - Solera, this one is drier, much more funk-forward and a bit more oaky, as well. Very similar to the Armand & Gaston. Absolutely delicious, I think I prefer this just a bit more to the second batch, though it migh just be because of its age.
Pours hazy amber with small white head.
Aroma has so much funk, hay, barnyard, dry cellar, lemon tart.
Taste is lemon tart, hay, grass, not as much funk as the aroma, hops, sherry sweetness, extremely very well balanced. Best lambic I've ever had.
@ 3 Fonteinen Lambik-o-droom.
Served with 2 sherries, 20 year old FX and a 30 year old Oloroso.
Aroma is very well balanced. Great acidity with old wood tones, wavering sherry. Taste is funkier than aroma. Soft old oak, hay, mildly sourness. Palate is tad puckering. Sherry peeps in finish, great blend of all components. Some soft vinegar there. Awesome.
Bottle @ home. Hazy yellow colour, white creamy foam. Very nice and complex geuze. Light sweet, grassy, crispy, woody and vinous. Very well balanced and complex but not the best in the 3F series. If I compare this with the new Boon Vat series, I like them more. But maybe I had too high expectations of this beer.
Brussels Trip. Backlog. Peach, raisins, leather, apricot, nuts, wet wood, spicy, barnyard, vanilla, hay, orange, lemon. Moderate sour, moderate sweet.
Bottle @ Lambik-O-Droome, Lot 5/8-17. Poured by Armand. Fruity and bretty with oak and notes of raisins, also acidic. Body is medium, the finish is dry, fruity and bretty with oak and notes of raisins, also acidic. Wonderfully balanced beer.
10 4 10 4 19