Hello everyone.  For today’s craft beer review I’m going to be trying the Drie (3) Fonteinen Oude Geuze produced by the Brouwerij Drie Fonteinen located in Beersel, Belgium.

This will be my first ever tasting of a Drie Fonteinen and, needless to say, I’ve very excited about it.

From the website, 3fonteinen.be, we find this description of the Oude Geuze.
 
A true Geuze – a blend of 1, 2, and 3 year-old lambic.  Unfiltered and unpasteurized, and aged in the bottle for at least a year after blending.  Refermentation in the bottle gives this Geuze its famous champagne-like spritziness.  The lambic that goes into it is brewed only with 60% barley malt, 40% unmalted wheat, aged hops, and water, spontaneously fermented by wild yeasts, and matured in oak casks.

Very enticing description there I must say.

 
This beer has an ABV of 6.0% and it comes in a 12.7 oz. caged and corked bottle.

It poured a hazy, pale amber to golden color.  The white head was decently sized, but it was kind of soapy and fizzy.  The retention time was a bit meek, but the lacing looked fairly good though.  Not a bad looking beer, but not quite the best I’ve ever seen either.

The nose distributed hints of ripe green apple and lemon citrus combined with wonderfully balanced zips of wet hay, lemon grass and some of that “barnyard funk” that we all love.  The funk wasn’t overpowering or vulgar, but rather fitting and welcomed.  It did smell a touch sour, but like the funk, it wasn’t obtrusive or offensive.  Deep within the aroma the oakiness began to protrude along with a slight musty characteristic that totally set this bouquet off.  A very, very nice fragrance on this beer I thought.

The taste was wonderful.  Extremely well balanced savors of lemon citrus and green apple combined with a good sting of sourness and a tickle of acidic vinegar.  The tartness was easily bearable and the woody/oaky characteristics pulled through on the back end, which in turn, gave it a nice earthy/herbal savor.  The funk anchored and completed this suitable and tasty brew.

The mouthfeel was medium bodied and very dry.  It was very bitey and snappy at first, but it smoothed every so slightly as I went along.  The carbonation seemed ok and tons of residue was left covering the palate long after each sip.

I’ll tell ya.  I thought this was a very nice beer.  Definitely worth a try if you have yet to do so.  It has quite a bit to decipher, however it doesn’t become so complicated that it can’t be enjoyed or appreciated by someone exploring the style for the first time.  The drinkability was rather good as well.  I would love to pick this up again sometime in the near future.  I think that it could be enjoyed year round, although I would find it most satisfying during the Spring time.  So, give the Drie Fonteinen Oude Geuze a test drive if you can find it.  I doubt that you will be disappointed.

Thanks y’all.  I hope that you folks are still enjoying the reviews.  Don’t be afraid to comment either.  I would love to hear some feedback.

Until next time.  Cheers.

Score:  4.2 out of 5
Grade:  A-