Drie Fonteinen Oude Geuze

The other night at Hopleaf, we enjoyed a bottle of 3 Fonteinen Geueze. It was expensive ($25 for 750ml), but worth every cent. I have to say it was one of the finest Lambics I have ever tasted. I had sampled it before at a beer tasting (about 2oz of it), but this was the first time I had ever savored an entire bottle.

It is produced by the owner of the popular Drie Fonteinen Restaurant in Beersel, outside of Brussels. Apparently, he buys the finest Lambic he can find from various breweries around Belgium, and then ages them in Oak. He then blends 3 different Lambics (including his own brew) that have been aged for 1, 2 and 3 years respectively. The blended Geuze is then fermented one more time. The end result is not highly alcoholic (5-6% ABV), but complex and very delicious. He only bottles his concoctions when he thinks the results are worthy, usually every couple of years. The Geuze we had at Hopleaf was bottled in Feb 2004. However, I understand there is some from 2000 floating around that is even better.

The beer is very tart, in a green apple sort of way, with strong grapefruit and citrus overtones. However, it is not lip puckeringly, cheek achingly tart like some Belgian sour ales. It finishes with only a mild hint of the astringent hay qualities of many Lambics, a kiss of hops and a touch of minerality (is that a word?). Surprisingly, it is not terribly oakey tasting (although the flavor is definitely there). If it were wine, the flavor might be compared to a fruity Sauvignon Blanc or a tart Chardonnay. It has a fruity, slightly sour yet flowery aroma like lemon and peach blossoms, with just a whiff of wild yeast. The beverage is a bright orange color with a foamy effervescent head that quickly dissipates. The bubbles are very tiny and champagne like, but the carbonation is somewhat subdued. The flavor changes as the bottle breathes, losing some of its tartness and developing a bit of vanilla or caramel flavored esters towards the end. It pairs perfectly with Hopleaf's mussels cooked in ale-broth.

Anyhow, if you find yourself at Hopleaf, or anywhere else that serves this rare gem, and are wondering if it is worth the investment, my answer would be a strong affirmative. If you have never tried a Geuze before, it would be a wonderful introduction.

For the last couple of days, I have been searching in vain for a retail source for this wonderful beverage. So far, none of my usual resources have it currently available. I believe it is imported by Shelton Bros.(in MA) and distributed by Windy City. If anybody runs across it for sale anywhere, please give me a shout.

--dave


http://www.sheltonbrothers.com/
http://www.3fonteinen.be/index_e.htm

Thanks for posting on this, Dave. I noticed you mentioned it in the Hopleaf thread, and was hoping you'd elaborate here, as I'm not familiar with this Gueuze. Sounds spectacular. Not sure if I can get it down here in KC, but I'll sure look.

I'm curious, when you say it would be a wonderful introduction to Gueuze, I've found this is a fairly difficult drink to introduce people to. Are you suggesting it's a good introduction because it's such a fine example, or because it might be less offensive to an unitiated palate? Or both?

One of the things I love about beer is the $25 for a 750 mL bottle is so expensive, whereas you might easily drop that on a cheap bottle of restaurant wine.

Cheers,

Aaron

Aaron Deacon wrote:I'm curious, when you say it would be a wonderful introduction to Gueuze, I've found this is a fairly difficult drink to introduce people to. Are you suggesting it's a good introduction because it's such a fine example, or because it might be less offensive to an unitiated palate? Or both?

Both actually. The flavor is complex, but not over the top. It is tart in a fruity way, but without that overly sour vinegar flavor some Belgian ales have (Like the Rodenbach Grand Cru I am drinking as I write this). It also does not have that heavy yeastiness or astringent aftertaste, or what I saw one person refer to as "that Belgian barnyard funk". Those flavors are all there, but in a well balanced way that doesn't overwhelm the palate. It is amazing that something made from grain can taste so fruity. It is closer to being a sparkling wine than a beer. In fact, the person I shared the bottle with at Hopleaf, was a wine drinker who had never tasted a Geuze (or is it Geueze or Gueuze or Gueze? I have seen it spelled all 4 ways). Anyhow, he was very enamored with it.

According to the Shelton Brothers website, the KC wholesaler for their imports is:

Worldwide Wine & Spirits
830 Kindelberger Rd.
Kansas City, KS 66115
Phone: 913-321-5441

Here is a link to the Shelton Brothers beer profiles page:
http://www.sheltonbrothers.com/beers/beerProfile.asp

Thanks!

Michael, the owner of Hopleaf got me hooked on this by innocently giving me a taste a while back. I agree, it's my favorite Geuze by far and worth every penny.

I shoulda known that there would already be a thread from 1 1/2 years ago that includes several mentions of 3 Fonteinen Oude Geuze . I did do a search before starting a new topic, but used the numeral 3 for 'drie' and a different spelling for Geuze than in the thread. In fact, in one post Antonious actually explains the sources of the different spellings for Geuze, Geueze, Gueze, Gueuze. What is funny, is that the Lambic tasting which prompted Mr. Hammond to post the original thread is the same one I refer to in my post above, where I also first tasted 3 Fonteinen.

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=3998

d4v3 wrote:...In fact, the person I shared the bottle with at Hopleaf, was a wine drinker who had never tasted a Geuze (or is it Geueze or Gueuze or Gueze? I have seen it spelled all 4 ways).

d4v3,

It's a good topic, so two threads are justified.

From a modern standpoint, 'Gueze' and 'Geueze' are just plain misspellings. As you noted, DHammond asked me about this issue in the old thread and this is what I said:
http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=35767#35767

Antonius wrote:

David Hammond wrote:
A, what do you think explains the different spelling of “Geuze” and “Gueuze.” I’m guessing maybe one is an older, archaic version.

DH:

Geuze is the Dutch spelling. In Dutch, the <g> is pronounced as a velar fricative, voiceless and very raspy in the north but in the south, whence this stuff hails, as a not at all raspy, voiced velar fricative.

Gueuze, with the <u> inserted after the <g-> is the French spelling thereof; this <-u-> is purely a spelling device with no independent value, indicating that the intial <g-> is to be pronounced in French as a stop, i.e., as a 'hard' <g->, as in French guerre, guide, etc., and not as a voiced fricative, as in French gens, geste, etc.

The <eu> of both French and Dutch indicates a front rounded mid vowel, similar to the German ö.

N.B. The name of this particular product ignores the spelling difference and uses the Dutch spelling to stand for both, flanked to the left with the Dutch adjective oude 'old' and to the right the French equivalent vieille. Such seeming inconsistencies in commercial usage are, I suspect, not all that rare.

Since geuze is made in the Pajottenland, in Dutch-speaking Vlaams-Brabant, I think the Dutch spelling is the more appropriate one but English sources tend, I believe, to favour the French spelling.

Santé/skol!

A

Allez, zo is't.

A

Yet another good reason for posting anew...I spent a bit of time with that lambic thread of a couple years ago, but somehow forgot the 3 Fonteinen.

Glad you brought it back up.

Sam's Marcey St. does currently have the 750ml of Drei/3 Fonteinen Oude Geuze in stock.

Its there by the other geuze and lambics at the end of the aisle.

griffin's wife wrote:Sam's Marcey St. does currently have the 750ml of Drei/3 Fonteinen Oude Geuze in stock.

Its there by the other geuze and lambics at the end of the aisle.

Thanks, I called them a couple of weeks ago and they said they didn't have it. Maybe they ordered some. Although, I wasn't too sure if the person I spoke with understood what I was talking about.

Update: Last week, I bought a case (6 bottles) at Sam's. I am just going to cellar it for a while. Apparently, there is some confusion as to the spelling of geuze in Sam's database, and that is why the first person I spoke with could not find it. All of their geuzes are listed under the french spelling (gueuze), except 3 fonteinen which is spelled with the flemish spelling, and therefore does not show up on the list.