Flaska från 3 Fonteinen. Disig gyllengul vätska med lågt skum. Doft av stall, strö, syrliga äpplen, citrus, persika och aprikos och mjuk vinäger. Välbalanserad och lättdrucken, stor kropp och lite högre sötma. Mycket gott

One of now many 3 Fonteinen 'Twists of Fate' that made it into an 'official' beer, the one with yellow peach, the forerunners of which I recall were met with great enthusiasm during a tasting at Lambik-o-Droom many a moon ago. Sampled from a corked 37.5 cl bottle labelled as "BIO" (organic) but I assume that is the same thing so until it becomes more clear how the relations between the 3 Fonteinen yellow peach lambics are structured, I will park my rating here. Rated partially on the bus back from the old brewery in Beersel - accessible to participants of the "Aged and Amazed" event exceptionally - and the Lambik-o-Droom in Lot... Snow white, thinnish, irregular, open ring of foam on a misty deep yolk-yellow robe with pale orangey tinge, completely hazy with sediment. Aroma of ripe yellow peach (as hoped - and, frankly, expected), raw pineapple, peach skin, lemon, oak, green gooseberry, crabapple, sweat, damp hay, 'urine' (Brett), green plum. Tart onset, lemony but nowhere too puckering, utterly juicy with this juice effect amplified by the sweetish touch of the ripe yellow peaches, shining as brightly as they should in this 'new' subgenre of fruit lambic; the sides remain however sharp and tart, the middle yoghurty, through a cereally 'soil' and woody tannins - but everything remains directed to this wonderful play of peachy sweetness and estery-lambicy sourness. Ends with drying woody tannins (and tannins from the peach skins and kernels no doubt), but juiciness, brightness and sheer 'sunniness' remain key here - as it ought to be in a peach lambic in spring. This is pure nature in your glass, as merry and radiant as it could ever be - an effect I find in all 'artisanally made' peach, nectarine and apricot lambics for that matter... I remember one from De Cam too impressing me on a wonderful spring day, that was so beautiful and convincing as well - prompting me to declare this subsegment of fruit lambic, ironically only existing in 'industrial' pêche form in previous decades until Cantillon's Fou'Foune came along, my personal style of spring beer. This particular one could perhaps do with a tad more ripe stonefruit sugariness, who knows, but its acidity does keep it sharp and edgy while never losing the full aromatic effect of the yellow peach... Whatever the case, this one was absolutely stunning and I hope to encounter it again for a revisit.

Blend of five different sherry barrel aged lambics, of the oloroso and amontillado types - the umpteenth variant on Zenne y Frontera, one of 3 Fonteinen's globally renowned series and indeed one that has spawned many a masterpiece of sometimes mindblowing beauty - a trend hard to compete with I suppose, even if you are competing with yourself. At Lambik-o-Droom. Snow white, irregular, bubbly, medium sized, opening head on an initially clear, deep, warm orange blonde robe with amberish tinge, hazy further on. Aroma of lots of old wood, very dry sherry (indeed old oloroso), dry straw, apricot kernels, old orange peel, green plum, also young (white) wood, dried lingonberries, sour grape. Very dry onset, estery in a dry and sour way, tart small grapes, orange pith - minerally carbonated with vinous mouthfeel, over a dry-cereally core smoothened by strong woodiness from those old sherry casks. Lingering green apple, persimmon and unripe plum notes, old lemon zest too but the sourness remains 'mals' and subordinate to the sherry and wood effects, making for a mile long, bone dry and layered finish. Dried fruits linger, 'deep' oxidation effects from the sherry linger, tannins from the wood linger, vinosity lingers - and the memory lingers far beyond all that. I had many a ZYF variant, some truly blew my away - I remember the second batch even doing that more than the first batch, but that is another story - and this may well be one of those absolute top editions, though it admittedly had time to mature, which I suspect makes a big difference. Only one lesson can be drawn from this: if you are sitting on ZYF bottles, no matter which batch(es), be patient. It pays off.

Bottled blend of dark lambics - a concept unknown to mankind before the Great Lambic Revival, though I have often wondered why in those days... 3 Fonteinen's first batch of Nocturne, created for the Toer de Geuze of 2017 so almost a decade ago now, was not just one of the very first 'Twists of Fate' but also one of the very first dark lambics ever made (even though Cantillon already made an attempt with their Zwanze 2015); I tasted it one week after the Toer de Geuze event, poured by the late Armand Debelder himself, who proceeded to explain to me that the net result of brewing lambic with dark malts is very close to 'oud bruin'. Apparently - and I am ashamed to admit that I missed out on this completely - they did elaborate a bit on the theme afterwards, including this bottled blend of dark 'Nocturne' lambics. Shared with Bart A. and Daniel at Lambik-o-Droom. Irregular, yellowish pale beige, moussey, slowly deteriorating but still generally stable head on an initially clear, dark chocolate brown robe with burgundy red glow at the edges. Aroma of dry caramel, passionfruit, medium dry sherry, blackcurrant, dusty attic, brown bread, wild blackberries from a forest, old wood, dried fig, vanillin from oak, autumn apple. Tart onset but rich and dense, strongly dark-fruity with blueberry, fresh fig and crabapple impressions, finely carbonated with smooth yet full and vinous body; caramelly core, beech nut and brown bread crust effects too, deeply penetrated by yoghurty lactic tartness and fruity acidity, though nowhere too sharp or astringent. Lingering brown breadiness towards the finish, lots of wood and an earthy 'leafiness', but more than anything, a beautiful, rich and ongoing dark fruitiness, which along with the overall vinosity (of old red wine or sherry) makes for a very complex, layered ending phase. I still hesitate to refer to a dark beer of spontaneous - as opposed to mixed - fermentation as 'oud bruin' (or 'Vlaams rood' or whatever), also because it almost feels like an unjust comparison, because this fascinating brew gives an impression of being even more deeply penetrated by the fruity and yoghurty effects of the fermentation(s). There is something fundamentally different going on here - as an oud bruin with another dimension added in some way... Even by 3 Fonteinen standards, I believe this product is spectacularly inventive and innovative - and clearly underrated, in my opinion. Absolutely lovely, pure, rich and perfectly conveying what it intends to be.

The famous Malvasia Rosso: 3 Fonteinen's earliest dabbling in grape lambic, from the years preceding the Great Lambic Revival and developed by Armand Debelder long before the Lambik-o-Droom existed and long before that whole 'Twists of Fate' train started running. This was a different time, I cannot stress that enough - one where 'unique' or rare ideas stood out much more, but often got far less attention too, considering social media did not do their evil works back then (I believe Facebook, for example, was only started about a year after this beer was last produced); in any case the only other lambic producer experimenting with other fruit than sour cherries and raspberries at the time was Cantillon, who had already pioneered modern grape lambic with Vigneronne and Saint-Lamvinus. For the record, I am hereby obviously ignoring the cassis, 'pêche' and other fruit variants produced with filtered lambic, lots of sugar and no real fruit - think Lindemans, or the Chapeau brand by De Troch. Anyway: I vividly recall talking to Armand Debelder about this specific Malvasia Rosso just a couple of years after its last release, having missed out on it completely, and he told me that he was not too keen on continuing it, because he remained unconvinced that grapes were suitable at all for fruit lambic... He also explained that he had used (real and fresh) grape juice here, because using complete grapes with seeds and skins would have been counterproductive for head formation and stability, which makes perfect sense. Anyway: I missed out on this legendary beer when it came out fresh and had begun to resign to the fact that I would probably never be able to taste it, until 3 Fonteinen came up with this wonderful "Aged and Amazed" event last week in which both a view of the original brewery in Beersel and extensively aged bottles were offered. I must therefore thank the 3 Fonteinen team wholeheartedly for giving me the chance of finally rating this whale! Bottle shared with Bart A. and Daniel. Snow white, tiny-bubbled, dot-lacing, opening yet - after 23 years - remarkably stable head; initially clear, warm orangey peach golden robe with rosy tinge and fine sparkling, turning hazy further on and muddy beige in the end. Aroma of oxidation of the 'rusty' kind but not exaggerated and quite volatile, quickly making room for (still after all those years) 'fresh' grape juice and sweet ripe grapes, cider, apricot, orange pith, horseblanket, strong oak wood, wet hay, white raspberry, dry sherry, a non-disturbing touch of sulphur and an odd but amusing hint of raw shellfish. Very bright onset still, lots of lively grape-juiciness, adding an undertone of sweetishness to a tart environment reminiscent of unripe apricot, gooseberry and sour apple (even cider), lingonberry and perhaps even a whiff of orange - I dare even add orange blossom. Light minerality, sparkling gently (again, still after all those years) through a vinous, smooth cereally core, yoghurty fruity lactic acidity and tannic woodiness, plus this still very vivid grape juiciness. Both 'rusty' and sherry-like oxidation effects appear retronasally but only add to the charm of sampling such an old bottle of this degree of nobility - and is not stronger than what one can expect after this period of time. Much more importantly, the physical structure (head, colour, sparkling) and - more baffling still - bright grape juiciness have remained intact, so I imagine that when I 'mentally delete' the oxidation, I am enjoying a view of what young Malvasia must have looked and tasted like. At last. A great testimony of Debelder's skills and passion at a time when this was not so self-evident for such a niche product - and now one of those greats in the gallery of legendary 'OG' lambics that one can only dream about today. He himself may not have thought so much of grape lambic in general, this beer does foreshadow the dozens of often excellent grape lambics we have today - a prophetic beer almost, seen that way. I feel very thankful to have been able to finally enjoy this masterpiece of a very, very rare level of quality. Another one off the bucketlist...

Bottle at Beer Emporium. Bristol woth Tony. Real cherry aroma. Lovely flavour. Incredibly smooth. Lovely cherry.l flavour. Some moderate sourness. Lovely. I mean one of the best krieks ive ever had. Outrageous.