The Three Fountains

I love Lambic. What else is there to say? I started loving it back in 1988 and my love for it has only grown in the 34 years since. Some of my very favorite Lambics are produced by Brouwerij Drie Fonteinen (three fountains). The three fountains refer to the original hand pumps for the three main beer offerings – Gueuze, Faro and Kriek. 3 Fonteinen’s Lambics epitomize the style and have a delicate balance that delivers both complex flavors and drinkability.

A Long History

3 Fonteinen started back in 1883 as a Geuzestekerij – a company that purchases barrels of Lambic from other breweries and then blends them to produce Gueuze, which is traditionally a blend of one, two and three-year old Lambics. They are located in the town of Beersel, near Brussels, in the Senne Valley – the ancestral home of Lambic beers. The original café and geuzestekerij changed hands a number of times before 1953, when Gaston Debelder purchased the business. When Gaston and Raymonde (his wife) took over, bottled beers were still a niche product. Beer was packaged in kegs (small wooden casks) which needed to be sold within two weeks, after which any leftovers were tapped into bottles. Gaston soon began bottling more of his beers because he like the end product better.

Lambic Aging Casks

In 1992, Gaston handed the business over to his two sons. Armand, who got the brewery operation, and Guido, who handled the restaurant/café. By 1998, 3 Fonteinen began brewing its own Lambic using leased equipment. Disaster struck in 2009 when a stuck thermostat kept a hot air blower in the “on” position, driving temperatures to as high as 140º Fahrenheit (60ºC), ruining more than 80,000 bottles of beer and thrusting the brewery into deep financial trouble. In the end, they managed to get things back on track and, in 2012, 3 Fonteinen installed a whole new brewing system, giving Armand a high degree of control over his brews. They still continue to blend with Lambics produced by Lindemans, De Troch and Lambiek Fabriek (they stopped using Girardin and Boon a while back), thus maintaining their geuzestekerij status.

Art and Science

3 Fonteinen Beers and Beer Engine Taps

I tend to think of various beers on a spectrum. At one end is science. A lager from a big brewery is heavy on the science that leads to consistency, repeatability and cost management. A Lambic from 3 Fonteinen is at the opposite end of the spectrum – almost purely art.  Different beers turn up on different parts of the spectrum.

Why is 3 Fonteinen at the art end of the spectrum? A quick story. The last time I was at 3 Fonteinen it was with a tour group. Our tour guide was a feisty young woman who worked in brewery operations. One of the tour guests was a very accomplished homebrewer who, at one point, asked what measurements the brewery took at various stages in the brewing and aging processes. Our guide responded “You don’t understand – we don’t measure anything!” It’s true. At 3 Fonteinen, they brew the Lambic, inoculate it in a coolship, and put it into an assortment of barrels to mature over time, sampling beers from casks regularly. When they are ready to blend a batch of gueuze, they pull samples of house-brewed beers as well as barrels from other breweries, then sit down as a panel to determine the optimal blend. No scientific measurements or formulas. Just many years of experience and artistic sense. Art in its purest form.

3 Fonteinen Beers

3 Fonteinen produces a number of Lambic beers with their Gueuze and Kriek dominating the lineup.

  • Oude Gueze Cuvée Armand & Gaston may be the finest Gueuze I have ever tasted. It is vintage-released and expensive but worth every penny. A blend of 100% spontaneously fermented beers brewed at 3 Fonteinen and bottle-conditioned, it is traditional in every sense of the word. And, no two releases are exactly the same. Art.

  • Oude Gueuze is perhaps the brewery’s most classic offering

  • Oude Gueuze Golden Blend contains 25% 4-year old Lambic

  • Oude Gueuze Platinum Blend contains 25% 4-year old Lambic – 100% 3 Fonteinen produced

  • Schaarbeekse Kriek (macerated with Schaerbeek cherries) is the top-of-the-line Kriek

  • Oude Kriek (aged with cherries) is exceptional

  • Framboos is aged with raspberries

  • Hommage contains a mix of sour cherries and raspberries

  • Armand 4 Seasons is a series of four seasonal Lambics

  • Rabarber is fermented with rhubarb

  • Vlierbloesem is made with elderflowers

  • There are also other specialty beers that are made from time to time

The Brewing and Aging Facility

Clockwise From Upper Left: Brewhouse; Double-decker Coolship; Cognac barrels; Barrels Used For Adding Fruit to Beer; Assortment of Smaller Casks.

When you visit the 3 Fonteinen facility, what strikes you is not the 40 hectoliter brewhouse but the seemingly endless numbers of barrels – ranging from standard wine barrels to giant casks and foudres from a variety of different woods and prior uses. Each batch of Lambic comes from as many as a dozen casks and brew sessions. Based on tasting, the tasting panel discusses which casks to use and the percentage of each beer in the blend. This is the real process of art – without the readings and process controls so loved by the scientists.

You owe it to yourself to experience the true art of brewing and hand craftsmanship with the exceptional beers from 3 Fonteinen.

Charlie GottenkienyComment