Zenne y Frontera Solera
Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen

750 mL bottle. Pours a little cloudy and deep orange. Smells of strong oak, citrus acidity, dried grass, and barnyard funk. Tastes of strong orange acidity, oak, sweet white wine, with some cheesy funk. Medium body and well carbonated. It's quite a bold set of flavors. Strong wine presence, but otherwise it's like an amped up 3F Oude Gueze.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

batch 4, generously shared by my friend, a beer i thought i might never get to drink, even if this is slightly different than the version of it that has achieved such fame. it sounds like these solera blends were one offs, not to be repeated again. so really cool to get to drink a little bit of rare history here. this definitely stands as the best, or darn near the best lambic type beer i have ever had in my life, and thats quite a list at this point. really stunning beer, close to perfect, and a beer of the year candidate for me for 2019 for sure, unforgettably good. a shade more orange than a lot of gueuze ive had, nice fizzy white head on it too, looks lively for its maturity. the aroma is astounding, and i smell this for a long while before i ever put it to my lips, an enormously complex lambic here, with a ton of woody maturity, familiar funk from these guys, notes of floral honey, old sherry and cognac, iodine, dry hay and straw, minerals, wet oak, farm animals, white wine, and candied citrus. is moderately acidic, really wild and interesting, heavily wooded, and my mouth waters like crazy each time i take a pull. as satisfying to smell as it is to actually drink, massive complexity and high refinement. the flavor is really unique, even next to other beers these guys make, the fermentation seems more wild, more bretty still some lemony bacterial component too, but its the funk not the acid that defines this for me. the sherry vessels contribute a lot, including some neat sweetness that makes this richer than most of their other lambic, there seems to be a higher order alcohol element here too from the sherry. its still wood before whatever was in them though, and this is very mature and well mellowed by it, super smooth even with the pucker. the attention to detail and blending here are just expert, i love the brightness this has, the layers, and the bubbles, this really sings. hints of cedar wood, sweet orange, musty basement, old people, and the sherry to finish, wonderful lambic funk to this, i taste it for miles after its gone. obviously id love to try these other solera blends, the original, and whatever other forms this has, but this bottle stands perhaps as the best beer in this style i have ever had. wow!

 

 

 

From a decanted bottle at 3F. This (batch 3) was my favorite of the 3 Zenne blends (3, 5, 6) that I had at 3F Lambik-o-droom. The average lambic age is 60+ months and the aging adds a lovely complexity to an already rich taste. I loved all 3 Zenne's as much as the top Cantillons that I had been drinking the 3 days prior, but this blend (Batch 3) was my favorite of the 3.

Zenne b4 @ obd on 190907

Pours an amber color, with almost no head at all.

Smells of rotting wood, wet grass and a lighter, yet pungent note of slightly sweeter sherry grapes.

Drinks fairly easy and mellow, with an aqueous softness establishing a well working balance between sweeter Sherry grapes and the beer‘s sourness.

Tastes of old citrus peel, earthen, sweeter and slightly sharp sherry barrels and additional, calming oak. From the prominent barrel presence a nuanced sharpness arises, resulting in a slightly sweeter, grape forward tasting beer. Finishes surprisingly light with some remaining grapes and a light, yet effective sourness.

Subtle, well rounded with a sherry barrel appearance, which defines the flavors in a very pleasant way.