Druif Muscaris
Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen

20/21 vintage, bottled 2021/01/19
Pours with no real head, just some bubbles from the pour itself, hazy orange-red color

Nose is fairly funky, barnyard funk, souring bacteria, typical Drie Fonteinen funk, quite fruity, grapefruit and citrus, sweet white grape wine, some soft aged lambic with fresh funky lambic,

Taste starts fairly sour, more souring bacteria funk and barnyard funk, fresh Muscat sweet white wine that's coming through more than I expected but also cuts down on the gueuze a bit, more tart fruits, grapefruit, star fruit or hand of Buddha, general citrus, some berry notes, mild flemmy tart finish

Mouth is med bod, lower carb fair acidity.

Overall mixed on this one, typical great gueuze blend of lambics from 3F, the Muscat grape juice or wine cuts through it a bit and brings down the funk a bit, so in general a good balance and surprising amount of the Muscat but I like more of the funk, and low carbonation does take away a bit

 

Had this at the Craft 3f blowout tasting. What an amazing night. Raaaiders. . .

So this is a Muscat grape lambic. This is a review of the Speling Van Het Lot batch. ABV listed here is 9.1%, but according to the owners of this Next Glass database, their Untappd site says it is 8.4% abv. Pours a light orange like color, this looks like orange wine meets lambic. 1/3" white head. Aroma definitely substantiated the notion that this is a grape influence wine like lambic hybrid because its all there, the oak, the grapes, the funkiness, the notes of hay etc. . . .

The taste is much as advertised, the heavier alcohol aspect comes through. The orange wine like aspect of hitting both a white and red grape feel to it, the french oak combination amplifying the dry white mouthfeel. Light citric peppery burn displaces some funkiness.

Its a good beer, just in a huge lineup of 3f, this was nowhere near my fave that evening. Would certainly entertain another pour down the road.

Cellared 2 years. Mostly clear orange body, white head, visible carbonation bubbles rising. Nose is amazing with plenty of barnyard and basement funk, hay, flower petals, sour lemon and vinous grape with even a shot of vinegar tang. Taste is way more sour focused with grape, lemon and green apple, then funk and oak set in before more sour grape ends with hay and vinegar as the palate send off. Feel is more acidic for 3F, thinner, funk is not as strong as usual which is a bummer, sourness carries the day in the end. Good but not great like other grape lambics I have had

2023-12-25
750ml bottle served in a smallish snulip. 20-21 season batch 16. Sent my way by the magnificent @Coronaeus.

Pours mostly clear orange-amber with zero head on the pour, though eventually a very thin ring arises. Smell is tart and oaky with a slight chardonnay butteriness, and a vague green grapiness.

Taste is tart and fruity, again with the chardonnay butter character, something almost tropical in the juiciness. some woody dryness, and a green grape sweetness.

Mouthfeel is medium, still. Overall, pretty good, but definitely not one of their best.

thankful to have been able to score a bottle of this, grape beers, especially grape lambics, are my muse, so this was a real treat and a perfect kickoff to a major night of grape ale consumption, great to get into it with good friends too. this pours a little fuller looking than i expected, and slightly more still too, not much carbonation visible to this, and its soft when i drink it, doesnt hold any head at all, lightly rusty orange toned, clear through much of the bottle but slightly viscous, showing some of its strength and leggy with the residual sugar from the grapes. the nose is wonderful, apricot jelly, orange marmalade, and good lambic, the woodiness is wonderful, there is great funk to this and not as much acid as some of these have, hay and straw, lots of stone fruit from the grapes coming through. the flavor is apricot forward too, light almond and amaretto, sauternes, wet oak, vanilla, golden plum, golden raisin, and familiar lambic funk, real mature but also quite sweet, shockingly well hidden abv, its not warm at all from the alcohol on the palate. i love the stone fruit character to the grapes, not as vinous as i thought it would be, totally different and just wonderful, as it warms i get a little mango tropical character to it, and an almost elderflower aspect, really good. great funk on this, more as it warms, very cohesive and well refined, and i really dont miss the carbonation. a different kind of lambic here, super complex and overall just glorious. i hope to have this one again someday! blend 16, bottled january 2021.

A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°16, season 20/21, bottled on 19th January 2021. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.

Appearance: A lightly hazy golden orange colour with a very thin white head that dissipated quickly to a ring around the glass, while leaving some lacing.

Aroma: Candy-ish sweet, white grape, muscat, grape gummy candy, with light tart notes, funk, and a touch vinous.

Taste: Sour, light tart, funky, vinous, muscat, grape skin, grapefruit, orange, oak.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.

Overall: Good and interesting grape muscat aromas. But flavourwise, it had some strong notes of grapefruit and orange along with the vinous grape, with the citrus being somewhat ‘spicy’, almost cocktail like. And while this was fine, it wasn’t among my favourites.