I was lucky enough to be notified by my friend Stefen of a very rare lambic tasting being put on as part of the Philly Beer Week. The event was amazing, truly lived up to the hype put out by the coordinators, however the execution could have been tightened up a little; there seemed to be bickering between the moderator and several audience members, and the microphone setup was 2 steps beyond annoying. It was as distracting as the vuvuzela's at the World Cup. Annoyances aside, I can honestly say this was a once in a lifetime event that I was happy to attend.
Below are the tasting notes I scribbled as I went:
Wednesday 6/9/10
The Penn Museum
Panel: Armand Debelder (Drie Fonteinen), Jean Van Roy (Cantillon), and Frank Boon (Brewery Boon)
Drie Fonteinen Oude Geuze (1999)
Beer originally brewed for the Millennium celebration in 2000. This is one of Armand’s favorite beers. Blend of 1, 2 and 3 year old lambics. Appearance is straw like, with a lasting head, and a nice cascading carbonation. Aroma is floral and funky. Dry and sour, acid flavor on the tongue.
Boon Oude Geuze
Average age of the beer is 18 months when bottled. The beer then has spent about 4 months in the bottle prior to tasting, so still young. Appearance is straw like in color, thick, tight bubbles, in the white fluffy head. Moderate to high carb with nice cascade in the glass. The aroma was of funk and acidic. The flavor was very light, and there was a slight metallic flavor in the background. Of all, this was perhaps my least favorite of the beers sampled this night.
Cantillon Classic Geuze
Slightly darker than straw in appearance with no lasting head. Amazing funk aroma. Strong, but nice, acidic bite on the tongue. The best geuze of the night. The only issue was it was served very cold, and I drank before I let it warm up to ~50.
Drie Fonteinen Oude Geuze (J&J) 1993
Originally brewed to be served at a wedding for a friend of Armand. Color was between straw and amber, with a high head, that dropped to a paper thin coating. Very soft and smooth armoa and matching flavor. Very nice beer. Nice balance of funk, sour, and flavor.
Boon Kriek
Deep and dark red color in appearance, similar to a cranberry juice in color. One finger pink head that lasted for quite a while, but did disappear after 20 minutes or so. Strong cherry-candy like aroma. Very sweet flavor, achieved by using Saccharin. Too sweet for me, and I ended up not finishing the small sample.
Cantillon Lou Pepe Kriek
Made with cherries from Turkey. Named after the Italian term for grandfather in reference to Jean’s father, Jean Paul. Jean recommends cellaring this beer for 2-3 years to truly have an amazing beer. While tasting this beer, Jean pointed out that Cantillon has never made sweet lambics. Beer is nice and red in the glass with a rose colored head. Very nice fruit aroma – fresh cherry, but with a nice funk in the background. The tase was amazing to taste the funk through the fruit. The beer was light bodied and quite dry.
Drie Fonteinen Schaerbeekse Kriek
Appearance was darker than the color of Lou Pepe. Light in mouthfeel, sharp on the tongue and teeth. Overall, very, very, good.
Boon Framboise
Frank pointed out that Lambic selected for raspberries is very young, only 7-8 months old when bottled. The beer was a deep red, but there was a clarity to the color. The flavor was rather sweet, but nice. Much more enjoyable than the Boon Kriek
Cantillon Rose de Gambrinus (Pinot d’Aunis)
(Thanks to the wonderful waitress, I was served two tastings) Pinot d’Aunis is a variety of grape known for a spicy/peppery flavor. While the traditional Rose is a framboise, there are no raspberries in this beer, only the grapes. Jean mentioned this was the world premier for this beer. The beer was a light pink in color, with an off white head. The aroma was very earthy and herbal. The flavor was a nice bouquet of herbs, spice and sour that worked perfectly on the tongue. Noted on my sheet, this was by far the best of the fruit Lambics at the summit.
Drie Fonteinen Schaerbeekse Kriek (Druiven Geuze Malvasia 2002)
My notes say this was bottled in 1994, I am not sure if this was “originally” bottled in 94, and this is the 2002 offering of the same beer, or if it was just cellared for 8 years prior to release.
The Malvasia grape is the only white wine grape from Tuscany. This is a rare beer as it is not legal to export raw wine grapes/juice from Italy. This juice was shipped as wine to the brewery,. But had much remaining sugar in the juice. There were 60 liters of juice added to 1 BBL (235 liters) of Lambic.
The beer was straw in color with a medium to high carbonation. The aroma was acidic and funky. To taste the beer was dry, but sweet, with a tannic bite and a nice funk/sour in the finish on the middle tongue. Good stuff.
Cantillon Classic Gueuze (LH 12)
Only 300 bottles have been made. This beer had spent 61 months in cognac barrels. The beer was golden in color, with no head or any lacing. While drinking you immediately notice the beer is 100% still, no carb at all. The aroma and flavor was earthy with a nice sourness, however there was also a mild oak flavor in the finish.
Armand’s Spirit
Armand's Spirit is a 40% abv eau de vie made from Drie Fonteinen geuze. This liquor came to be due to a faulty thermostat in the bottle cellar at Drie Fonteinen. The temperature rose, and many bottles exploded. Between Armand, his wife, and Frank Boon, they came up with a plan to make and Eau de Vie from the remaining, undamaged Geuze. The beer was distilled and bottles, mainly using the help of volunteers, only requiring a promise for Armand to remain open as payment for the service. The liquor was crystal clear. It smelled of strong alcohol, and drank in one swig. I will admit, I do not have a highly developed palette for liquor tasting, but this was interesting. It was quite smooth and had a nice flavor, almost that of a very top shelf tequila.
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