Drie Fonteinen Hommage - Brouwerij Drie Fonteinen

tpd975

Florida

2.93/5  rDev -34.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

A: Pours a pinkish red hue with an average sized pinkish white head that quickly disappears.

S: Lots of raspberry, strawberry, wild mild funky notes as well, and a weird sort of rubber smell.

T: There is some raspberry and loads of acid, but there is something wrong with this beer. The taste of burnt rubber dominates. I think something has gone wrong here. ISO another bottle to rerate.

M: Medium in body, a long rubber like after taste.

D: Nope, I really hope this one is infected.

Serving type: bottle

01-29-2010 00:03:05 | More by tpd975

sarro

Michigan

2.98/5  rDev -33.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Shared by fellow lambic enthusiast Weisguy for our small sour tasting. 750ml Valentine’s Day 2007 bottling ♥ Hommage pours medium amber red and not too dark to see through. The smell is crazy! I get very rotten, sweet fruit--especially raspberry--along with funky puke, poop, rhubarb & cheese. The taste definitely connects to the smell, but is much less offensive to me with tons of funky raspberry & hearty fruit. Mouthfeel is light-medium with moderate carbonation. The finish is not very dry, but a bit sweet. Not very close to what I was expecting and in a negative way because it was hard to get passed the smell. I think this may have been an off bottle or improperly stored. Will re-review if I get to try it again.

Serving type: bottle

05-11-2011 23:27:28 | More by sarro

Luk13

Quebec (Canada)

3.28/5  rDev -26.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Bottle side-by-side with Framboos 2011. Pale red with orange higlights and no head. Looks a little bit like a bad wine. Aroma has some of those rotten raspberries but there is also cherries and barnyard. Flavors are mostly cherries, cherry pie sweetness, old raspeberries and lemon acid. Low carbonation. This one was less bad than Framboos but not very good.

Serving type: bottle

10-28-2012 17:08:29 | More by Luk13

maximum12

Minnesota

3.55/5  rDev -20.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Huge thanks to MatSciGuy for breaking this open at a tasting, a brew I didn't think I'd ever see in a glass. Big 750 ML bottle, 2007 vintage.

Cautious small pour taken since lambics are hit-and-miss for me & I don't want to hoard a beer with a rep like this one. Looks like a nice rose wine, nice pop in it. Smell is a bit off-putting, like a hospital hallway with raspberry wallpaper, funk.

Hommage's reputation precedes it, & thankfully the taste leaves St. Joseph's behind. Hard-boiled raspberries & cherries, green apple, complement a sharp tartness; still plastic, but fainter than in the nose. Hair-dryer dry that moves from the inside to my lips, cheeks, & ears. Light, acidic, fruity, nice.

I hate to compare to the Coolship Red we had earlier, but it's inevitable: that brew was on a higher level. This one is good, but doesn't quite get to that top tier. Really glad to try it.

Serving type: bottle

12-24-2011 18:15:18 | More by maximum12

billshmeinke

California

3.58/5  rDev -19.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 4

Hazy brown/auburn color, not much head, specks of fruit skin.

Fruity, funky, cheesey, some brett. Champaigne and some phenols.

Mellow tartness and acedic character. Raspberry. Fruit character is still fairly present. A touch of phenolics, and tannic fruit skin.

Mouthfeel is thin, almost no carbonation.

Holding up quite well. Phenolics could make this bad, but they are in check enough to let the rest of the beer speak for itself.

Serving type: bottle

09-12-2011 17:47:37 | More by billshmeinke

kscaldef

Oregon

3.63/5  rDev -18.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

2007 bottling from DHL on 6/7/2012

The glasses arrive poured, filling the table with an intense raspberry aroma. The liquid is red with orange starting to appear around the edges. Sniffing from the glass, I pick up leather, barnyard, and light cheese. The beer is much fuller bodied than most gueuze or fruit lambic. The flavor is moderately-strong raspberry, not nearly as intense as the aroma, and quite cheesy. Carbonation is fairly low.

Honestly, this bottle was something of a disappointment. I've heard many people say this is as good or better than Framboos, which I've not had the opportunity to try, but I have to think that either that's not true, or Framboos is significantly overrated. At any rate, I certainly wouldn't go after this particular beer again.

Serving type: bottle

06-12-2012 22:07:26 | More by kscaldef

JDV

Texas

3.68/5  rDev -17.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Bottle shared by the legendary miketd. Thanks man!!
Pours a dense cranberry color with a very light thin head. Smell is funky, tart, cherries, and oak. Flavor is lightly funky, tart cherries and vinegar with a medium body. I got more cherry than raspberry from it. Pretty good and nicely sour.

Serving type: bottle

07-01-2008 18:29:44 | More by JDV

Crosling

Colorado

3.78/5  rDev -15.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Deep magenta color. Rich fruit flavor, it's nice to taste an authentic raspberry fruit flavor. I havent felt like I've had a good raspberry lambic in awhile, even with rose and oud beersel framboise. I don't love this beer, but it's a nice lambic style.

Serving type: bottle

06-09-2008 02:21:10 | More by Crosling

beerpirates

Belgium

3.83/5  rDev -14.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

75 cl bottle poured into a tasting glass

Partly cloudy rustbrown beer, no head.
Aroma: very fruity, raspberries, bit cheesy, little metallic.
MF: soft carbon, medium body.
Taste: fruity start, raspberries, very sour, quite cheesy as well , aftertaste is burning sourness, bit cheesy, little dirty, raspberry jam, bit metallic.
Not bad, but overhyped if you ask me... Maybe the age is catching up on this. Still worth drinking though.

Serving type: bottle

05-31-2013 15:05:58 | More by beerpirates

alcstradamus

Illinois

3.88/5  rDev -13.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a murky red/brown mix with a few bubbles but no real head.

The aroma is just dirty. Freaking filthy. Like the raspberry farmer picked his fruit the day after fertilizing the soil. A bit of an off-sulfuric note as well.

The flavor is exploding with loads of ultra sour raspberries. Dry and juicy all at the same time. Holy cow, this is a unique flavor profile. And a remarkable one really. Dirty, dusty, fruity, earthy, sour...all the normal adjectives I would use for the style and all of them magnified well beyond what I expected. Some vinegar present as well along with that sulfuric note I spotted in the aroma. Time probably hasn't done this bottle well, and yet I still really loved it. I can't wait to try it fresh when it is released again.

The body on this one is medium and the carbonation is very low but is fine as far as I'm concerned.

Overall this beer is would be world class if not for that one off-flavor. Can't wait to give it another shot.

Serving type: bottle

03-19-2011 22:20:50 | More by alcstradamus

ThePorterSorter

New York

3.9/5  rDev -12.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Thanks Brandon for sharing this 2007 bottle...

The beer pours a rusty brown with no head. The nose is a ripe, almost rotten, tomato that's very potent and possesses almost no sour. No additional fruit comes through. The taste changes to a beefy sour, but seems more like drinking a V8 with some gueuze mixed in. It almost tastes like rasberry, but not quite. The aftertaste is a slightly vegetal/fruity with an interesting bitterness that lingers. It's very drinkable regardless and presents an unlikely mix of both vegetable and fruit. Worth trying again, but I wouldn't hold onto this beer any longer...

Serving type: bottle

09-09-2012 19:37:07 | More by ThePorterSorter

LilBeerDoctor

New York

3.95/5  rDev -11.6%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Reviewed on 6/11/08. Bottle from Spuyten Duyvil. I was super excited to get to try this beer! Pours a dark red/pink with a beautiful light pink head. Aroma of oak, raspberry, and tartness. Flavor of sweet raspberries, tartness, sugar. Initially this was very sweet but got more sour as I drank it. Quite delicious but it doesn't beat Schaerbeekse for me.
8/5/8/4/16 (4.1/5)

Serving type: bottle

12-20-2008 15:14:49 | More by LilBeerDoctor

Thorpe429

Illinois

3.95/5  rDev -11.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Huge thanks to ygtbsm94 for opening this bottle last weekend. Served in a Bruery tulip.

Pour yields a bright red body with a thin white head that nearly immediately fades to a thin collar around the edges. The nose brings forward some slight earth along with quite a bit of musty raspberry. In the background, there's a bit of light oak. Overall, the nose is kind of like a damp vineyard. There's a bit of bandaid lingering in the background of the nose, though this disappears in the flavor. Taste has a good amount of raspberry and damp earth. Light wood and a moderate amount of acidity. Mouthfeel is light to medium with a sour, dry finish. Not too much funk anywhere, more toward a light earthiness. Overall, a very nice beer with the mouthfeel as the highlight.

Serving type: bottle

04-12-2011 13:27:31 | More by Thorpe429

badbeer

Iowa

3.98/5  rDev -11%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Beautiful clear ruby red color with a white head that sits atop it. Head falls gracefully until it just sticks around the glass. Aroma is largely of raspberries, but almost like a very light raspberry. I mean that in the sense that it isn't the over the top flavor and slight astringency one would get from actually eating a raspberry, it's more like a raspberry juice was used. There's also some definite cheesy notes in this that I find a bit distracting; various barnyard funk notes are also perceptible, but hidden beneath to me, which is unfortunate. Taste is another story, I actually enjoy it qutie a bit. Same thing again with the raspberry taste, there's no slightly astringent, kick-you-in-the-face raspberry flavor that I love, but it is enjoyable. Lactic tartness is one of the other things that comes right to the forefront, followed by some very pleasing funkiness. If this funkiness and/or the raspberries were a touch stronger, this beer would be much better, especially if some of the cheesy notes were no longer coming through in the nose. About medium carbonation with a decent body on the tongue, followed by a nice dry finish. A good beer that I'd surely have another of, however, price and availability do limit that.

Serving type: bottle

09-08-2009 00:02:06 | More by badbeer

merc7186

New York

3.98/5  rDev -11%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Bottled 2/14/07.
I had this beer poured from a bomber into a snifter glass.

A: Hazy Amber Hue, Passes Minimal Light, No Head, No Lacing

S: Sour Cherries, Tart Raspberries

T: Bitter Tomatoes, Tart Raspberries

M: No Carbonation, Medium Bodied, Sour

Overall, the sugary taste from the raspberries is long gone and now almost a tomato flavor...good but on the down slope.

Serving type: bottle

09-09-2012 03:03:26 | More by merc7186

AleWatcher

Illinois

4/5  rDev -10.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Shared my bottle with some other Ba's at a tasting...
Served in my Captain Lawrence tulip.

A clear pink. Hints of dark red, but very very transparent and translucent. Very small white head. Minimum hretentiin and virtually no lacing-- but thus to be expected from a fruited sour aged a few years.

Smells sweet and tart. Raspberries... Slight funk trying to poke through... The taste follows suit. Surprisingly sweet, but not cloying... The taste of raspberries is sweet and tart with a decent (but well-balanced) sourness.

The body is thin, but respectable. It holds more carbonation than it looks. It feels good in all aspects.

Very drinkable. Tasty and smooth with a nice solid bite of sour tartness. Not exactly everything I was hoping for, but quite good nonetheless.

Serving type: bottle

03-05-2011 23:58:37 | More by AleWatcher

oline73

Maryland

4.03/5  rDev -9.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

I was very excited to get the chance to try this with my wife at de heren van liedekerke. Poured from the bottle into a goblet.

Appearance: Pours a reddish cloudy amber with a half finger of off white head and good retention.

Smell: Fruity and creamy. I'm getting raspberries and strawberries. I could smell the berries before I even got close to the glass. Doesn't smell very tart.

Taste: Like the smell, the flavor is creamy and full of berries. I am only getting the raspberry here, not the strawberry note like in the nose. There is a tartness that works quite well with the fruit. The taste isn't weak, but it is very mellow. The finish is tart and fruity.

Mouthfeel: Medium body with very smooth carbonation and a dry finish.

Overall: This is a very good fruit lambic. It might have been a bit better a year or two ago, but still very nice. I probably won't have it again, but not because I wouldn't be willing.

Serving type: bottle

05-13-2012 21:48:39 | More by oline73

Lunch

Maryland

4.05/5  rDev -9.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Oh course ygtbsm94 has this in his cellar and of course he is willing to share it at a small tasting at his home. Thanks Brad!

Poured into my Russian River "tion" glass and this beer appears quite oily with a rather vibrant reddish brown appearance capped with just a slight bit of off-white head. Leaves some lace and looks very oily in the glass. I heard and read the descriptor "band-aid" used to when characterizing various funky beers, but up until this one I had never actually experienced in first hand. Smells exactly like a band-aid and this is quite musty and funky on the nose. Some aspects are appealing while other are a little off-putting. Getting some fruit in the form of raspberries that were perhaps sitting in someone basement wrapped in a ace bandage for a decade or two. The smell is unique enough and enticing enough to warrant a higher score than I might usually give for a bouquet as foul as this. Taste is certainly an improve as the band-aid has taken a backseat and the fruit, funk, tart, and sour qualities make a push to the forefront. Earthy raspberries are the focus and dare I say that the smell and the taste are worlds apart with the taste being highly superior. Very nice mouthfeel with spot-on carbonation. A nice lambic, but not necessarily earth-shattering in anyway.

Serving type: bottle

04-22-2011 03:55:26 | More by Lunch

FtownThrowDown

Ohio

4.1/5  rDev -8.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Generously opened and shared by Yetiman420 at a recent sour tasting.
Pours a murky reddish purple in color. There's about an inch of head/carbonation that forms on the pour and bubbles about the top of the glass.
Smell is very ripe and juicy fruits. Some raspberries and some lactic acid as well. Smells very juicy and inviting.
Taste is more sour fruit and a lot less funky. A decent amount of sour/tartness comes through in the flavor. Personally, I would like more funk and less fruit, I guess aging my bottle should accomplish this. Decent beer.

Serving type: bottle

08-28-2009 12:45:07 | More by FtownThrowDown

craytonic

District of Columbia

4.1/5  rDev -8.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Appearance: Sickly pink-ish head. Pour is a nice ruby-cranberry, beautiful with a backlight.

Smell: Cherries and raspberries, but not raspberry overload. The raspberries are more subdued, like a late-season fruit.

Taste: Raspberries, cherries, and a bit of must/funk. Once again, the raspberries were not nearly as strong as I expected. Also not a lot of sweetness, for which I am thankful.

Mouthfeel: Good carbonation, nice medium-full mouthfeel, a bit dry

Drinkability: Would prefer to share this one.

*NB - the raspberries are much more subdued in this one than I expected, would not age it further.

Serving type: bottle

09-01-2009 18:41:33 | More by craytonic

ffejherb

Pennsylvania

4.1/5  rDev -8.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

750ml bottle into goblet on 10/2/09. Thanks to FooFaa for bringing this to the SourFest.

A - Poured a cloudy, deep and murky rose-colored body with a thin eggshell head that reduced to a patchy veil and spotty lace.

S - Whoa! This is funkier than Flea's gym sock! Smells like if you perspired raspberry and cherry after working out at the gym all day. Extremely earthy and musty one minute, then woody the next. There's also a hint of Windex in there. Pungent and complex. Three more words come to mind: Sweaty. Tires. Berries.

T - Sour and oaky initial flavor with band-aid, sweat, musty and earthy tones all mingling together in beautiful disarray. Sour grapes soon weigh in. This beer is ridiculous. One sip is tame, while the next is just a palate-wrecking assault of sour pucker... tongue-numbing... burky burrr! Intense and insane!

M - Dry and acitic, and certainly overpoweringly astringent, Hommage is medium bodied with a syrupy texture and bristly carbonation, resulting in a sharp bite on the tongue.

D - Hommage is undoubtedly one of the most sour, oaky, astringent and complex brews I've ever come across. This beer will melt the tastebuds right off your tongue. This is a chameleon of a beer, to say the absolute least.

Brewslut's Quote of the Day:
"Dill pickle... sorry. A bucket of pickles."

Serving type: bottle

10-05-2009 18:23:10 | More by ffejherb

Huhzubendah

District of Columbia

4.13/5  rDev -7.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Bottle shared by ygtbsm94. Thanks Brad!

The beer is ruby hued with an oily, thin head that leaves a good amount of lacing on the glass. The aroma is very musty, funky, and fruity. Dank basement comes to mind. The flavor is quite tart, with plenty of raspberries and a hint of cherries. Also a bit of oddness and bandaids, though these characteristics don't completely overrun the beer. The finish brings a puckering sensation in the cheeks (the ones on your face). A quality lambic. Recommended.

Serving type: bottle

04-09-2011 20:32:16 | More by Huhzubendah

Gueuzedude

Arizona

4.15/5  rDev -7.2%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 5 | overall: 4

July 2007 Bottle Date; Sampled March 2010
Served lightly chilled at 60*F+
A careful pour into my 25cl tulip glass produces a two-finger thick, faintly pink tinged, off-white colored head. The beer is a deep red hue that shows a stunningly, brilliantly clear, bright red color that has touches of gold to it when held up to the light. The aroma smells of raspberry pits as I pour it and a deeper inspecting yields sweet raspberry flesh followed by medicinal phenolics, a touch of plastic notes and just a big Brettanomyces presence. The finish is quite phenolic all in all, but serves as a balancing note to the up front expressive fruit and light lactic tartness.

Quite dry tasting, which is quite different than young bottles, with a solid lactic tartness, a woody raspberry pit note, sour raspberry flesh and a medicinal / phenolic finish that doesn't come on quite as strong as it did in the nose. The body is quite creamy; perhaps even a touch slick, with a fullness that plays quite well with the other senses. This still has quite a chewy raspberry flavor to it, but now that it has dried out it is much more woody, more tannic seeming and has that green, almost vegetal quality that all dry, heavily fruited raspberry beers always get. I should mention that there is still some sweetness to this beer, it is well on its way towards drying out, but this will dry out even further over the coming years.

I will say that this still has quite a few years of life yet. It will also likely get better than it currently is; it should dry out a bit more, with much of the phenolics being changed and softened with time and perhaps other funky notes coming to the fore. This is still quite good, but I think I liked this better when it was fresh. There isn't enough developed funk and complexity in this right now to offset the loss of the fresh raspberry component that this had when young; I still have high hopes for this improving quite a bit over the next couple years though. So, in the end this is a bit simplistic to be a world class Lambic (at least this particular snapshot), though visually and texturally this is currently just about perfect.

Previous Review:
February 2007 Bottle Date, Sampled January 2008
4.1
3.5/4.5/4/4.5/4.5

Edited for length.

Not as intensely fruity as I was perhaps expecting, and it is on the soft side for a traditional Lambic (even for a 3 Fonteinen one). A bit harder, with a more pronounced fruit character would make this just about perfect. It seems to be missing that jam-like (sans sweetness of course) fruit intensity that I was expecting, though I like that this is quite dry and quaffable. Still this is a very good beer, though I have a feeling this won't age nearly as well as the Framboos has / did.

Serving type: bottle

01-06-2008 00:07:23 | More by Gueuzedude

WeisGuy

New York

4.15/5  rDev -7.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

750ml bottle, bottled February 2007. Thanks to pittsburghkid for the hookup.

Pours a deep rust color with a very light haze and thin white head. Head retention is light around the edges. Super funky with lots of red wine vinegar on the nose. Quite sharp and acetic with big tart raspberry aromas coming through as it warms. Taste is dominated by tart and lightly sweet fresh raspberries and huge funky notes. Lighter oak and vanilla sweetness on the finish mixed in with raspberry and funk. Medium-bodied with moderate carbonation and a lightly sweet and tart finish. Drinkability isn't extremely high on this one, but it's very complex and enjoyable nonetheless.

Serving type: bottle

01-19-2011 03:50:32 | More by WeisGuy

stakem

Pennsylvania

4.15/5  rDev -7.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Big thanks to Orangesol for sharing this. 2007 vintage poured into a taster. The brew appears a hazed ruby color with patchy lacing sticking to the glass. A swirl releases a thin film of bubbles across the top with some spots of lace clinging to the glass. Despite the brew having a reddish look about it, the edges appear more of an orange when held to the light.

The smell of this brew is all over the place with every whiff. First notes of diaper and plastic breath off the brew before turning more fruity as earthy. There is a deep goodness about this brew smelling like over-ripe to rotten raspberry mixed with vinegar and plastic. The raspberry quality has a very pitted aspect about it. As it warms up, it gets a little medicinal with hints of cooked cabbage. That might sound disgusting but it's actually quite pleasant.

The taste is tart with both a bacterial aspect as well as a natural tartness of raspberry. The fruit again carries with it an earthy appeal that seems pitted and natural. As the brew warms up, some notes of plastic intertwine along with oak, herbs, grass and cheese. The aftertaste has a minor hint of veggie quality and a bit of medicinal aspect.

This is a tart brew that is very funky. It is medium bodied with a modest level of carbonation. A very solid salivation factor follows each sip of this brew and there is seemingly no alcohol inclusion. It was nice to finally get a chance to try this brew and for that I say thank you Nate. With talks of this being released again, I look forward to seeing the difference with a more fresh bottle. Regardless, this one is worth seeking out.

Serving type: bottle

01-17-2012 19:53:55 | More by stakem