Armand'4 Oude Geuze Zomer (Summer) - Brouwerij Drie Fonteinen

smakawhat

Maryland

4.54/5  rDev -2.4%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5

Poured from the bottle, cork is just bulging out of the foil with the cage barely hanging on, into a Drie Fonteinen crystal stem glass. Huge pop, and a large gush with some saving, luckily didn't loose too much.

A real gorgeous looking beer. Honey peach orange glowing, opaque, with a roaring column of middle fast carbonation. Head retention in gigantic, with huge bubble bath and shampoo like appearance. Off white and tan colored head, with a creamy top as it settles. One impressive looking brew.

Nose is just full of deep earth and large funky notes. Hints at barrel aging round character (is this barrel aged I have no idea?) full and luscious, toasty also. Large amounts of pepper, and dirt and soil grit. It's large but in control, a little bit one dimensional. Floral components come when the beer is quite warm though, it smells like a tilled earthy garden.

Big lemon tartness mixing with large funk qualities. Soft acidic feel, but a sharp hot white pepper, in fact pepper continues to come out often, with a little bit of bready malt character. Giant earth qualities, with a hotness not coming from alcohol. I keep thinking of stinky cheese when I drink this even though it doesn't taste like cheese luckily. Super spritzy carbonated but with a good thick body and thick pepper finish.

It's very impressive, I just wish it was a little more complex and diverse. It is without question a gueuze heads beer. I would love to try the other seasons to see if they are better, cause if they are then those beers would just be phenomenal.

Serving type: bottle

05-06-2013 23:38:24 | More by smakawhat

sweemzander

Illinois

4.83/5  rDev +3.9%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

750mL corked and caged bottle poured into a snifter. Major thanks and kudos to Kevan for generously sharing this with us!

(A)- Pours a cloudy golden orange hue that produced a subtle but pure white froth and lacing left behind.

(S)- Such a lovely dry but funky cheese with lemon peel and an earthy oaky quality that is just that excellent to breathe in. It gets more fruity as it warms revealing pineapple and maybe even a slight hint at orange.

(T)- Just an awesome showing of bright pineapple and lemon citrus. Subtle but complex funk and smooth yet oaky acidity with earthy complexion. Really dynamic in that my review probably fails to describe it fully.

(M)- Such a vibrant yet complex carbonation level and balance. Incredibly dynamic and exciting with a great play on acidic citrus meets a perfectly dry yet funky oak.

(O)- This is just further proof to me that Armand is the premier gueuze blender, if not the BEST in the world. Superbly complex yet balanced and a wonderful gueuze to enjoy. Another serious thank you to Kevan for sharing this!

Serving type: bottle

04-08-2013 20:58:32 | More by sweemzander

jsm1289

New York

4.93/5  rDev +6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

to be sour, or not to be sour? that is the question....

Let it be known, on the 2nd day of April, 2013, that I have had the best sour I have ever had. It was a difficult day , trivial at best, filled with professional obligations, chaos and silliness. The Armand4' zomer traveled from my fridge at home with me to work, where it laid in wait in a drawer with my smelly gym shorts. I opened my drawer at least ten times, looking at the label of the belgian country side, hoping i could be transported there so I could frolic in the grass with all the aging gueze barrels rolling in the hills. Alas that dream was not meant to be for now, but no matter.... I had a gueze to drink !

I knew something magical was about to happen, as my gueze crew unwrapped the bottle to reveal a cork that was slowly rising and popped with a gentle hissing noise... all on its own! The smell was strong lemon zest, gueze funk and a touch of sweetness and farmyard odor. The taste was highly carbonated , with a strong lemon zest and gueze funk flavor from start to finish. Incredibly smooth and drinkable, it was marvelous.

This would normally be where the review would finish. However, some spicy beef and broccoli and the knicks game halted my zomer experience temporarily. We let the zomer air for an additional twenty minutes while the chinese food was cleansed from our palates. When we had returned to it something amazing happened.. the flavor profile changed entirely. I am talking a total change! I got huge gueze funkiness with a deep barnyard, leather notes practically transporting me to farm in the belgian countryside. It tasted almost identical to izzy at this point, super funkiness, some cheese and stink notes just smashing my palate and then dancing majestically over the broken pieces.

When you can taste like a fantastic lemony gueze and then taste like Isabelle proximus a short while later, you win the quidditch cup in my book.

Serving type: bottle

04-04-2013 02:01:00 | More by jsm1289

Knapp85

Pennsylvania

4.24/5  rDev -8.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

This poured out as a hazy yellow color with a big foamy white head on top. Even with the gentlest of pours this beer is very active. The retention is pretty strong on this as well as the lacing. The look of the beer is really nice. The smell of the beer is funky, not much else to say... it's like bile or some other form of acidic pungent aromas. The taste of the beer is tart, also more funk with a sharp lemon zest in there also. The mouthfeel has a lot of sharp carbonation to it. Overall this beer is a good representation of the style. It's not an easy one to get so I'm glad I got to try it.

Serving type: bottle

02-16-2013 19:55:48 | More by Knapp85

JoEBoBpr

Missouri

5/5  rDev +7.5%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Drie Fonteinen Armand'4 Oude Geuze Zomer (Summer)

Poured into a tulip glass from a 750ml bottle. Tasted on New Years Eve. Happy New Years!

Pours a deep and hazy golden/orange color with a nice sticky and medium dense white head. Retention is great. Very sticky and leaves some nice lacing as the head recedes down from 1 inch to a nice mat. (5.0)

Tartness comes up strong on the nose with vinegar notes and some slight salty funk. There is also some nice fruit juice tartness. There is some good cornhusk notes and grassy funk mixed in so well with the tart notes. (5.0)

The flavor is amazing. Clean and crisp. Lemony notes with some good vinegar and fruity tart notes. Some fresh citrusy tartness mixed in with other sour fruit notes such as pineapple and some peach even. Amazing! The husk, barnyard notes and funk blend so well with these fruity notes and with the earthy grain. Amazing brew with nice lively carbonation that surprisingly makes the beer very smooth. (5.0)(5.0)

This series of 4 seasonal Geuze’s have been amazing. I think this and Spring are my favorites with this taking a slight edge. Great smooth and complex flavors that each shine on their own but intermingle so well. The wild yeast vinegar tartness and the fruit tartness are amazing and work very well with the yeasty funk. Perfection.(5.0)

Serving type: bottle

01-05-2013 23:57:36 | More by JoEBoBpr

starrdogg

District of Columbia

4.43/5  rDev -4.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Beer pours a hazy brownish-gold with a fluffy white head, not nearly as bubbly as the Winter or Herfst. Smell is oaky and a good bit funkier and sweeter than the other two. Oddly, this tastes a bit like a blend of the Winter and Herfst that takes the best elements of both of those beers and puts them together. It's incredibly well-balanced and drinkable, but also has a great depth of flavor. It's an awesome mix of sour, funk, oak and fruitiness. Mouthfeel is light-medium bodied with nice carbonation. Overall this is my 2nd favorite of the Armand'4s after Lente, it's damn impressive.

Serving type: bottle

12-30-2012 03:06:09 | More by starrdogg

UCLABrewN84

California

4.4/5  rDev -5.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Thanks to wethorseblanket for sharing this one at mrbubbler's "end of the world" tasting.

Pours a murky orange with a foamy orange-beige head that settles to a film on top of the beer. Small dots of lace form around the glass on the drink down. Smell is sour, tart, and funky with some grain and acidic aromas. Taste is much the same with an acidic finish. This beer has a good level of carbonation with a crisp mouthfeel. Overall, this is a very good beer and another great gueuze from Armand.

Serving type: bottle

12-23-2012 05:02:45 | More by UCLABrewN84

Arbitrator

California

4.58/5  rDev -1.5%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Bottle shared by Nanoslug. Thanks, Anna!

A: Pours a hazy orange-gold body with a half-finger of off-white head.

S: Smells of intense funk, like back-of-knee cheese, mushroom, damp earthy forest floor, lemon, Chardonnay, oak. The intense aromatic bloom is stylistically DF, but the funk is much more developed and overpowering than other DF gueuzes, even the others in the Armand 4' series. Note: this is a good thing, as I much prefer this school of gueuze to the overwhelmingly-acidic school.

T: Lemon, green apples, white wine grapes. It's minerally in the mid-taste with a strong undercurrent of earth, must, hay, and grass throughout -- the funk manifesting on the palate. I like the touch of residual sweetness on the back end; it contrasts well with the small lactic sourness.

M: Light-plus bodied; it isn't fully attenuated, and the lingering sweetness gives the finish a nice accent.

O: It's interesting that while gueuze was originally developed to be a light, refreshing lunchtime beer, the American fascination with aging to bring out more potent flavors resulted in the pursuit of blends like this one. I'm not complaining, but it is interesting to see what the most popular / highest-regarded examples of the style have come to be...

Serving type: bottle

10-17-2012 00:58:55 | More by Arbitrator

emerge077

Illinois

4.1/5  rDev -11.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Thanks Mark for sharing this with everyone! It was a special highlight, glad I got the chance to try it. Served in a small snifter glass.

Frothy pour with a thin veil of delicate lacing, bright crystalline orange body. After a few sips the foam parted, leaving behind a broken skim.

Citrusy aroma with a pleasantly musty oak character, wet wood and bright citrus dominate.

Flavors follow, with plenty of tart citrus fruitiness, restrained dry oak, signature stable funk, and a soft mellow dryness that lingers. Medium bodied, champagne effervescence at first. Seemed to mellow out after a little bit. A nice gueuze no doubt, but it feels like "emperors new clothes" compared to other very similar 3F blends.

Serving type: bottle

09-19-2012 03:22:27 | More by emerge077

ArrogantB

Colorado

4.15/5  rDev -10.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Had this directly following Lente which may have been a mistake because that beer was very hard to follow. This was solid and easily distinguished from the other Armand '4 gueuzes. Not quite sour but funky, thick, minerals, lemons, good stuff. I liked this quite a bit and I would also say that each one of these Armand '4 beers really stands out as being of a higher quality than most of the Drie Fonteinen gueuzes that I have drank.

Serving type: bottle

09-19-2012 02:05:10 | More by ArrogantB

stoutluvr420

Vermont

4.65/5  rDev 0%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

Lucky enough to have a glass @ Ebinezers, Belgian Night '11. Pours hazy amber with a nice off-white head. Aroma is beautiful; pungently sour, with solid grassiness, and an unusal crushed spinach element. The taste has a big dose of grassy peach, along with some grapefruit and nice funk & sourness. Medium thin, crisp mouthfeel with a good long finish. Overall, a great gueuze that I am glad that I had the opportunity to try. Thanks Chris.

Serving type: bottle

09-17-2012 00:46:01 | More by stoutluvr420

Thehuntmaster

South Africa

4.73/5  rDev +1.7%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

750ml bottle 6,0% Abv.
Served chilled in an over sized wine glass.
Best Before 03/2020

Appearance: Another fantastic looking geuze from Armand, perhaps the best one yet - lightly hazed, bright golden-orange body topped by a massive white head. The head retention is phenomenal for a sour and the lacing is simply sublime, with thick clumps of foam left clinging to the upper reaches of the glass.

Smell: Ahhh man, from the very first sniff it is clear that this is another winner from Drie Fonteinen - potentially on the same level as Lente!
Tart fruits dominate the initial nose, but after a few sniffs the signature 3F funk begins to show itself and after a while is as prominent (if not a little more so) as the fruits.
Notes include: Lemon (zest and juice), orange zest, green apples, dry grass, musty basement, moss, old wood, a touch of mature farmhouse cheese, tart apricots, white grapes (there is a light Chardonnay character as the beer warms), oak, some leafy vegetation and a touch of sweetness.

Taste: As expected, Zomer is absolutely delicious. As with the nose, the flavour is comprised of a fantastic combination of tart fruits and funk. Notes include: Tart citrus, green apple peel, white grapes (with a hint of sweetness), apricot, cider vinegar, musty basement, wet hay, dry grass and a fairly large oak character.
Moderate tartness and a fairly dry finish.

Mouthfeel: Light body (maybe a little over), with a high level of fairly fine carbonation. Highly drinkable and very refreshing - a perfect summer beer!

Overall: Another fantastic beer in the Armand'4 series and one of the best geuzes I have had to date. I will certainly be getting a few more bottles to enjoy over the course of the summer.

Serving type: bottle

09-13-2012 22:00:00 | More by Thehuntmaster

Mbrown44

Delaware

4.83/5  rDev +3.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Appearance is apricot orange with minimal lacing. Huge barnyard funk wild yeast aroma. There is a perfect balance between acidity and tartness, which is lemony and bright w/ citrus. The flavor is complex starting with citrus and finishing spicy and peppery. This blend is not simply sour, finding a mixture between funk and sourness that is perfect.

Serving type: bottle

08-10-2012 02:09:57 | More by Mbrown44

Huhzubendah

District of Columbia

4.6/5  rDev -1.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

After having small samples of this on a couple of occasions, I decided to pull one of these from the cellar to share with my wife. An appropriate beer to start summer vacation.

The beer is golden hued and mildly hazy with a towering, fluffy white head.

The aroma brings a lot of citrus, classic Drie Fonteinen funk, hay, grass. Smells fantastic.

Top notch flavor as well. Smooth, tart, funky. Ample citrus throughout.

Light bodied and really easy to drink. Complex and wonderful.

Overall, another world class gueuze from Armand. Highly recommended.

Serving type: bottle

07-29-2012 16:50:04 | More by Huhzubendah

eduardolinhalis

Switzerland

4.75/5  rDev +2.2%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

750ml bottle served in a Tumbler glass.

A: Pours a cloudy orange color forming a huge fizzy, noisy, bubbled white head when poured. Good retention and many lacings left

S: Nose is mainly tart and fruity. White grapes, apples and pears. Lambic yeasts are really noticed

T: Follows the nose, tart, fruity and Gueuze. Caramel malts. In overall, an acid beer. Metallic taste. Upfront is slightly sweet followed by a dry taste and a tart and mild bitter aftertaste

M: Light body. Medium to low carbonation. Tart aftertaste

O: Excellent beer. Delicate Drie Fonteinen style, at the same time, powerful Gueuze specimen. Highly recommended

Serving type: bottle

07-28-2012 17:37:56 | More by eduardolinhalis

DefenCorps

Oregon

4.3/5  rDev -7.5%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Bottle at our Drie Fonteinen tasting last night

Orange, mildly hazy with a dense white head with excellent retention and gorgeous lacing, this looks perfect, as did the rest of the Armand' 4 lineup. The nose is a lot mustier, funkier, sharper and tarter than Lente. Earthier, deeper and fruitier, this is an excellent blend IMO.

The palate opens sharper and fruitier than Lente. Tart and sour with lemony and lactic acids lending a brightness, this beer is musty, a little more tannic and a little more heavy on the oak than the Lente. Some toasted bread is present, but less so than in Lente. Medium-light in body, highly carbonated, this is drying and sour on on the finish with a mild lactic acid bite. Excellent stuff.

Serving type: bottle

07-25-2012 15:23:31 | More by DefenCorps

Parrotshake

Australia

4.7/5  rDev +1.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Super good-time birthday/QLD beer week lambic tasting with the only other dude I know who likes lambic as much as I do, and whose birthday it also is. It was meant to be.

Cork came out with a mighty pop and a not-insignificant amount of this special and expensive beer immediately rushed out onto the floor. Geez. Poured into a couple wineglasses. Turbid amber with a monster head. I can smell it across the room. Farm (every part of a farm - fruit, moldy hay, animal poop). Properly funky and very appetizing.

Tart green apple and grapefruit bring the tingles to the corners of my mouth, followed by a big funk that gradually unfolds across the tongue - dry leaves, cold sore cream, wet wood, mushroomy cellar notes, more apple, more grapefruit. A note of sweetness underneath it all. Not the most complex gueuze I've ever had but probably the one with the biggest flavors, and integrated to a mystical degree. Finishes really clean so every sip is a contemplative break, and then BAM.

A little chewier than most lambics, which I like, but still utterly refreshing. Really well put together. I'm not one to keep track but it might be one of the two or three best beers I've had to date.

Serving type: bottle

07-22-2012 14:09:42 | More by Parrotshake

Alieniloquium

Florida

4.13/5  rDev -11.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

750 mL bottle poured into a snifter. Bottle dated 3/26/2010. Reviewed from notes.

Appearance - Another gusher. Orange and hazy with a big head. Better retention than Lente, but otherwise a similar looking beer.

Smell - Bigger funk to this than Lente. Less citrus, but has more of a distinct orange aroma. The funk is like an aged aged. Very nice and distinctly different from Lente.

Taste - Heavy funk. Much heavier than Lente. Verging on a vinegar acidity. Dry and less fruity than I'd like. Herbal hops in the finish.

Mouthfeel - Dry. Cottonmouth dry, really. Puckering from the dryness, but not really from the sourness. Not as high in carbonation.

Overall - Good, but a step down from Lente. Hefty funk character that actually makes it feel a little sluggish. On to Herfst!

Serving type: bottle

07-20-2012 00:04:17 | More by Alieniloquium

beerhan

Ohio

4.38/5  rDev -5.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Opened to celebrate/enjoy my last free night this summer.

A-Beautiful pour, lots of foam and a huge head. Crisp opaque amber brown with a lot of bubbles. The only thing this loses point on here is the mess this thing makes upon opening. Freeze before opening to prevent as it is quite the gusher.

S-Lemon, grass, wet hay. Very aromatic like a summer field in the country.

T-Lots of lemon, pepper and oak shine through with a bready-wheat taste right behind. Slightly sour but not overpoweringly tart.

M-Very carbonated but not too harsh on the tongue. Bubbles tickle the throat but it is still rather light

O-This is a great beer especially for summer. It loses points on two things: the massive gush that follows the popping of the cork and the price. Fantastic but the price makes this a very rare treat. I did find this to remind me more of an imperial berlinner weisse if that is even possible but it is tasty and messy.

Serving type: bottle

07-17-2012 03:17:55 | More by beerhan

Etan

Illinois

4.35/5  rDev -6.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Poured from a 750ml into a tulip.

A: Pours a darkish murky orange with a huge off-white head. Rocky and great lacing.

S: Earthy berries, slight citrus, raspberry seed, mellow wheat. Strong lemony tartness and earthy funk comes out as it warms.

T: Much cleaner and fruitier than the nose. Tart berries, sweet wheat and juice, lemon, slight vinegar. Funk is lactic and bright compared to the wet earthiness of Herfst and Winter. Very fruity. Bright and sweet with a clean acidity.

M: Light to medium-bodied, soft carbonation.

O: Certainly seems like it could be the brightest, sweetest, and most fruity of the four (which matches the season perfectly).

Serving type: bottle

07-08-2012 17:35:38 | More by Etan

rodkin

Missouri

4.74/5  rDev +1.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75

I removed the plastic cover on the cork, and before I even got a chance to touch the cork itself, it shot out. Literally hit the ceiling, and a ridiculous amount of foam came out. Be careful, this is a gusher. Other than that, pours a slightly hazy medium orange, kind of like an IPA. Really big fluffy head, about 4 fingers. Reduces nicely, leaving some lacing.

Aroma is great. Big citrus and some mustiness, some tart green apple. Really big juicy, fruity aroma. Some tartness and funk, a bit of hay. Excellent.

Taste is like the nose. Fruit, funk, slightly must hay. Nice and tart, but not overwhelmingly so. This is superb, probably the best sour I've ever had. It's really ridiculously fruity, yet not cloying and still tart. Excellent.

Oh my god the mouthfeel is absolutely perfect. Light, dry, very bubbly and ever so slightly cream carbonation. Perfect.

This beer is wonderful, and very, very drinkable. It's great as a summer beer, and fits exactly what I want for the season. Light, fruity, juicy, tart, refreshing. One of the 3 best beers I've ever had.

Serving type: bottle

07-06-2012 04:55:58 | More by rodkin

birchstick

Missouri

4.23/5  rDev -9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours an orangish yellow with a soft white head. Nose is sour lemons, barnyard, and straw. Taste is very tart, sour lemon upfront that moves to a little vinegar and some soft green apples. Mouth is soft and smooth. Overall, this is a really solid gueze. Looking forward to trying the rest of the series. 

Serving type: bottle

06-24-2012 14:37:11 | More by birchstick

brystmar

New York

4.53/5  rDev -2.6%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Shared with friends at last night's sour tasting. Gorgeous pour, tons of white head and lace. Beautiful!

Aroma is pretty subtle though, with funky yeast and a mild fruitiness.

Complex and meticulously balanced flavor profile. Sourness and acidity are perfectly balanced too. A touch spicy. Really, really good.

Medium body, great carbonation. Can't wait to try the other seasons -- need MOAR!

***

Re-reviewed in a better setting during our Memorial Day sour tasting. Best part about this tasting was not having hookah smoke in my face while trying to enjoy my beer. <3 Armand

Serving type: bottle

06-02-2012 16:55:28 | More by brystmar

claspada

New Jersey

4.48/5  rDev -3.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Bottle graciously shared by mrand01.

Pours a really nice bright golden yellow color with a fluffy white head and some solid lacing.

The aromas begin with bright notes of citrus and lemon zest. Then you get plenty of cheesy funk, grassiness and earthiness. This is the funkiest beer I have ever smelled.

The tastes follow the nose with plenty of grass, lemon zest and sour apple. Solid, musty barnyardy funk and plenty of grassiness and earthy flavors. Mild acidity in the finish.

The mouthfeel is medium bodied with medium carbonation. Crisp carbonation and a dry finish with solid earthy funk throughout.

Overall this is far superior to any other Gueuze I have had to date by a long shot, which says a lot because I have a 2007 Drie Fonteinen Oude Geuze earlier this afternoon. I am not sure how this compares to the other 3 seasonal blends but I cannot recommend this any higher for fans of this style.

Serving type: bottle

05-29-2012 15:02:58 | More by claspada

illidurit

California

4.43/5  rDev -4.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Bottle courtesy of PaulyDeets, shared at the May 2012 iteration of the Santa Cruz tasting series. Hazy orange color. Aroma is immediately very grassy and floral, like a stroll through a meadow, with a solid citric tartness. Flavor is sour lemon with a deep refreshing acidity and an almost minty quality. Dry and sour.

Serving type: bottle

05-28-2012 21:01:10 | More by illidurit