3 Fonteinen Restaurant-Café: Difference between revisions

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The history of the Debelder family with 3 Fonteinen Café (most likely named that way, "3 fountains", because of the three hand pumps used to serve lambic behind the bar, though it is also possible that the 3 wells nearby might have been the reason as well) started in 1953, when Gaston Debelder and his wife Raymonde Dedoncker purchased the business, an inn already serving lambic blended in the cellar, which was common at the time.

For many years, the place was serving simple food like toast with local Pottekeis for people on the go, and lambic was a secondary activity to support the inn business. Originally, lambic was purchased from the Van Haelen brewery nearby in Calevoet (part of Beersel) until the ~~60's~~, when they moved the business to the church square after buying an old building they tore down to make way for a new one, carrying the name 3 Fonteinen along. They then purchased from De Neve and Brouwerij Winderickx (which closed in 69 after being acquired by De Boek-Goosens - Brasseries Unies - a year prior).

For many years, the place was serving simple food like toast with local Pottekeis for people on the go, and lambic was a secondary activity to support the inn business. Originally, lambic was purchased from the Van Haelen brewery nearby in Calevoet (part of Beersel) until the 1960s, when they moved the business to the church square after buying an old building they tore down to make way for a new one, carrying the name 3 Fonteinen along. They then purchased from De Neve and Brouwerij Winderickx (which closed in 69 after being acquired by De Boek-Goosens - Brasseries Unies - a year prior).

Lambic was transported to the inn by horse or truck and brought to the cellar using gravity, where it would be added to the barrels for ageing at the blender's discretion. At the time, the team had to carry everything down the tiny stairs by themselves, which included empty barrels (usually 40 to 50kg each) as well as empty bottles to be filled later, which Gaston Debelder and the rest of the team had to place on their shoulder by bags of 60 Champagne bottles of 75cl each (at about 900 gramms each it is over 50kg total), displaying serious labour<ref name=Guido25>Guido Debelder, interview with Gael of lambic.info, November 2025</ref>.

The inn used a variety of cellars (caveaux) for storage, that went up to 21 at some point. Each cellar could store about 3500 bottles of 75cl or 5000 bottles of 37,5cl, though some of these rooms were only filled with a handful of bottles, some others were fully packed. On a good sunday, they would sell about 20 boxes of 12x 75cl lambic bottles, which was quiet a turnaround and valuable business. It became a quiet popular spot, hosting regulars such as writer Herman Teirlinck and his friends.

The inn used a variety of cellars (caveaux) for storage, that went up to 21 at some point. Each cellar could store about 3500 bottles of 75cl or 5000 bottles of 37,5cl, bringing this to a capacity of 70 000 bottles of 75cl, though some of these rooms were only filled with a handful of bottles, while some others were fully packed. On a good sunday, they would sell about 20 boxes of 12x 75cl lambic bottles, which was quiet a turnaround and valuable business. It became a quiet popular spot, hosting regulars such as writer Herman Teirlinck and his friends.

While most of the sales were comprised of gueuze and kriek (at a ratio of approximately 60% of gueuze for 40% of kriek), they would also serve occasionally straight lambic from the barrel in jugs, as well as framboise (raspberry) and Faro from the hand pumps. Blending wasn't done as a precise science and the goal was to provide a soft, easy drinking lambic to visitors. Even though, some of these bottles still hold up perfectly to this day.

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 The history of the Debelder family with 3 Fonteinen Café (most likely named that way, "3 fountains", because of the three hand pumps used to serve lambic behind the bar, though it is also possible that the 3 wells nearby might have been the reason as well) started in 1953, when Gaston Debelder and his wife Raymonde Dedoncker purchased the business, an inn already serving lambic blended in the cellar, which was common at the time.
-For many years, the place was serving simple food like toast with local Pottekeis for people on the go, and lambic was a secondary activity to support the inn business. Originally, lambic was purchased from the Van Haelen brewery nearby in Calevoet (part of Beersel) until the 60's, when they moved the business to the church square after buying an old building they tore down to make way for a new one, carrying the name 3 Fonteinen along. They then purchased from De Neve and Brouwerij Winderickx (which closed in 69 after being acquired by De Boek-Goosens - Brasseries Unies - a year prior).
+For many years, the place was serving simple food like toast with local Pottekeis for people on the go, and lambic was a secondary activity to support the inn business. Originally, lambic was purchased from the Van Haelen brewery nearby in Calevoet (part of Beersel) until the 1960s, when they moved the business to the church square after buying an old building they tore down to make way for a new one, carrying the name 3 Fonteinen along. They then purchased from De Neve and Brouwerij Winderickx (which closed in 69 after being acquired by De Boek-Goosens - Brasseries Unies - a year prior).
 Lambic was transported to the inn by horse or truck and brought to the cellar using gravity, where it would be added to the barrels for ageing at the blender's discretion. At the time, the team had to carry everything down the tiny stairs by themselves, which included empty barrels (usually 40 to 50kg each) as well as empty bottles to be filled later, which Gaston Debelder and the rest of the team had to place on their shoulder by bags of 60 Champagne bottles of 75cl each (at about 900 gramms each it is over 50kg total), displaying serious labour<ref name=Guido25>Guido Debelder, interview with Gael of lambic.info, November 2025</ref>.
-The inn used a variety of cellars (caveaux) for storage, that went up to 21 at some point. Each cellar could store about 3500 bottles of 75cl or 5000 bottles of 37,5cl, though some of these rooms were only filled with a handful of bottles, some others were fully packed. On a good sunday, they would sell about 20 boxes of 12x 75cl lambic bottles, which was quiet a turnaround and valuable business. It became a quiet popular spot, hosting regulars such as writer Herman Teirlinck and his friends.
+The inn used a variety of cellars (caveaux) for storage, that went up to 21 at some point. Each cellar could store about 3500 bottles of 75cl or 5000 bottles of 37,5cl, bringing this to a capacity of 70 000 bottles of 75cl, though some of these rooms were only filled with a handful of bottles, while some others were fully packed. On a good sunday, they would sell about 20 boxes of 12x 75cl lambic bottles, which was quiet a turnaround and valuable business. It became a quiet popular spot, hosting regulars such as writer Herman Teirlinck and his friends.
 While most of the sales were comprised of gueuze and kriek (at a ratio of approximately 60% of gueuze for 40% of kriek), they would also serve occasionally straight lambic from the barrel in jugs, as well as framboise (raspberry) and Faro from the hand pumps. Blending wasn't done as a precise science and the goal was to provide a soft, easy drinking lambic to visitors. Even though, some of these bottles still hold up perfectly to this day.