Changes

'''Website (Dutch/French/English):''' http://www.3fonteinen.be

'''Brewery contactlocation:'''

'''Phone:''' +32 (0)2 306 71 03  '''Address:''' Hoogstraat 2 a, 1650 Beersel (not open to the public)

Drie 3 Fonteinen is a lambic brewer and blender located in Beersel, and Lot Belgium. Drie 3 Fonteinen is currently headed by Armand Debelder, after he took over the brewing and blending side of the business from his father Gaston. There is also a cafe attached to the building, which is overseen by Armand's brother, Guido. In addition to lambics, Drie 3 Fonteinen also produces several other non-lambic beers including a blonde, lager, and porter, and witbier.

[[File:3FonteinenBrouwerij-2.jpg|thumb|right|Entrance to the 3 Fonteinen Brewery in Beersel]]Like many lambic breweries and blenders, the history of Drie 3 Fonteinen starts well before the official founding of the brewery. The founding of Drie 3 Fonteinen dates back to 1883 when Jacobus Vanderlinden and his wife Joanna Brillens opened an inn with a beer blending business on the side in the town of Beersel, now Hoogstraat 13, Beersel (currently “De Drie Bronnen”, renamded after Gaston and Raymonde moved out).<ref name=GeuzeKriek>Jef Van den Steen, [[Books#Geuze & Kriek: The Secret of Lambic Beer|Geuze & Kriek: The Secret of Lambic Beer]], 2012</ref> In Dutch, the name Drie 3 Fonteinen means ''three fountains'' and originally referred to the hand pumps that were used to serve the three types of beer at the inn: lambic, faro, and kriek.

The inn and café changed hands several times over the years until finally coming into the possession of Jean-Baptiste DenaeyerVanderlinden, son of Jacobus, who also became the mayor of the town of Beersel. Denaeyer Vanderlindend was widely considered to be the best lambic blender in town. At the same time, around the corner, the Debelder family was blending their own lambics at the Drie Bronnen (three springs) café. Without a successor, the original Drie Fonteinen café closed in In 1953. In 1961, Gaston Debelder, along with his wife Raymonde, purchased the building ,and named the business “3 Fonteinen”. In Dutch, the name 3 Fonteinen means three fountains and expanded their originally referred to the hand pumps that were used to serve the three types of beer: lambic blending business into , faro, and kriek. In 1961 the Debelder family buys a property on the Beersel church square. The building was demolished, but the innwarehouse underneath was preserved. Though Drie Fontenen3 Fonteinen's current owner Armand (Gaston’s son) refuses to put his lambics in kegs today, the original Drie 3 Fonteinen lambics were indeed kegged. In [[Books#Wild_Brews:_Culture_and_Craftsmanship_in_the_Belgian_Tradition|''Wild Brews: Culture and Craftsmanship in the Belgian Tradition'']], Sparrow notes that when Gaston and Raymonde took over the brewery, bottled beer was still a niche product. Before the war, “there was only lambic that you bought from brewers. The kegs that were kept in café cellars had to be emptied within 14 days. If the beer was not sold, it was tapped into bottles.” It is important to remember that at this point, the use of the term keg still likely referred to a small wooden caskrather than the modern, industrial steel kegs.<ref name=WildBrews>Jeff Sparrow, [[Books#Wild Brews: Culture and Craftsmanship in the Belgian Tradition|Wild Brews: Culture and Craftsmanship in the Belgian Tradition]], 2005</ref>

Gaston was eventually convinced to begin bottling his beer regularly. By all accounts, he was very pleased with the results and Drie Fonteinen lambic is only seen . The bottles were being stored underneath the building in bottles today the caveaus (hand-dug by Gaston), where bottling operations took place as well as on hand-pumps at . The bar experienced vast popularity in the café60s and 70s. Working with his two sons, Armand and Guido, the inn, café, and lambic blending business continued to be successful, though Drie 3 Fonteinen continued to experience the same ups and downs that every lambic brewery experienced in the last half of the twentieth century. Gaston eventually handed the business over to his two sons full-time in 1982. Armand became the head blender (and eventually brewer), while his brother Guido managed the café and restaurant. According to Van den Steen, by the 1990s the lack in popularity of lambic had reduced the number of lambic brewers available on the wholesale market to just three: [[Brouwerij Girardin|Girardin]], [[Brouwerij Lindemans|Lindemans]], and [[Brouwerij Boon|Boon]].<ref name=GeuzeKriek>Jef Van den Steen, [[Books#Geuze & Kriek: The Secret of Lambic Beer|Geuze & Kriek: The Secret of Lambic Beer]], 2012</ref> Though Girardin is no longer used by 3 Fonteinen, at least part of Drie 3 Fonteinen's blends may contain lambic whose wort originated at Boon or Lindemans. Though lambic and geuze beers lacked the widespread popularity of other beers, Armand’s [[3_Fonteinen_Oude_Geuze|Oude Geuze]] blend won the OBP (Objective Beer Tasters) award in 1993. From then on, the outlook for Belgium's lambic tradition began looking up.

In 1997, Armand became a founding member of [[HORAL|HORAL]], the High Council of Artisanal Lambic Beers, which strives for the protection of traditional lambic beers.<ref name=Horal3F>Horal, - 3 Fonteinen, http://www.horal.be/vereniging/3-fonteinen-beersel</ref> Until 19991998, Drie 3 Fonteinen was strictly a blendery. In 1998, Armand leased a computerized brewing system and had it installed, becoming the first new lambic brewery in decades, with his first batch brewed in on December 16, 1999. In the meantime, Armand would save up for his own installation. As this was the first new lambic brewery to be seen in Belgium for nearly eighty years<ref name=LambicLand>Tim Webb, Chris Pollard, Siobhan McGinn, [[Books#LambicLand: A Journey Round the Most Unusual Beers in the World|LambicLand: A Journey Round the Most Unusual Beers in the World]], 2010</ref>, many banks were unwilling to fund Armand’s venture to buy the necessary equipment. To help facilitate the purchase, Armand and his brother split the business, with Guido taking the restaurant café and Armand forming AD Bieren bvba, the corporate entity under which Drie 3 Fonteinen beers are brewed.<ref name=LambicLand>Tim Webb, Chris Pollard, Siobhan McGinn, [[Books#LambicLand: A Journey Round the Most Unusual Beers in the World|LambicLand: A Journey Round the Most Unusual Beers in the World]], 2010</ref> Brewing his own lambic, Armand was now able to fully manage his own product.

In the 1999-2000 season, Armand began to make preparations to begin foreign exports. In 2006, Drie 3 Fonteinen Oude Geuze and Oude Kriek received recognition and protection as a traditional Flemish regional product.<ref name=Horal3F>Horal, - 3 Fonteinen, http://www.horal.be/vereniging/3-fonteinen-beersel</ref> As the lambic revival picked up in the early 2000s, Drie 3 Fonteinen continued to be one of the most prolific and traditional producers.

[[File:3 Fonteinen Bottle Storage.jpg|thumb|left|Bottle storage at 3F3 Fonteinen]]

This huge financial loss of a year’s worth of product, coupled with the fact that the ten-year brewing equipment lease was about to run out, caused Armand to rethink the future of Drie 3 Fonteinen. The remaining capital invested in his own brewing system had to be divested to meet other financial obligations of the brewery. Armand’s last official brew of the pre-Thermostat Incident era was in March of 2009.<ref name=GeuzeKriek>Jef Van den Steen, [[Books#Geuze & Kriek: The Secret of Lambic Beer|Geuze & Kriek: The Secret of Lambic Beer]], 2012</ref>

Not all was lost, however; and the remaining bottles of Oude Geuze that had not been damaged beyond repair were distilled into an eau de vie called Armand’Spirit. This, along with the sale of special blends of Armand's remaining pre-incident lambics, has helped to re-secure Drie 3 Fonteinen’s future. In 20132012, the brewery installed a 40-hectoliter brewing system. The question of a successor to Armand is often brought up. CurrentlyPreviously, Michael Blancquaert is was working with Armand as an apprentice and has agreed to buy 50% of the brewery’s shares by 2017.<ref name=3fBrewing>Chuck Cook, [http://drinkbelgianbeertook over brewing operations in….com/breweries/3-fonteinen-brewing-again-in-beersel Drie Fonteinen: New Brewery, Same Great Beers], 2013</ref> After a four year hiatus to regroup and get the necessary equipment, Armand, along with Michael, is brewing his own lambic again and the future of Drie Fonteinen appears to be very strong.

In 20162015, Drie 3 Fonteinen signed paperwork to purchase a new warehouse facility in the city of Lot, near Beersel. That same year, barrels, and foeders began to be filled in the Lot facility. On Thursday September 1st, 2016, the 3 Fonteinen Lamik-O-Droom officially opened to the public for [[3_Fonteinen_Open_Beer_Days|3 Fonteinen Open Beer Days]]. This new facility currently houses barrels and foeders of lambic, the bottling and labeling line, as well as all of the conditioning bottles. In addition to the production facility, the Lambik-O-Droom houses a full tasting room including current, vintage, and specialty bottles and a retail shop are . It also located on sitecurrently includes a kickass vinyl selection.