Changes

In the 1999-2000 season, Armand began to make preparations to begin foreign exports. In 2006, 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, 3 Fonteinen continued to be one of the most prolific and traditional producers.

This all changed on May 16, 2009. As Armand entered his warehouse in Essenbeek that day, he was met with a blast of hot air that signified a massive failure of the climate control mechanism. The "Thermostat Incident," as it would come to be called, was the result of a faulty thermostat causing the hot air blower to not turn off. As a result, the temperature had risen to as high as 60 degrees Celsius (140 degrees Fahrenheit) essentially cooking over 80,000 bottles of lambic and causing some of them to explode. Only some bottles of the Oude Kriek were salvageable and today are affectionately known as “Hot Cherry” bottles amongst lambic aficionados.

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 3 Fonteinen’s future. In 2012, the brewery installed a 40-hectoliter brewing system. The question of a successor to Armand is often brought up. Previously, Michaël Blancquaert, who had been helping with brewing and blending operations since 2010 stepped in and began brewing alone in 2013. At the same time, he began selecting which barrels of lambic to blend, and together with Armand started to learn how to blend. In 2015, Michaël's firt solo blends were the [[3_Fonteinen_Cuvée_Armand_&_Gaston|Cuvée Armand & Gaston]] blends.

In the summer of 2015, 3 Fonteinen signed paperwork to purchase a new warehouse facility in the city of Lot, near Beersel which consolidated the various locations where barrels were being stored between Beersel and Halle. 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]], while the process of moving all of the barrels was finally completed in 2018.

== Photos ==

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