3 Fonteinen Schaerbeekse Kriek

3F Schaerbeekse Kriek

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Description

3 Fonteinen Schaerbeekse Kriek is a special oude kriek bottling made exclusively with young lambic and wild Belgian Schaerbeekse cherries. The lambic and cherries are aged together for four months before bottling. Though 3 Fonteinen's official website lists Schaerbeekse Kriek as 8% ABV, it is labeled as 6% ABV. Schaerbeekse Kriek is bottled in 750 mL bottles and is available both in Europe and North America.

In Europe, the labels read "Oude Kriek van Schaerbeekse Krieken - 35%". This is not an indication that 35% of the cherries in the beer are Sckaerbeekse cherries. Rather, this is because the beer has 210g/L of cherries (35% of the 600 L barrel are cherries).

History / Other Notes

The brewery notes on their website that the production of this beer is often driven by the amount of Schaerbeekse cherries that can be sourced from local residents during the growing season. The Schaerbeekse Kriek cherries come from a tree that grows in the wild which is becoming increasingly scarce.

Label Log

• 
  U.S. Label, Schaerbeekse Kriek
• 
  European label, Schaerbeekse Kriek
• 
  Alternate European label, Schaerbeekse Kriek

European Bottle Text (Vintage):
Young lambic with Schaerbeekse cherries added. Unfiltered. Spontaneous refermentation in the bottle. No colors or other additives.

European Bottle Text (Current):
Young lambic with 35% Schaerbeekse cherries added. Unfiltered. Spontaneous refermentation in the bottle. No colors or other additives. Lambic is brewed from 60% malted barley, 40% wheat, hops, and water

US Import Bottle Text:
Made only with malt, wheat, hops, water, and whole ripe cherries, entirely spontaneously fermented with wild yeasts. A rare, completely natural, traditional lambic beer, with no added sugars, syrups, artificial colors or flavors. For ages, very rare Schaerbeek cherries have been prized by brewers for the deep rich color and flavor they give to Kriek beer.

Bottle Log

Bottle Date (mm/dd/yyyy)	Bottle Size	Label / Notes	Image Link
01/18/2003	750 mL	Old white/cream label
04/05/2004	750 mL	Old white/cream label	-
03/01/2005	750 mL	-	-
03/22/2006	750 mL	European Label	-
02/26/2007	750 mL	European Label
10/17/2008	750 mL	US Label	-
04/28/2010	750 mL	US & European Labels, black foil
04/25/2011	750 mL	European Label	-
04/26/2011	750 mL	-	-
12/23/2011	750 mL	European Label	-
01/30/2015	750 mL	European Label, first release since 2011	-
06/09/2016	750 mL	European label	-
07/19/2017	750 mL	41st blend of the 2016-17 season with fruit harvested in 2016. 365 days of maceration with kriek. 6.2%	-
04/25/2018	750 mL	53rd blend of the 2017-18 season. This Schaarbeekse Kriek was macerated for 10 months. The lambic in this blend originated from 4 barrels and 6 brews, all of which are 3 Fonteinen lambics with the oldest having been brewed on 16 November 2016. The final fruit intensity is 382 grams of Schaarbeekse kriek per liter.
07/10/2019	750 mL	89th blend of the 2018-19 season. This Schaerbeekse Kriek has a full year macerating in a tank. The lambic comes from five vats and twelve different brews, the oldest of which was brewed in April 2017. The ifnal fruit intensity is 353 grams of Scaherbeekse Kriek per liter. 100% 3 Fonteinen.
07/10/2019	750 mL	90th blend of the 2018-19 season. This Schaerbeekse Kriek has macerated for a full year in a foeder. The lambic comes from four different barrels and ten different brews with the oldest having been brewed in 2017. The final fruit intensity is 353 grams of Scaherbeekse kriek per liter. 100% 3 Fonteinen.
08/07/2019	750 mL	99th blend of the 2018-19 season. This Scaherbeekse Kriek has thirteen months of maceration in a toasted barrel. The lambic comes from five barrels and ten brews. The final fruit intensity is 286 grams of Schaerbeekse Kriek per liter. 100% 3 Fonteinen.
08/26/2020	750 mL	73rd blend of the 2019-20 season. For this Schaarbeekse Kriek, we macerated locally grown and manually harvested sour cherries for almost fourteen months in wooden barrels, with both one-year and two-year old lambik. The final fruit intensityy is about 318 grams of Schaarbeekse per liter of finished Schaarbeekse Kriek. The average age of this beer upon release will be at least two and a half years. 100% 3 Fonteinen.
09/02/2020	750 mL & 1.5 L	74th blend of the 2019-20 season. For this Schaarbeekse Kriek, we macerated locally grown and manually harvested sour cherries for almost fourteen months in wooden barrels, with both one-year and two-year-old lambik. The final fruit intensity is about 350 grams of Schaarbeekse per liter of finished Schaarbeekse Kriek. The average of this beer upon release will be around two-and-a-half years. 100% 3 Fonteinen.
01/25/2021	750 mL	20th blend of the 2020-21 season. "Cuvée Mireille". Mireille is one of more than seven Schaarbeekse orchard owners who we source our local Schaarbeekse cherries from. She has one of the most bewildering collections. While a wild Schaarbeekse grows like a bush, Mireille has let them grown to a dense hedge. Every summer, it bursts with the most tasty Schaarbeekse sour cherries. In the summer of 2020, Mireille has brought in more than 200 kilos of pristine sour cherries, carefully selected. That is the exact reason why we did a dedicated maceration on a small oak barrel.	frameless|150px]]

References

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