3 Fonteinen Oude Geuze

Description

3 Fonteinen Oude Geuze is a traditional oude geuze brewed and blended by Armand Debelder. It is released yearly in many batches in both 375ml and 750ml bottles. It has occasionally been available in 1.5L bottles as well. Recent vintages are labeled as 6% ABV.

History / Other Notes

Drie Fonteinen Oude Geuze is one of the oldest beers in their portfolio. Bottles dating as far back as 1959 have been opened and shared among lambic drinkers. Old bottles with no labels have corks stating "Debelder", indicating the brewer. During the years preceding 1999-2000, 3 Fonteinen Oude Geuze had been produced by blending other producers' lambic. After Armand leased a computerized brewing system in 1998 and began producing his own lambic^[1], subsequent blends contained both lambic from Armand as well as from other producers. It is unclear if 3 Fonteinen Oude Geuze was ever bottled using Armand's own lambic exclusively. In 2009, a failure of the climate control mechanism resulted in a massive loss of product. This huge financial loss, coupled with the fact that the lease on the brewing system was expiring, meant that no more lambic would be brewed at 3 Fonteinen for the foreseeable future.

To get the brewery back on its feet, Armand released a serious of special geuze blends to raise capital to acquire new brewing equipment. In the time between 2009 and late-20013, 3 Fonteinen Oude Geuze was a blend of lambic from Boon, Girardin, and Lindemans. By 2013 the new brewing equipment was in place and Armand began brew again. The first batch of 3 Fonteinen Oude Geuze to contain a portion Armand's lambic after this thermostat incident was bottled on 11/27/2013.

There have been several labels for 3 Fonteinen Oude Geuze over the years. The white label documented below was used in the 1990s and early 2000s for both the US and Europe. It notes that the beer won the O.B.P Trophy (Objective Beer Tasters) in 1993. 3 Fonteinen has also used neck labels on occasion (pictured below) for larger-format bottles.

In 2004, the labels switched over to the standard 3 Fonteinen labels seen in stores today. The U.S. versions are yellow and white, while the rest of the world sees a green and white version. Drie Fonteinen Oude Geuze bottles are generally have a "bottled on" date on the side of the label as well as with a best by date twenty years away from the bottling date, both in mm/dd/yyyy format.

Synthetic Corks

The earliest known use of a synthetic cork by Drie Fonteinen is a regular Oude Geuze 750ml bottled on February 3, 2006. The November 30, 2006 750ml bottling of Oude Geuze Vintage has a synthetic cork as well as most of the February 14, 2007 St. Valentijn Cuvée bottling. The Oude Geuze Vintage bottles with the synthetic corks have been inconsistent, with some bottles being flat and oxidized. The synthetic cork was retired from use after the St. Valentijn Cuvée bottling.

Label Log

1990s/early 2000s era label, 75cl
1990s/early 2000s era label, 150cl
U.S. label, approved 2008
Alternate U.S. label, approved 2008

Bottle Log

Bottle Date (mm/dd/yyyy)	Bottle Size	Label / Notes	Image Link
04/05/1993	750ml	Neck ring label	-
1994	750ml	No Label	-
1994	1500ml	Old Label – Magnum – "O.B.P.- Trofee 1993"
03/08/1994	800ml	Neck ring label	-
03/xx/1995	750ml	No label	-
03/09/1996	1500ml	Old Label – Magnum – "O.B.P.- Trofee 1993"	50px
02/03/1997	375ml	Old Label – 5%	-
12/06/1997	750ml	No label – 5%	-
02/21/1998	750ml	Old Label – 5%	-
01/03/1999	375ml	Old Label – 5%	-
01/23/1999	375ml	Old Label – 5%
02/15/1999	750ml	Old Label – 5%
11/05/1999	375ml	Old Label – 5%
12/31/1999	750ml	Screen Printed Label – 6.5%
02/08/2000	750ml	Old Label – 5%
12/11/2000	750ml	Old Label – 5%
12/16/2000	375ml	Old Label – 5%
03/07/2001	750ml	Old Label – 5%
03/21/2001	750ml	Old Label – 5%	-
04/02/2001	750ml	Old Label – 5%	-
03/19/2002	750ml		-
04/04/2002	375ml		-
12/21/2002	750ml		-
01/28/2003	375ml
01/30/2003	375ml	Green Label – 6%	-
02/22/2003	750ml		-
04/12/2003	375ml		-
12/02/2003	375ml		-
01/22/2004	375ml	Yellow Label – 6%
02/19/2004	750ml	6%	-
02/28/2004	750ml	6%	-
04/10/2004	375ml	Green Label – 6%
12/01/2004	1500ml	Magnum bottle – Green Label – 6%
12/08/2004	375ml	6%	-
04/08/2005	375ml	Green Label – 6%
11/30/2005	375ml	6%	-
01/17/2006	750ml	6%	-
01/20/2006	750ml	Green Label – 6%
02/03/2006	750ml	Green Label – Synthetic Cork – 6%
04/12/2006	375ml	Green Label – 6%	-
02/02/2007	750ml	Yellow Label – Synthetic Cork – 6%
06/01/2007	750ml	Green Label – Synthetic Cork – 6%	-
02/01/2008	375ml	Yellow Label – 6%
03/10/2008	375ml	Green and Yellow Labels – 6%	-
05/05/2008	750ml	Yellow Label – 6%
05/15/2008	750ml	6%	-
12/10/2009	375ml	Yellow Label – 6%
12/12/2009	375ml	Yellow Label – 6%
03/05/2010	750ml	Green Label – 6%
04/26/2010	750ml	Yellow Label – 6%
04/27/2010	750ml	Yellow Label – 6%
04/27/2010	750ml	Green Label – 6%
11/18/2010	375ml	Yellow Label – 6%
12/01/2010	375ml	Green Label – 6%
12/01/2010	375ml	Yellow Label – 6%
11/03/2011	375ml	Green Label – 6%
11/03/2011	375ml	Yellow Label - 6%	-
12/21/2011	750ml	Green Label – 6%	-
01/05/2012	750ml	Green Label – 6%
01/26/2012	750ml	Yellow Label – 6%	-
02/10/2012	375ml	Green Label – 6%
02/23/2012	375ml	Yellow Label – 6%
03/05/2012	375ml	Yellow Label – 6%	-
03/22/2012	750ml	Yellow Label – 6%	-
03/23/2012	750ml	Green Label – 6%
04/17/2012	375ml	Green Label – 6%
04/27/2012	375ml	Green Label – 6%	-
05/22/2012	375ml	Green Label – 6%
12/05/2012	375ml	Yellow Label – 6%	-
12/07/2012	750ml	Yellow Label – 6%
12/17/2012	750ml	6%	-
01/18/2013	750ml	Green Label – 6%
01/18/2013	750ml	Yellow Label – 6%
01/28/2013	750ml	Green Label - 6%, Japanese
02/06/2013	375ml	Green Label – 6%	-
02/08/2013	375ml	Green Label - 6%
04/04/2013	375ml	Green Label – 6%
10/30/2013	375ml	Yellow Label - 6%	-
11/27/2013	750ml	Green Label - 6%, first batch with new Armand lambic in the blend, some label dates are hand-written
11/28/2013	750ml	Green Label - 6%
12/04/2013	750ml	Green Label - 6%	-
01/10/2014	750mL	Yellow Label - 6%
01/30/2014	375ml	Green Label - 6%	-
02/06/2014	375ml	Yellow Label - 6%	-
03/26/2014	375ml	Green Label - 6%	-
10/15/2014	375ml	Green Label - 6%	-
10/16/2014	750ml	Green Label - 6%	-
10/31/2014	750ml	Green Label - 6%	-