3 Fonteinen Hommage

Description

3 Fonteinen Hommage is a lambic blended with raspberries and cherries. The concentration and ratio of raspberry to cherry varies by batch and is not always known. It is generally bottled in 75cl bottles; however, certain batches of Hommage have been bottled in 37,5cl bottles since 2019. The first release of 1.5L magnum bottles of Hommage took place in 2021.

History / Other Notes

When the founder of 3 Fonteinen Gaston Debelder passed away in 2005, his son and current blender Armand Debelder created Hommage as a commemorative beer to him. The first batch of Hommage was bottled in 2007 and received label approval for distribution in the United States on January 2, 2008.^[1] In 2014, a second batch of Hommage was released after having been bottled in June 2013. Both batches of Hommage saw distribution in Europe and North America. In December 2015, batch three became available at the brewery. As of 2017, Hommage is a regular seasonal in the 3 Fonteinen lineup.

Unsubstantiated Stories

When the 2013 batch was released, 3 Fonteinen reused the previous European label and just stamped it with the new date. However, a new label was created for the US release. What's interesting about this new US label is that it does not say that there are 5% cherries in the new batch. It's not clear if this was an omission from the label or the beer.

Bottle Log

Bottle Date (mm/dd/yyyy)	Bottle Size	Label / Notes	Image Link
02/14/2007	750ml	Batch 1
06/26/2013	750ml	Batch 2	-
06/30/2015	750ml	Batch 3	-
12/19/2016	750ml	10th blend of the 2016-2017 season, screen printed bottle. This particular Hommage blend consists of one- and two-year old lambic and has a final fruit intensity of 40%.
12/20/2016	750ml	11th blend of the 2016-2017 season, screen printed bottle. This particular Hommage blend consists of one- and two-year old lambic and has a final fruit intensity of 40%.	-
06/23/2017	750ml	36th blend of the 2016-2017 season, screen printed bottle. This particular bottling of Hommage macerated for 7 months and has a final fruit concentration of 360 grams per liter.	-
06/28/2017	750ml	37th blend of the 2016-2017 season, screen printed bottle. This particular bottling of Hommage macerated for a good six months and has a final fruit concentration of 350 grams per liter (80% raspberries - 20% sour cherries).	-
03/15/2018	750ml	28th blend of the 2017-2018 season, screen printed bottle. This particular Hommage has macerated a bit more than 6 months. The final fruit intensity is 388 grams of fruit per liter of Hommage (38.8%). As from this blend forward, the maceration of Hommage will include 100kg more sour cherries. This label also exists in NL/FR and Swedish
03/22/2018	750ml	40th blend of the 2017-2018 season, screen printed bottle. This particular Hommage has macerated a bit more than 6 months. The final fruit intensity is 350 grams of fruit per liter of Hommage (35%). This label also exists in NL/FR.
04/25/2018	750ml	54th blend of the 2017-2018 season, screen printed bottle. This particular Hommage has macerated for 5.5 months a on a 2,000 litre oak foeder and with 280 kilos of sour cherries and 837 kilos of organic raspberries. The final fruit intensity is 372 grams of fruit per litre of Hommage. 100% 3 Fonteinen.	-
06/01/2018	750ml	60th blend of the 2017-2018 season, screen printed bottle. This particular Hommage has macerated for 6 months and the final fruit intensity is 350 grams of fruit per litre. While blending, local honey was added.	-
09/13/2018	375ml	75th blend of the 2017-2018 season, screen printed bottle for the Swedish market. First time in 37,5cl bottles. Later distributed to European outlets and included in the 2019 Summer Pack
10/24/2018	750ml	90th blend of the 2017-2018 season, screen printed bottle. This particular Hommage has macerated a bit more than 6 months. The final fruit intensity is 353 grams of fruit per liter of finished Hommage. The lambics originate from 4 different barrels and 4 different brews.
11/28/2018	750ml	9th blend of the 2018-2019 season, screen printed bottle. This specific Hommage has a bit more than 6 months maceration. The ratio of fruit is 72% raspberry and 28% kriek.
01/24/2019	750ml	33rd blend of the 2018-2019 season, screen printed bottle. This specific Hommage has almost 6 months of maceration. The one and two year old lambic comes from 5 different barrels and 5 different brews. The final fruit intensity is 350 grams of fruit (76% raspberry, 24% kriek) per liter of Hommage. This bottle has an incorrect round label on the front. It should mention "bio" but the non-bio label was mistakenly attached.
02/25/2019	750ml	42nd blend of the 2018-2019 season, screen printed bottle. This specific Hommage has 4.5 months of maceration. The one and two year old lambic comes from 6 different barrels and 7 different brews. The final fruit intensity is 350 grams of fruit (76% raspberry and 24% kriek) per liter of Hommage. This bottle has an incorrect round label on the front. It should mention "bio" but the non-bio label was mistakenly attached.
03/27/2019	375ml	57th blend of the 2018-2019 season. This specific Hommage was macerated for 4.5 months. The lambics used for this blend come from 6 different barrels and 5 different brews.
05/09/2019	750ml	71st blend of the 2018-2019 season. This particular Hommage has a final fruit intensity of 353 grams of fruit per liter of Hommage. The lambics originate from 4 different barrels and 6 different brews.
08/30/2019	750ml	106th blend of the 2018-2019 season. This particular Hommage has a final fruit intensity of 352 grams of fruit per liter of Hommage. The lambics originate from 4 different barrels and 4 different brews. Lambics originate from 3 Fonteinen (40%) and Brouwerij Boon (60%)
09/18/2019	750ml	110th blend of the 2018-2019 season. For the first time ever, we have blended raspberry lambic and sour cherry lambic rather than macerating both fruits together in roder to find a balance throughout the increasing fruit varieties. The fruit proportion is 83% raspberry and 17% sour cherries, the lambics originate from 6 different barrels and 5 different brews (25% 3 Fonteinen lambic, 75% Lindemans).
09/19/2019	750ml	111th blend of the 2018-2019 season. This specific Hommage macerated for 2,5 months with fruit. The lambic used comes from 5 different barrels and 5 different brews. Final fruit intensity of 323 grams of fruit (83% raspberries and 17% cherries) per liter of Hommage.
12/11/2019	1.5L	10th blend of the 2019-2020 season. For this Hommage, we blended a co-maceration of raspberries and sour cherries - but we switched the fruit proprotions - with a small batch of pure frambozenlambik. Consequently, this Hommage is somewhat out of the ordinary. The average weighted maceration time is 5.5 months and the final fruit intensity is 493 grams of whole fruits per liter of Hommage. The proportion of sour cherries is 54% vs 46% of rapsberries; the latter all sourced at Ferme Framboos. Finally, we also used a sizeable portion of two-year old lambik, brewed in the beginning of 2018. All lambikken originate from four different barrels and six different brews.
12/13/2019	750ml	12th blend of the 2019-2020 season. For this Hommage iteration, we blended about one third of kriekenlambik with two thirds of frambozenlambik, both macerated on stainless steel. The weighted average maceration time was four and a half months. While macerating and blending, we used lambikken originating from 4 different barrels and 6 different brews. The final fruit intensity amounts up to 413 grams of fruit per litre of Hommage. Finally, we added some honey just before bottling. 100% 3 Fonteinen.
07/02/2020	375ml	72nd blend of the 2019-2020 season. For this Hommage, we blended a kriekenlambik and frambozenlambik in a forth-sixty proportion and with a final fruit intensity of 529 grams of fruit per liter of hommage. The weighted average maceration time was five months, and we used both jone and two-year old lambik from seven barrels and eleven brews. This bottle was left for a year in our warm room before its release.

Labels

Batch 1 and Batch 2 (European) Bottle Text (translated):
3 Fonteinen lambic with 30% raspberries from the Pajottenland and 5% cherries. Spontaneous refermentation in the bottle (unfiltered) with no added color or taste enhancers. Lambic is brewed from 60% malted barley, 40% wheat, hops, and water.

Batch 1 (US) and Batch 2 (US) Bottle Text:
A blend of lambic beers brewed at 3 Fonteinen, with an addition of 30% whole fresh raspberries from the fabled Payottenland. This unfiltered beer will enjoy a spontaneous refermentation in the bottle. No artificial colors or flavor enhancers were added. Lambic is brewed only from 60% barley malt, 40% unmated wheat, hops, and water.

For decades, Armand Debelder has worked as a Geuze blender - as did his father - mixing young and old lambics from other lambic brewers to create a classic Belgian beer. Recently, Armand has started brewing his own lambic. The 3 Fonteinen beers are among the few very traditional and authentic Geuzes and Lambics being made in Belgium today.

Organic Hommage labels