3 Fonteinen Oude Geuze
Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen, Beersel
The house classic: blended lambic, then at least six more months in the bottle.
Legend has it
It is told that Pieter Bruegel walked out of Brussels through the Halle Gate to the villages of the Pajottenland. With his friend, the merchant Hans Franckert, he went to village fairs and weddings. There they passed themselves off as family of the bride or groom and even brought gifts, all to watch how the peasants behaved. Many of his best-loved works were painted in these villages, and the plain stone church of Sint-Anna-Pede appears in the background of his Parable of the Blind.
Beer stories travel from brewery to bar to guest, and rarely shrink on the way.
Interesting facts
- Land of blenders
- The Pajottenland, the region 3 Fonteinen calls home, once had more than 90 lambic brewers and 250 geuze blenders.
- Pouring basket
- A woven pouring basket keeps the bottle lying down as you pour, so the lees stay where they are. 3 Fonteinen's baskets are woven by hand by Gerda Legrand, from peeled green willow shoots first left to dry for a year.
- Old grain
- The region's old barley and wheat varieties were wiped out by industrial farming after the Second World War. 3 Fonteinen has joined some ten farmers to grow them again, on about 40 hectares.
Mussels with white wine, lemon & parsley, cheese croquette or shrimp salad.