Drie Fonteinen Oude Kriek

Tasting Notes

The aroma leads with fresh-crushed sour cherry and a faint almond note from the pits, layered over the barnyard funk and wet hay that defines aged lambic. On the palate, the sourness is assertive but not harsh — tart cherry dominates, balanced by a dry, almost tannic finish that comes from the whole Schaarbeek cherries macerated in the base lambic. The body is lean and bone-dry, with little to no residual sweetness, which sets it apart from many commercial fruit beers. The finish lingers with a pleasant acidity and a whisper of oak from the foeders.

About the Brewery

Drie Fonteinen is based in Beersel, in the Pajottenland region southwest of Brussels — the heartland of traditional lambic production. Founded in 1953 originally as a café and gueuze blendery, it nearly closed permanently in 2009 after a thermostat failure destroyed much of their stock, but owner Armand Debelder rebuilt the operation. The brewery is widely regarded as one of the most important producers of traditional gueuze and kriek in the world, working with spontaneously fermented lambic and locally sourced Schaarbeek cherries.

Food Pairings

The sharp acidity and dry cherry character make this a strong match for duck confit, where the tartness cuts through rendered fat without competing with the meat's richness. A firm aged goat cheese like Chèvre works well because the lactic tang in the cheese echoes the beer's sourness rather than clashing with it. Dark chocolate with 70% or higher cacao bridges the bitter-tart spectrum the beer already occupies. Charcuterie — particularly cured pork like prosciutto or coppa — finds a natural contrast in the fruit acidity, much as a squeeze of lemon would. Game meats such as venison also pair naturally, as the sour cherry acts almost like a classic sauce reduction.

Style Guide

Fruit lambic is a Belgian style built on a spontaneously fermented wheat-and-barley base — lambic — to which whole fruit or fruit juice is added, triggering a secondary fermentation that drives residual sugar down and amplifies both tartness and fruit character. The style originated in the Senne Valley and Pajottenland regions of Belgium, where open-air inoculation with wild yeast and bacteria has been practiced for centuries. Unlike most fruit beers, which add flavor after fermentation to preserve sweetness, traditional fruit lambic is fully fermented with the fruit, producing a bone-dry, acidic result. It sits adjacent to gueuze — blended, unfruited lambic — but is distinguished by its fruit-forward nose and the specific tartness the macerated fruit contributes.