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Drie Fonteinen has been around since 1887, and they've been making geuze style beers since then. Well, technically, they purchased new and old lambics from other breweries and blended them together (as befits the style). Since they opened, they've gradually been expanding the operation over the generations, to the point where they now have their own production brewery. But seeing as though geuzes are always comprised of a blend, they've kept that skillset up to date as well. Indeed, the guy they put in charge over there, Armand Debelder, is called a Master Blender, and if you get your jollies by obsessing over top lambic lists, you'll see that he's well deserving of that title.

Your typical geuze is a blend of 1, 2, and 3 year old lambics. What we have here incorporates 4 year old lambic as well, clocking in at about 25% of the blend. The rest of the blend is comprised of a "secret" allocation of 1, 2, and 3 year old lambics, because, you know, Master Blenders gotta put food on the table. Given the expense of aging beer, the thirst of angels, and the extra year needed to produce this, the cost of entry is a bit on the high side here (hence the "golden" blend). Is it worth it?

Drie Fonteinen Oude Geuze Golden Blend - Pours a very pretty golden orange color with a couple fingers of fluffy, big bubbled head that seems to fade into a more dense head with decent retention. Smells of musty funk with a big oak element. Taste starts off sweet, with that oak hitting pretty quickly, but then yielding to tart, fruity flavors that escalate into full blown puckering sourness towards the finish. As it warms up, that sourness intensifies even further. Mouthfeel is highly carbonated, effervescent, crisp, with an extremely dry finish. Overall, this is a great beer, certainly a step up from their regular Oude Geuze, and among the best that I've had. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 6% ABV bottled (375 ml caged and corked). Drank out of a tulip glass on 6/14/13. Bottled 02/17/2011. Good until 02/2021.

I've seen people saying that this bottle is sitting on shelves with absurd price tags upwards of $40. But then, it's also on Etre Gourmet for 11 Euros, so do the math on that, and even with absurd shipping costs it's cheaper to order it direct from Belgium. On the other hand, more reasonable prices in the $20-$25 range might be worth it if you're a huge fan of the style... Certainly not a beginner beer though.

The Lost Abbey: Inspired Beer for Sinners and Saints Alike... and also for: the Antichrist! Tomme Arthur's middle name? Damien! Does he have the number of the beast birthmark? Of course he does! Number of days since the last freak accident at the brewery? Two. Somehow a lose pane of glass was launched horizontally through the brewery, hitting a mild mannered bottling line worker right in the neck, popping his head off like a cork (well, a cork in a well carbonated beer, so, like, not a Lost Abbey cork). The disembodied head tumbled through the air, carromed off a couple of bottles of Cable Car and landed directly in the trash can. The tragedy was mostly averted, though, because the bottles of Cable Car were unharmed.

Well, Antichrist or not, Tomme "Damien" Arthur sure seems to know what he's doing on the beer front. This beer is a variant of one of their old standbys, a dry-hopped but relatively straightforward Belgian Pale Ale called Devotion. It's solid but not exactly lighting the world on fire. So they dosed it with Brettanomyces, which jacked the ABV up to (wait for it) 6.66%. Does the beginning of this post make sense now? No? Well fine then, here, look at the pretty picture:

The Lost Abbey Saint's Devotion - Pours a cloudy golden yellow color with a ton of fluffy head. Smells utterly fantastic, spicy Belgian yeast and a beautiful fruity Brett character not unlike Logsdon Seizoen Bretta or Jolly Pumpkin Baudelaire iO (which is high praise). The taste starts with a sweet and spicy Belgian pale note, with that fruity, earthy Brett popping in towards the finish. Nice balance of flavor here, with no element getting too uppity. All cracks about poor carbonation aside, the mouthfeel for this one is highly carbonated, effervescent, and very dry. Crisp and refreshing, this could pull food pairing duty or perhaps a nice daydrinking deal, or just by itself. Overall, this is a fantastic brew! A-

Beer Nerd Details: 6.66% ABV bottled (375 ml caged and corked). Drank out of a goblet on 6/1/13. Vintage 2013 A (I think, date on the bottle kinda got smudged)

I will say, this was a bit pricey. I generally expect that from Lost Abbey, but I've heard it can be found for sub-$10 in some places, which would be a bargain. Not sure if it was just a bottle shop markup or what... Legit beer though, especially if you like those Bretty saisons/pales.

Another swanky packaging option for those brewers looking to trick me into buying their beer is the waxed bottle cap. Just cannot resist. It helps that they're usually great beers, a correlation that will no doubt lead me to disaster someday. In the meantime, I'll have to settle for shelfwalez like this oak-aged imperial porter brewed with chocolate. This beer is made using the cut-rate method of bourbon soaked oak chunks or something like that, but it turned out pretty damn well to me:

Caldera Mogli - Pours a very dark brown color with a finger of tan head, minor lacing as I drink. Smells fantastic, bourbon, oak, chocolate, caramel, a hint of roast, and loads of vanilla. Taste starts with some rich chocolate and caramel, a little roast peeking through, followed by some hop bitterness. As it warms up, those hops come out a little more, perhaps even some piney resin entering the playing field. Chocolate seems to be the big star here, but it's all well integrated. Mouthfeel is smooth, rich, sugary, full bodied but at 8.5% it's not a monster at all (actually very approachable). Not dry, per say, but better attenuated that a lot of stouts. Normally I find that higher attenuated beers can't stand up to the bourbon/oak combo, but this one works very well. Overall, this is wonderfully complex stuff. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 8.5% ABV bottled (22 oz waxed bomber). Drank out of a snifter on 5/31/13. White Wax version.

There's supposedly a variation of this beer packaged with black wax that had a lot more chocolate and was even better, which sounds pretty awesome (but also apparently quite limited). This beer is no slouch, so I'd keep an eye out for both if you're the type who likes their stouts chocolaty.

Made in pretty much the same fashion as the Kriek, but with raspberries instead of cherries. Named Rosé because of the color, but dedicated to Gambrinus instead of Bacchus. Gambrinus is a legendary king of Flanders, and an unofficial patron saint of brewing (the official honor belongs to Saint Arnold). He's also apparently getting a lapdance on the label of this beer. Good for him.

Cantillon Rosé De Gambrinus - Pours a clear, bright red/amber color, so many robey tones, with a finger of fizzy pink head. Smells of raspberries and oak, with that lactic twang tweaking my nose for good measure. Taste hits with oak and sweet raspberries, with a fruity, tartness hitting in the middle and intensifying into a puckering, sour finish. The oak character is really well developed here, almost as prominent as the raspberries. Mouthfeel is well carbonated, crisp, medium bodied with a richness I associate with the oak, and pretty darn refreshing. Overall, another winner from Cantillon. I still might prefer the Kriek, but I think that's just because I like cherries better than raspberries! A-

Beer Nerd Details: 5% ABV bottled (375 ml capped and corked). Drank out of a Cantillon Gueuze tumbler on 5/31/13. Bottled 12 October 2011.

And the hits from Cantillon just keep coming. A couple more in the pipeline, too. Very exciting.

You know the drill: a bunch of beer-minded colleagues and I get together at a local BYOB and drink our faces off. A low turnout this month due to scheduling, but still good times. I was negligent and forgot to take a picture of the beers on offer, so I made this fancy artist's rendering in MS Paint:

I think I may have missed my calling. For the sake of posterity, some half-remembered notes are recorded below. You're welcome.

• The Captain's Invisible Moon - Which, if named after the style, would be "The Captain's Cream Ale", which just sounds gross. Unless you're a big Chris Evans fan. Like, a really big fan. Oh yeah, the beer. A homebrewed cream ale, it came out pretty well, kinda like a wheat beer, but with that smooth texture of a cream ale. Really easy drinking and a good way to start the night.
• Brewer's Art Ozzy Ale - Nice Belgian yeast character, lots of spice (clove) and again, pretty easy drinking. It's a perfectly cromulent beer, but nothing to go nuts over. B
• Boulevard Coffee Ale - This was one of those beers I got from the BIF trade, but since I wasn't a big coffee guy, I figured I'd share it with some people who might appreciate it a bit more. The coffee wasn't overwhelming at all, which is nice, especially since this isn't a stout either. Lots of malt character with that coffee taking a prominent place. It's not really my thing at all, but I was glad I got to share it (even though, uh, it seemed that a most beer club peeps were also not coffee people either). C+
• Lagunitas Undercover Investigation Shut-Down Ale - I have actually had this before (and incorporated it into my Choose Your Own Adventure Beer Review epic), and in this setting, it stood out pretty darn well. I could probably be tempted to upgrade the rating, but I'll leave it at a B for now.
• Oude Gueuze Tilquin à l'Ancienne - This is the green bottle in the artist's rendering above! One of my other contributions of the night, this one is every bit as good as I remember, and compares favorable with the big boys at Cantillon and 3F (at least, when it comes to their regular lineup). Still an A- in my book.
• Dark Horse Tres Blueberry Stout - Another of my contributions, I actually bought a Dark Horse variety pack a while back, and since Dark Horse apparently loves to make stouts, they have a sorta numbered series of beers, this being the third. It's got a big blueberry aroma and even a little taste, but it doesn't feel artificial either, which actually kinda works. B
• Boulevard Love Child No. 3 - Label sez it's aged in bourbon barrels, but I should have inspected more closely, because this sucker is actually a wild ale. A malt-forward base with some very tart, sour notes that hit quickly, but fade towards the finish, making this a pretty darn good drink. Decent funk, actually one of my favorites of the night. A-
• John Henry West Indies Pale Ale - A pale ale aged on rum oak spirals... I would have expected that boozy rum to dominate, but it doesn't. Unfortunately, it doesn't really add much either. I feel like the rum and oak sorta fought the hops, sorta canceling each other out. What we're left with is fine, I guess, but not as flavorful as you might think. B-
• Dark Horse Too Cream Stout - Another of Dark Horse's stout lineup, this one is a milk stout. Smooth, but big and burly, it's a bit of a bear, but it actually acquitted itself really well considering it was the last beer we opened. B

Well, there you have it. We'll return to normal review blogging for the next few days. It is actually Philly Beer Week, so I should probably hit up some other places this weekend and write about a few things I've already seen. Or something.

Today was Tired Hands' one year anniversary, and they had a big shindig featuring lots of fantastic beers. As per usual, their events are a bit of a madhouse, but they did a good job keeping up with the demand, and it helps that the new and special beers they were serving were nothing short of spectacular. Big congratulations to Tired Hands for living up to lofty expectations and establishing themselves as the best brewer in the area.

Yummy Everything Pretzel paired with Hophands mustard and Only Void

I had quite a few things today, and for shits and giggles, I'll include stuff I've had from the past few months as well, because why not? Yeah, I suppose the fact that most of them are already gone forever is a pretty good reason not to dwell on them, but how else am I to make my readers jealous?

St.Oner - No picture! Sorry about that! One of Tired Hands' typically fantastic IPAs. It's getting very hard to judge these against one another, as they're all so damn good. The big twist with this one is a very juicy citrus character, presumably from the hops but also maybe some fresh fruit. Pleasant bitterness, and at 6.5% ABV it was downright quaffable and refreshing on a hot day. A-

Romulon - Wow, this is a beautiful gueuze-like sour blend (wine barrel fermented Saison and fresh Saison). Very nice oak character, a bright but not overwhelming sourness, tart fruits, just fantastic! While technically a saison, I'd put it right up there with some of the fantastic gueuzes I've been having lately. Indeed, this is probably a contender for my favorite Tired Hands beer ever (even though that's a sorta impossible choice!) A

Only Void - Tired Hands has a little fermentation chalkboard and I feel like this beer has been sitting on there since last year. A massive 12% imperial stout conditioned on stainless steel (there are some barrel aged variants coming), pours black with tan head. Nice roasty nose, dark chocolate is there too (and becomes more pronounced as I drink), maybe a hint of coffee in the nose too. Taste has that well balanced roast and coffe note, some earthiness, but also lots of chocolate and some rich caramel and maybe even some hop bitterness in the finish. Really well balanced flavors for such a monster beer. Mouthfeel is rich, full bodied, and smooth. It's not quaffable or anything, and it would work as a dessert sipper, but it's pretty easy going for something this big. Only a slight alcohol warming in the belly... Because I drank too quickly! Overall, it's a fantastic imperial stout. A

Our Berry Vest - A blend of the aforementioned Only Void and a strong brown ale called "So It Goes" (which I've never seen or had before) conditioned on fresh strawberries. At 11.5% ABV, this is no fru-fru beer, and it actually has some sour notes to go along with the fruity strawberry. Really interesting beer, it's got the Only Void notes of roast and dark chocolate softened considerably by a sour fruity character, strawberries coming through clearly, much lighter body than Only Void, but still a big beer. An almost chocolate covered strawberry feel (ok, perhaps not quite like that, but still really good). Great variation on the theme. Glad I sprung for this one. A-

And that covers what I managed to greedily gulp down today. In order to fan the flames of jealousy, here's some more stuff that I've had over the past couple months...

The Light That Spills Out of the Whole in Your Head - In the running for weirdest/awesomest beer name. A 6% citrus pale ale, great juicy hop character full of citrus, really easy drinking and refreshing. One of the few beers Tired Hands has brewed more than once (I think! I know I had this before, but for some reason, never recapped it). A-

Tralfamadorian - They called this a 6.8% barrel fermented biere de garde, but it basically feels like a lighter bodied Flanders Red. Whoa, robey tones, dense tan head, pretty. Taste is reminiscent of Domo, sorta a Flemish red, but with slightly less body. Light on the oak, some sharp sourness, but not overwhelming. Nice sour cherry notes, really well done. A-

Station - A 5.8% Simcoe IPA? Sign me up! Cloudy straw yellow, beautiful grapefruit citrus nose, ditto in taste, with some light herbal notes too. Light and quaffable, very nice! Grading on a curve: B+

Wiggle Wurm - 9.2% DIPA, clear golden yellow, citrus & pine hop aroma, very sweet on the palate, sticky but not cloying. Solid! B+

Wisdom Teeth - Darwin Solera series number 4, a 6% Brett pale ale. This series is seriously mellowing out with each new installment. It's still got that funky salinity, but it's more well rounded and integrated. It's a fun series of beers, highly drinkable stuff and getting better with each iteration. B+

My Briefcase Says "Time Is Money" - Another fantastic name. It's a 5.7% Black IPA, nice drinkable beer, not as hoppy as you'd expect, but not super roasty either, striking an interesting balance. B+

Eye 4A Face - A 4.5% dry hopped farmhouse mild conditioned on oak. Dark golden hues, nice citrus hops in the nose, taste more malt focused, maybe a hint of oak, plenty of bitterness, easy drinking. B+

CuzCuz - Southern Hemisphere IPA filled with New Zealand hops, etc - Super cloudy straw yellow, bright citrus and herbal hops, floral too, really nice, easy drinking stuff... B+

Tabula Rasa - Classic modern saison at 6.2% ABV. I got a super yeasty pour, almost milky looking, Jean said that happens sometimes and it's really annoying because he has to sacrifice a bunch of beer to get past the yeast plug. It was drinkable, but he gave me another glass after he cleared the line some. Once I got a proper glass, it was still super cloudy, but at least it was yellow! Nice peppery yeast in the nose, a lot like Farmhands. Taste has that big saison yeast character, spicy sweet, similar to Farmhands but a bit more body. Medium bodied, smooth, spicy, very nice. Overall, really nice. B+

Pineal - Mosaic Amarillo Simcoe IPA at 6%, this may be my first real Mosaic hopped beer? Can that be? Well if this is any indication, I'm going to have to seek out some more! Bright cloudy yellow, beautiful nose, citrus, pine, nice floral aspect, great nose. Taste has nice sweetness, big juicy citrus notes, pine and floral notes too. Great beer. A-

Caskette - Hoppy golden mild at 4%. Yellow color, fantastic juicy hop nose, biscuity malts make a nice platform for those hops, compulsively drinkable. Would have loved to tried the one they actually put on cask! B+

Jittery Tiger - An oatmeal stout brewed with espresso at 6.6%. Black with tan head, big roast coffee nose, strong coffee in taste, roasty, bitter. Coffee beers are not normally my thing... but I like this. Not my favorite evar or anything, but good, and goes down easy... B+

Yellow & Green - A 4.5% all Cascade Keller pils. Nice yellow color, some herbal hops, plenty if citrus too, classic Cascade hop character. Feels more like a pale ale than a pils, but it's really quite nice... B+

Carpathian Kitten Loss - An 8.8% DIPA brewed with rye. Citra & Simcoe hopped, this has an amazing aroma, bright oranges up in my noseballs, citrus hops all they way... Taste is fantastic too, lots of citrus hops, bright, nice spicy rye or caramel note, a hint of booze but well balanced, way too easy to drink for the ABV, smooth. Delicious, better than the last couple DIPAs that they've made... A-

Phew. That's a lot of beer (spread out over the past few months, I assure you!). I feel very lucky to have Tired Hands out here in my backyard (ok, a half hour away, but still). Really looking forward to the Only Void bottle release (coming soonish, I think), especially those bottle conditioned variants.

Rodenbach Grand Cru has very quickly established itself as a go-to Flanders Red (especially when I want to introduce someone to the rough and tumble, gum-rubbing world of sour beers). Widely available, affordable, and absolutely delicious. It's hard to believe that my first was less than a year ago, but here we are today, taking on next-level Rodenbach world beaters like Caractère Rouge. Life is good.

Made from the same base as Grand Cru, this sucker is 100% aged in oak foeders for 2 years, then steeped in macerated cherries, cranberries and raspberries for an additional six months. The result manages to retain that distinct Rodenbach character, even while it's softened by candy-like fruit notes. It's a worthy variation on Rodenbach's theme...

Rodenbach Caractère Rouge - Pours a deep, bright, darkish red color, serious robey tones, with a finger of light, almost pink head. Smell is pure fruit, rasberries, cherry, maybe even strawberry, sugary candy treats, fruit rollups, jolly ranchers, that sort of thing, with some nice funky twang. Taste is very sweet, again with the cherry, raspberries, and strawberry followed by a funky, assertive, sour kick in the middle, that fruit rollup character hitting in the middle too, finishing with an acetic sour note. As it warms, a subtle oak element emerges and livens things up, adding complexity and richness to the party. Mouthfeel is very well carbonated, medium bodied, bright, sticky sweet in the finish, though once it warms, that stickiness seems to yield to the oak, making it seem a little drier and actually, more palatable too (not that this was ever hard to drink). Easy going beer, complex, but accessible. Overall, it's a fruity delight. I'm perhaps more taken with the more oaky Rodenbach expressions, but this is still delicious and complex stuff. And as fruit beers go, it blows something like Serendipity out of the water. It keeps getting better as I drink, too, which is just another element of it's complexity that I really appreciate. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 7% ABV bottled (750 ml caged and corked). Drank out of a Tired Hands glass on 5/24/13.

The bottle had no markings on it at all (totally badass), but it does have that little label thingy attached by string. No real batch identification, but I'm guessing this was the 2012 batch. No other Rodenwales are incoming at this time, but I'm obviously going to be keeping an eye out for any new releases from these fellas. In the meantime, I'll have to settle for some Loonz, Ghosts, and the like. I'll be ok. For now.

I covered the philosophy behind Firestone Walker's barrel program in wonky, exhaustive detail when I wrote about Firestone Walker's last Anniversary Ale, but for the uninitiated, Firestone Walker is a brewery that likes to ferment and age beers in barrels and their Anniversary Ale represents an annual tradition whereupon they invite their neighboring winemakers to the brewery to get sloshed and devise a blend of several component beers (each of which was specifically made to be blended, though FW has taken to releasing the components on their own, to much fanfare).

The XV blend heavily favored Barley Wines, and most of the component beers were aged in bourbon and/or brandy barrels. The breakdown was 76% Barley Wine style beers, 19% Stout and 5% Imperial IPA. It had a nice deep, dark amber color to it - gorgeous, delicious beer. This most recent offering's components skew a little darker:

• 23% Velvet Merkin (8.7% ABV) Traditional Oatmeal Stout. Aged in Bourbon barrels.
• 22.5% Stickee Monkee (12.5% ABV) English Barley Wine. Aged in Bourbon and Brandy barrels.
• 20.3% Double Double Barrel Ale (14.2% ABV) Double Strength English Pale Ale. Aged 100% in Firestone Union Barrels.
• 10.8% Parabola (13% ABV) Russian Imperial Oatmeal Stout. Aged in Bourbon Barrels.
• 8.1% PNC (13.0% ABV) American Strong Buckwheat Stout. Aged in Tequila barrels.
• 5.4% Helldorado (11.5% ABV) Blonde Barley Wine. Aged in Bourbon and Brandy Barrels.
• 5.4% Bravo (13.4% ABV) Imperial Brown Ale. Aged in Bourbon and Brandy Barrels.
• 4.5% Wookey Jack (8.3% ABV)- Black Rye India Pale Ale. 100% Fresh, Dank & Hoppy 100% Stainless Steel

Definitely more equitable distribution here: 53.6% Barley Wine style beers, 41.9% Stout, and 4.5% Black IPA. Even amongst the Barley Wines, the lighter colored Helldorado accounts for less. Plus, instead of Double Jack (a DIPA), we get Wookey Jack (a Black IPA - basically a hoppy stout). Also new this year is a brew aged in Tequila barrels, which is a nice twist. Alrighty then, enough nerding out on statistics, let's get down to brass tacks:

Firestone Walker XVI - Pours a very dark brown color, almost black, with a finger of tan head that leaves a little lacing as I drink. Smells of boozy bourbon, oak, vanilla, and caramel. Some char, not quite roast, is also present. A little fruitiness and dank, piney hops emerge as it warms too. Taste starts sweet with bourbon, oak, dark fruit and huge caramel notes (reminiscent of crème brulee) like a BA barleywine, with some piney, resinous hops emerging in the middle and a hint of chocolate and roast peeking in towards the boozy oak and vanilla finish. Super complex, evolves quite well as it warms. Mouthfeel is not quite as thick and chewy as expected, medium to full body, well carbonated, a hint of sweet, boozy stickiness, but still well balanced. Overall, this is fantastic beer. I'm not quite as breathless as I was when I tried XV, but this works incredibly well in its own right. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 12.5% ABV bottled (22 oz. bomber). Drank out of a snifter on 5/17/13. Bottled November 2012.

Superb stuff, like all of Firestone Walker's barrel aged beers. I've managed to snag another one of these anniversary bottles (along with some Sucaba), and I'm keeping my eyes peeled for Parabola whenever it shows up in the area (hope I didn't miss it, actually). Rumor has it that Velvet Merkin will be bottled later this year as well, which I'd really be curious to try... Firestone Walker is also upping their game, increasing their barrel capacity and even playing with wild yeasts and bacterias, etc... in their new barrel room. Will be very curious to see if next year's anniversary blend incorporates sours...