Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen, which is widely considered as one of Belgium’s foremost lambic breweries by beer drinkers, brewers, and others in the know, will hold its annual Open Beer Days from August 31-September 2. The opening hours will be 10 am to 5 pm, and the location will be the new lambik-O-droom site in Lot, which opened on September 1, 2016. See this previous article for additional details about De lambik-O-droom, as well as this article, which broke the news about the planned site to the English-speaking beer world.

For a detailed look at the brewing process at 3 Fonteinen, as well as work in the production space at De lambik-O-droom and the tasting cafe, see this article

For any fans of lambic beers and 3 Fonteinen out there, the Open Beer Days are a bucket-list event. I attended in 2015, and highly recommend a visit. The reasons are several: 3 Fonteinen, as they do every year for the Open Beer Days, will offer plenty of special beers in bottles and on draft that are not often available. You can most likely expect to see some vintage beers being an option for drinking in only at the brewery’s cafe/tasting room, as well as new, experimental lambics that will be on offer. 3 Fonteinen may offer special and vintage beers for sale to go as well, which typically only happens during special times, such as during the week of Toer de Geuze or the week of the Zythos Beer Festival.

It’s highly likely that guided tours of the production facility and barrel-aging rooms will also be available, given by Owner/Co-Manager/Brewer Emeritus, Armand Debelder, as well as others from the 3 Fonteinen team. The team includes Co-Manager/Brewing and Blending Manager, Michael Blancquaert; Co-Manager/Business Manager, Werner Van Obberghen; brewer Diego Sachem and his wife, lambik-O-droom cafe bartender Sara Bauters; Sales and Marketing Manager Gaetan Claes; lambik-O-droom cafe bartender Emelie Maeyens; and others.

The weather at the end of August and early September is usually warm and sunny, although you can never guarantee good weather in Belgium. 3 Fonteinen has outside (patio) seating in addition to cafe seating inside, so it will be a pleasurable place to enjoy some of the world’s most breathtaking beers.

It’s also likely that there will be some good food options available. Warm and sunny weather often brings out the barbecue in Belgium, and it would not be a surprise to such happen during the Open Beer Days weekend.

When I attended the Open Door Days in September 2015, Armand Debelder and Michael Blancquaert were on hand, and Armand was wowing attendees with tastes of the superb Zenne y Frontera (batch 1) which is a lambic aged in Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez sherry barrels. As well, a number of other special brews were on offer on tap and in bottles, such as Golden Blend, Golden Doesjel, Intense Red, Vintage, and more.

The city of Lot is a fine choice for the lambik-O-droom site, as it is accessible by train and direct buses from Brussels, seven days a week. “When you come here by train to the lambik-O-droom, you have to walk across the bridge over the river Zenne, which is at the heart of lambic country,” Debelder remarked in 2016. The address of the lambik-O-droom is: Molenstraat 47, Lot, Belgium. Telephone: +32 2 306 71 03. That’s 02 306 71 03 if dialing from a Belgian telephone.