Boon Framboise Mariage Parfait

Rosy-bodied and pink-topped, it’s tough to look manly with a glass of Boon’s craft in hand. Aromatically though, the fruit’s luscious intensity is about as delicate as a jackhammer. Strawberry cheesecake, grape candy, red apple and raspberry jelly; there’s pie crust and peaches, brown sugar and cookies. All this is only meagerly balanced by well-aged hops, but no matter, the variegated fruit flavors are truly inspiring. As for the flavor, imagine The Shining’s elevators spewing torrents of raspberry syrup instead of blood. Surprisingly dry, the fruit is full but not cloying and the fine carbonation adds wonderful texture to the experience. Hints of fig, browned butter, oak and black cherry, a finishing touch of blackcurrant, it’s an impressive brew. If it had further explored those sour notes of leather, this certainly would approach perfection in the realm of fruit lambics. For those outsiders who deem a pink fruit beer girly, let me again borrow from Jack Nicholson’s oeuvre and say "YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE FRUIT!" (01/07/07, 2004 bottle)

75 cl bottle, 2004 Vintage, via sk8viking. Pours a clear amber body with a slight ruby hue under a nice tight bubbled thin layer of pinkish head. Nice overripe red raspberries in the nose with a very complementary bit of musty cellar funkiness. The flavor is nicely tart and sweet at the same time, minimal acidity, this really walks the line splitting the extremes of a Cantillon and a Lindemans right down the middle. The raspberries are very juicy with a lot of seedy flavor. The slight funkiness comes out really nicely the closer to room temp that this gets, especially on the finish. Ends with some chocolaty notes. Mouthfeel is very nice, a fuller body than most Lambics, there’s just enough sweetness to it to be a both a bit sweet and slightly puckering at the same time. Very good.

Bottle 75 cl, 2004 vintage. Pours a pinkish red with a medium off-white head and an intense aroma of fresh and ripe raspberries coming from the bottle after removing the cork. I would seriously buy a bottle for this smell alone! The taste is very pleasing too, full on raspberries with both a bitter and acidic note coming through in the end. This is something special, you should really try and find it

(Bottle 2000) Pours light hazy amber to red with a small off-white head. The aroma is of fresh raspberries, mold and basement like yeast, unripe strawberries, vanilla and some old oak wood. The nose is only light acid and tart with a medium sweetness that is almost white sugar like. The flavour is medium sweet light acid/sour/tart with notes of raspberries and some wood. Undertones of vinegar, wood and unripe berries. The mouthfeel is light tannin tart, bit milky and light soft. The finish is medium tart, sour and dry with vinegar and unripe raspberries lingering. Medium bodied. A bit more sour and this beer would have been perfect.

Bottled - vintage 2000 sampled May 2008. A hazy amber beer with a lazing beige head. The aroma is sweet and acidic with notes of raspberries - as though they are not quite ripe, which lends it an acidity. The flavor is sligtly acidic and tart and dominated by raspberries.