Girardin Framboise

Brewed by Brouwerij Girardin
Style: Lambic - Fruit
Sint Ulriks-Kapelle, Belgium

Serve in Flute, Tumbler

2010 Cork date; Sampled April 2010,br> A solid pour into my large Triple Karmeliet tulip produces a fat-one-finger thick, nicely pink tinged head. The beer is a deep, cherry red color; when held up to the light is shows a brilliantly clear, red hue with golden highlights. The aroma smells of sweet raspberry preserves, raspberry seeds and not much else. Perhaps a hint of mustiness is found in the nose as the beer warms up.

Fairly dry tasting especially compared to the sticky sweet aroma. The beer is only lightly tart for a Lambic with a nice lactic component as well as a smooth raspberry acidity; I don’t notice any harder acetic acidity in this beer. There is just a hint of sweetness that boosts a juicy, raspberry fruitiness. This is balanced just a touch by a slight tannic note in the finish as well as by a peppery carbonic bite. The light tartness and the juicy raspberry character are the most dominant flavors here. The body has a touch of viscousness to it, though this is definitely a refreshing beer. There is perhaps a hint of spicy oak character in the finish and just a slight mustiness, but both are hard to pick out.

Quit a bit on the simplistic side as this beer is missing the funkiness of my favorite Lambics. It is quite tasty and refreshing in its raspberry character though. The touch of sweetness is easily balanced by the more noticeable, though still light by Lambic standards, tartness. While I haven’t had one in a long time, I would guess that this is a comprable product to the tamer Girardin White Label, rather than a companion product to the Black Label. A bit disappointing in the end, but I am still perfectly happy to be drinking this beer. I would be interested in trying a couple more vintages of this to see if they are all so tame.

Bottle sampled on 9/3/09: Pours a transparent bright glowing ruby with a frothy, pink hued head. Aroma primarily of fresh semi-tart juicy raspberries with a hint of underlying sweet malt. Starts with an effervescent carbonation with a good amount of fruity tartness and raspberry seed flavor before a dry, lightly puckering finish. Very well-balanced and true to style.

(bottle) pours a clear copper-ruby colour with a frothy light pink head. aroma of raspberries, citrus fruits, barnyard and some light notes of grain. flavour is the same, quite mild overall, with lots of raspberries and lemons and a slightly funky dry finish. light-bodied with lively carbonation, very refreshing.

Bottle, 2010-04-08, Randers, Denmark AR: raspberry icecream (ice), a bit chemical AP: rose wein colored body - bit s of the beeies ar floating around (I like), 2 cm steady pink head. F: sour raspberry - noting more! Wife (HA): 0,2 points

Pours a red color with no head. The taste is sweet, fruity with loads of rasberry flavors. Finshes slight sour and balanced. Light dry palate.

@ ZBF 2010 and from numerous samples. Really this is terrible. Pours a clear orangish pink with a pink head that disappears. Juicy juice nose. Taste is sweet, syrupy, yuck.

This is the first time that I’ve been a little disappointed by a beer from this wonderful brewery. I know that framboises are supposed to be sweet, but I don’t think that the sweetness was supported by enough acidity and character in this one. Easily drinkable and much better than the most commercial in the genre, but not a favourite of mine. Drink a Cantillon Lou Pepe Framboise in stead.

UPDATED: MAR 4, 2010 375ml bottle. Blurry brick red with a fine clingy white collar. Pavlova aroma with punnets of fresh fruit, acidity and sweetness; some hints of caramel and tea leaf. Fresh and unchallenging (a good thing); languorous carbonation ushering in fresh unsugared fruit (raspberries, funnily enough), a drying nip of cranberry, underlying cream cheese. Uncomplicated framboise that effortlessly captures the natural sweet-sour flavours of the fruit. Elegant.