Liefmans Frambozenbier

Formerly brewed at Liefmans (Moortgat)
Style: Sour Ale/Wild Ale
Oudenaarde, Belgium

Serve in Snifter, Tulip, Tumbler

5/II/2012 25cl bottle late 90ies vintage @ vintage tasting Brugs Bierfestival - BB: V/1999 (2012-95) Thanks to Jay for the sample!

Cloudy amber to muddy brown beer, some dark brown sediment floating around above an off-white head, unstable, non adhesive. Aroma: raspberry lemonade, sweet syrupy, "grenadine", raspberry sorbet. MF: little carbon, medium body. Taste: sweet candy start, raspberry sorbet, sugary, very metallic undertone. Aftertaste: more raspberry candy, sugar. I hope there’s a difference between this late 90’ies version in 25cl bottles with a bright pink label, and the 37.5cl bottle. Wouldn’t mind trying one of those latter.

Picked this bottle up in DC. Served in a Russian River "TION" goblet. Pours a muddy brown color with a low off-white head and not much lacing or anything like that. The nose brings a tad bit of raspberry and a bit of a tea-like character. Flavor brings a bit of tea and light raspberry. Quite odd and not very tasty, unfortunately. Not everything works together, and the base beer doesn’t quite work with the raspberry. Light body and some tea-like tannic character. Decent, but not something I would come back to.

Dunkle bräunliche Färbung, getrübt. Geruchlich intensiv himbeerig-kirschig. Dann im Mund ein süßlich-säuerlicher Oberton, der im Mittelteil von einem kräftigen Holzaroma Gesellschaft bekommt. Trocken im Abgang. Gut gelungenes Himbeer-Fruchtbier. Weich und vollmundig.Test vom 1.4.2007, Gebinde: Glasflasche

red berries aroma,red, hazy, minimal head, medium sweetness, medium body, creamy, soft carbonation, very nice berries finish. Nice bear.

375ml corked and caged bottle poured into a palm tulip. Dated cage reads: LFR 06/2017 B7164 which leads me to believe that this is a 2007 vintage. A - When I popped the cork it didn’t seem too lively. A quick, but even pour yielded a white head that faded quickly. Some chunks flowed into the glass even though I stopped pouring with 2 or so ounces left. First off, this beer is pretty clear. Which lets the sediment and yeast float around and become quite visible. The body is a deep purple color with bits off white yeast that are really taking their time to settle back down. S - Raspberries and sugar. Its not fake and artificial, its just like very concentrated sweet, sweet raspberry syrup. No "funk" to speak of. T - Sweet natural raspberry syrup. There is this aftertaste, that almost seems savory. I can’t describe what it tastes like, but it makes the aftertaste slightly odd but still approachable. Very easy drinking, and the carbonation is quite nice. Slightly tart but certainly not sour. O - I’ve picked up a few older liefmans vintages because they are priced really well, and they succeed in what they are. This isn’t a lambic based traditional framboise, its an oude bruin brewed with raspberry juice. This particular vintage might be a bit past its prime, but its still refreshing and a decent fruit beer.

Not at all what I was expecting. I was expecting something brash and sweet and was intrigued by something brown and sour but eminently drinkable (if you don’t mind sipping beer rather than stonking great quaffs). Tart, sour and just overtly raspberry. Quite wonderful. Why on earth was it retired?

Very very nice dark brown/red color, with a deep dark red glare coming through. Like the fruitesse framboise, that’s the good part. It’s not very different from that one. Again I don’t like the smell and taste, and it’s too low carbonated.

First time i tasted this: did not like it one bit. It reminded me of wine. This was during the winter season. After that i tasted it again in summer and now i still drink this every once in a while (local pub has a few bottles left). Love the sourish taste but it also has some sweet notes.. Tastes natural, not syruppy.