Cantillon Lou Pepe Framboise

Brewed by Cantillon
Style: Lambic - Fruit
Brussels, Belgium

Interesting story here. This was my bottle shared with GregClow, Blankboy, and Hogtown Harry. I’ve had it since the beginning of the year, when I bought it in Buffalo. Easily the most expensive bottle I have ever bought, I can’t remember exactly, but it was easily $30 U.S. But it also didn’t have that cool little neck label around it telling you the year and what Lou Pepe it was (we realized at this tasting). It doesn’t help that all the Lou Pep’s have the exact same label (on this site anyway) which looked exactly like ours. And what scared me the most is that I had already had the Kriek in San Francisco last year - I didn’t want to spend $30 U.S. on a re-rate!!! I thought I had the gueze but when we poured this, we instantly knew it was the Framboise. So anyway, enough of that...wonderful aroma - so funky, yeasty, lots of malt, and lots of fruit - outstanding. Pinkish red, small head - looks cool. Wonderful taste - tons of sourness, fruit, earthiness and yeast. So pungent, yet quenching. Fruit lingers in the middle and end. Fantastic!

Bottle shared with blankboy, tupalev & HogTownHarry - tupalev’s bottle. Rating #1500! Hazy dark orange-pink with a small light pink head. Aroma - holy crap, that’s funky! Lots of tart, acidic raspberry with hints of rubber and yeast - so good. Flavour has killer sour notes to start, tart raspberry, lingering dry notes, more sourness in the finish - yeah, it’s sour alright. Really fine stuff, and a great milestone beer. Thanks for sharing, Jeff!

Bottle (750ml). Shared with blankboy, GregClow and tupalev, tupalev’s EXPENSIVE bottle. Murky pinkish red, small head. God, that’s a funky, burnt-rubber, yeasty sour aroma, hints of raspberry, it’s a real lambic, I want to weep. Taste is sour, acidic, fruit-funk, yeast- more fruit character on warming and palate-adjustment. Thick, syrupy body, very light carbonation, very acidic indeed - complex and wonderful. Great beer.

Not sure how my description could possibly add anything to this beer. Pure raspberry; pure lambic goodness; a perfect beer in every possible way. Much as we aspire to the angelic order, so raspberries aspire to become one with the transcendent berry perfection that is Lou Pepe Framboise.

2003 Vintage. This beer really aged to perfection, or can it get better? The raspberry was very nicely balance between its tart and sweetness. It has mellowed in acidity and sourness and just smoothed over to complex and long lasting enjoyable brew.

2001 bottle: If you like blinding sourness, like lemon juice (w/complexity), then this is the beer for you. Drinking this "beer" induces a reaction in me not unlike what would occur if I squeezed lime juice directly into my eyes. Aaaaaaaugghhhh! Nevertheless, who am I to say this mouth-puckering stuff is bad, necessarily. It is extremely complex and has interesting aromas which I can comtemplate as I rush to get a glass of water to douse my agonized taste buds. It has fascinating barnyard flavors about which I can fondly reminisce as I brush my teeth and tongue frantically. Very little raspberry taste.

Draught at GBBF 2006. Red/pink hazy beer. Great raspberry aroma. Sweetish raspberry fruit in mouth. Sour finish. Very nice fruit. Really like it. Sticky sweet fruit and sour blend is perfect.

Beautiful in its frosted Bordeaux robe and ephemeral rosy white crown, there’s no doubt you’re in the presence of a majestic beer. Rich red fruits are vibrant in the nose, raspberries of course are escorted by cherries, wild strawberries and grapes. Bubble gum and brown sugar conjointly add a sweet dimension to the continually accreting complexity. A metallic resonance appears with time, followed by buttered toast, café au lait, watermelon and apple. The unpleasant odor of rubber gloves prevents me from awarding full marks to an otherwise exceptional aroma. Taking a sip, a deluge of berries first floods the tongue until appears a corrosive sourness that lasts long after the swallow. Pineapple, lemon and rubber share the denouement of this decidedly acerb lambic - even by Cantillon standards! My bottle was labeled 2001, and I would say it was already far downhill of its peak as the fruity flavors were not as apparent as in fresh Rose De Gambrinus, despite a double dose of raspberries. Nonetheless an excellent Framboise but I can only imagine what it must taste like young.