Girardin Framboise

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

Pours a cloudy reddish brown, with a foamy head that quickly dissipates. Aroma is of raspberry (of course), but very complex and has hints of grain, malt, some other fruits, grass and hay. Flavor is very sour, but in a good way. Some hops emerge in the dry bitter finish, while the rest of my mouth is still twitching from the sourness. Quite unique beer.

Super downable. Plenty of raspberry in an almost fruits-of-the-forest squash made with carbonated water. Not exactly grown-up.

A shiny red color, clear liquid. A sparkling and airy pink head that’s quite big for a lambic. The head settles quickly though, and leaves cobweb-like lacings. The aroma is almost completely dominated by raspberries. The raspberries are mostly semi-sweet, fresh and genuine, but they’re on their way to raspberry candy. No puckering components. Notes of grass and earth. Thankfully, the taste is not as filled with candy-like raspberries that the smell had me to believe. Strong, yet round flavors of genuine raspberries. It’s mostly sweet but hints of lemon and other tart notes liven up everything. Some grassy and earthy notes. In the middle the tartness gets a little accentuated as it’s leading into a dry finish with some metallic flavors, grass, raspberries and lemon peel. The sweetness felt in the mouth gets really dampened by the somewhat tart finish. Finally, I actually detect just a hint of spicy alcohol. Medium body, pleasant carbonation, not overly sparkling. This one is too sweet and one-sided to be considered to be a fantastic fruit lambic, but still it’s miles away from the soda-like sorry excuses for beers that some lambic brewers produce today. It’s quite refreshing, enjoyable and easy to drink. Serving type: bottle (Copy of old Beer Advocate review)

37.5cl bottle, dranken Geers Oostakker. Pours dark red with a brown hue. Forced a head but its nearly there. Definitely unstable head. Sweet nose, red fruits, fruity concoction like but not very delimited. Tannines very subtle. Flavorbalance is more balanced between sweet and sour (compared to nose, sour kicks in late) more acetous sour than lactic. Watery flat MF. Dull. Definitely not cloying. Gains tartness as it warms. Overall I prefer the Lindemans version.

37,5cl bottle from Ølbutikken, huge thanks Jenni! Clear pale ruby, small light pink head, mostly fading. Raspberry purée aroma, faint smokey esters, tartness, Glühkriek vinous notes, some currants, but the raspberry dominates. Tart flavor, not as intensive berries, sourness, tannic and little earthy finish, a bit tangy and pretty clean. Light bodied, average carbonation. So drinkable, but just a bit hollow overall,

Bottle from De Bier Koening. Pours a clear cranberry juice color with a small, foamy, dusty rose head. A soapy wash of lacing mostly rejoins the body. The aroma shows big notes of sweetened raspberry, with hints of sweet-tart maraschino cherry, vanilla, and some tannic orchard fruit skins. Like the nose, the flavor shows only mild tartness, instead focusing on juicy, fleshy raspberry with seeds and various other berry tannins, perhaps even some blueberry. The medium body has some sugary sweetness and a lively, fat-bubbled carbonation, finishing slightly more tart and semi-dry. Juicy and fresh, but ultimately too sweet for me.

Courtesy Glouglouburp. Muddy amber. Off white carbonation. Plenty of raspberry in the aroma- fruit, juice, and skins- with restrained lambic funk and tartness. Same flavors, but the sourness kicks it up a notch on the finish. Dry. Medium body is bit juicy, moderately carbonated. Not as sour and funky as some other fruit lambics, but still very enjoyable.

[9/8/08] Bottle at Bier Circus in Brussels. Red-colored with a pinkish head. Aroma of fresh tasty raspberries and nice oakiness. Tart flavor of raspberries, light citric touches and oak. Medium-bodied. Quite clean and not too funky but still delicious.