Girardin Framboise

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

Thanks to hopdog for breaking this goodie out at the tasting... Appears a transparent pink-toned red with a small white cap that slowly fades into a small cloud spirals. Light lacing is left around the glass. Smell is of cran-raspberry juice with freshly mashed berries that are evident from the first inhale. I found it to be really quite addictive. Taste is of creamy vanilla, fruit punch, and rasperry with cranberries resounding in a slightly tart flavor. Mouthfeel is light-medium bodied, vinuous, and semi-dry on the finish.

Bottle. Poured a reddish-brown color with a small sized red/pink head. Aromas of fresh-juicy-hairy raspberries, cranberries, and also reminded me of Kool-Aid (in a good way!). I really like the berry quality in the aromas. Tastes of tart raspberries, all around berries, and some wood. Lightly tart finish.

Poured a hazy, ruby red color with a small, pinkish head that left light lacing on the glass. Aroma of fresh raspberries, borderlining on cranberries, with a bit of light funk, low wild yeast presence. Taste of more raspberries, very fruity, with light vanilla, oak, and a tart, dry finish.

In short: Variable beer. Either a funky raspberry lambic or an overly clean raspberry lambic.
How: Bottle drank in Belgium 2006 (funky). Batch (2007) imported in quebec (too clean)
The look: Cloudy redish-copper with a long lasting medium off-white head.
In long: Funky 2006 bottle (4.0/5): I could sense the Brett on the start. Good start. Initial impression is a pleasant balance between brettyness and sourness. Raspberries flavour is not dominant, which is a good thing. Funky body full of hay/straw/etc. Finish brings in a welcomed tartness without loosing the fruity sourness. A superior raspberry fruit beer that is only a little bit behind the much more reputed 3 Fonteinen Framboos that I had a few days later. Underrated. 2007 bottle (3.5/5): Compared to the above: softer, cleaner, not funky at all, almost sweet. Highly drinkable fruit beer. I still like it a lot but this is not the same thing as I drank a year before. The raspberries are more dominant in this one. My Canadian food guide says I need between 10 and 15 servings of fruit everyday. Keep those Girardins coming.

(Bottled) Slightly hazy, ruby red color with a medium, pinkish and lacy head. Slightly sweet, very natural aroma of raspberries (with stones). The flavor is exactly like the aroma, with natural raspberries and some acidity, plus dry bitterness from the stones. Light to medium-bodied palate with slightly fizzy carbonation. A quite decent, although sweetish framboise.

Tried at Weekend of Spontaneous Fermentation 27/05/06. Smells like cordial, clear pale cherry red colour, raspberry, light to medium body, not as sugary as the krieks I’ve tried and got a bit of aftertaste like a cordial.

Bottle from Brussels. Cranberry sweet aroma. Reddy beer with white seafoam head. Tangy sweet, tart. Sours are subdued. good berries and sparkling water, light alcohol. lightly sweet and grassy. Nice, though I was expecting something a bit more extreme, this is more "drinkable" just wish it was somehwere between this and the more extreme stuff.

Bottle. Pours a nice brown-reddish colour with a big sligtly pinkish and off-white head. Sweet raspberry aroma. Tart raspberry flavor with some sweetness. Fruity sour finish.