Harpoon 100 Barrel Series #11 - Framboise

Formerly brewed at Harpoon Brewery
Style: Fruit Beer
Boston, Massachusetts USA

I am surprised at how different this is from Lindeman’s. Aroma smells of much fresher raspberry than the aforementioned classic, but lacks the vinegary odor that makes Lindeman’s so compelling. Body is light, refreshing even, but lacking in sweetness and there’s no trace of sourness at all. Color ruby. Carbonation high. Only the faintest hint of bitterness, and that might even be from the raspberries. This is definitely a beer with raspberry puree added, as the label says, but it is NOT a lambic. I’m a big Harpoon fan (esp. of the 100 barrel series), so this is a bit of a letdown. With more body and some sourness, this could have been a real contender.

2005 Session 11 22oz. Pours hazy rose into a footed pilsner. Offwhite head quickly dissipates. Raspberry aromas. Light raspberry up front which turns to slight bitter finish.

Hazy, apricot-amber. Sweet raspberry nose. Effervescent, light and spritzy texture; kind of weak. Nice nip of tartness. Only a small amount of bitterness could be detected. Refreshing, but it didn’t have much depth.

Very cloudy reddish brown pour. Thin head. Has a sour raspberry taste but not too sweet. Not too bad but not a favorite, and definitely not a lambic.

Pours cloudy ruby with a patchy off-white head and lined lacing. Aroma is raspberry malt (meal, cereal), sugary with trace yeast. Sour tart raspberry flavor, then sugary raspberry, malt and yeast finish. Medium bodied and fizzy, dry palate.

Bottled. 7.28.05 stamped on the label. Says session 11 on the upper right hand corner. The beer pours a hazy medium rose with a small, white, frothy, totally diminishing head. First impression is wall-to-wall raspberry. Malty with a trace note of toasted grain; Yeasty with a trace note of buttery runny cheese; Heavy notes of fresh raspberry. Definitley more raspberry than beer. The flavor is moderately acidic/citric, lightly sweet, lightly bitter with a short, lightly sweet finish. The body is light, the texture is watery and the carbonation is lively.

Pours cloudy pink/orange with a diminishing head. Aroma is sweet peach, a little spoiled. Taste is initially sweet, peachy. Underlying sourness, tastes unintended. Slight oxidation. No finish. Strange.

Head is initially small, fizzy, off-white, mostly diminishing. Body is murky medium reddish-amber. Aroma is lightly malty (toasted grain), lightly yeasty (cheese), with a note of raspberries (with seeds). Flavor is moderately sweet, lightly to moderately acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is lightly sweet, lightly to moderately acidic, lightly to moderately bitter. Light to medium body, watery texture, lively carbonation.