New Belgium Frambozen

Brewed by New Belgium Brewing Company
Style: Fruit Beer
Fort Collins, Colorado USA

Date: 12/22/2007
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting, Cellar Party

hazy dark red, wispy beige head, streaks of drippy lace, sweet raspberry and caramel aroma with a touch of fruity tartness, rich raspberry flavor, touch of chocolate and caramel malt to support the raspberry, light tartness for balance,

Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 12/20
Rating: 3.1/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: *4

Appearance: Pours a clear, ruby-red body with a frothy, bubbly, pink-tinted head. Smell: Lightly tart-smelling aroma of juicy raspberries with a hint of toasted malts and a dusting of cocoa powder. Taste: Raspberry jam with subtle hints of caramel, cocoa, and toast. A light sweetness doesn’t hang around for very long. Slight tartness throughout. A tannic bitterness creeps into the taste near the finish. Mouthfeel: Medium-thin body. Medium carbonation. Slight creaminess. Drinkability: A solid raspberry fruit beer, but one helping is definitely enough for me.

Before I start, let me say that I have a New Belgium sticker on the back window of my classic car....Now I can start.....YUCK...It smells like a brown ale, it looks like a brown ale, and it tastes like someone accidently dropped the whole container of rasberry extract into this here bottle....It is so tart it makes me cheeks hurt...I tastes like brews that have been intentionally infected with bret, but it doesn’t work for this brown ale....I’ve had this brew many times in the past, spanning several years, and I never remember it being so bad.. I’m hoping it’s a fluke..but this bottle is still a drain pour....I’m sorry new belgium..... :(

Pours like a standard ale, brown with a small head. The taste is like that of an ale with some raspberry (what a surprise!) It really works out well, and is well worth a try.

Pours a beautiful, warm brown with a thin (yet ample when poured into a tulip glass) head. The aroma is a bit medicinal (cough syrup) at first, but settles down a few minutes after the pour. This is one of my favorite holiday seasonals, it sells well in the Austin area and is usually gone by New Year’s Eve. I just cracked my first 2007 bottle, it’s a bit thinner and has less undertones of amber malt than last year. Still a great brew from a top notch brewery.

Psyched out when it poured. I thought: oooh. A sour. Instead, decent raspberry taste. But a bit watered down. No taste of brown except to interfere a bit with the fruit. Yet another mediocre New Belgium. I’ll have to open La Folie soon....

Reddish brown ale with a thin white head. Some raspberry jam in the aroma with hints of caramel. Of course there is raspberry in the flavor. It also has a slight nuttiness and an odd and faint cream flavor. Interesting stuff. Very American tasting.

Reddish brown, moderate head that is interestingly colored, a hint of pink there, good lacing and retention. Aroma is very fruity, dominated by raspberries. Nutty caramel notes are there, but overshadowed. Medium to light body, very fruity sweet, not enough beer. Had a promising start, but came off light and sweet.