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12oz Bottle

I received this in a trade awhile back from Taynor, thanks a million Dana! New Belgium's Frambozen pours darker than I expected. Glowing mahogany with cherrywood highlights adorn the glass. A healthy finger and a half worth of ecru head formed on the pour and slowly fell to a half finger as I watched, leaving thin sheet lacing on it's way down. As I take a closer look there seems to be a pinkish tint in the head from the raspberries used. A really appetizing beer!

There seems to be a dusty somewhat nondescript bready maltiness laying down a base for pure raspberry jam. The longer my nose sits above the glass the more intense the jam becomes and the more the maltiness falls by the wayside. The maltiness isn't anything to get excited about but the raspberry jam smells delicious.

The jam comes through a little tart upfront but sways quickly into a pleasant sweetened raspberry. The tart and sweet play off each other very nicely butting heads throughout without ever fighting too much to get in the way. That nondescript bready maltiness comes through in the back but, fortunately, the raspberry seems to push it back far enough to keep from being distracting.

The mouthfeel is good for the style. It seems to lean toward the lighter side of medium but has a little stick on the back of the throat. Even though there isn't much carbonation present it keeps flowing at a healthy pace with the lighter body.

One of these is enough for me in a sitting, just like with most fruit beers. It certainly is refreshing though. This is a good brew to sip on a lazy Sunday with a big brunch.

A solid fruit based beer from New Belgium. This is my first sampling of it and I wouldn't hesitate to try it again. As I work through the bottle the sweetness seems to grow, so one bottle is plenty in a sitting but it's an all around good beer.

Reviewed: 4/11/08

Served In: Tulip

Pour is a maroon color with striking brown hues. Good lacing with a slight purple/red head and good lacing throughout the sampling.

The smell is fruity with a strong raspberry scent. Other tropical fruits are noticed as well. Reminds me of some sweet apples, a touch of papaya, maybe mango. Maybe not. There is a touch of malt with some biscuit and caramel as well.

The taste is similar. A touch of malt and noticeable raspberry flavor. A good tartness that is a bit overpowering. The malt accents the raspberry flavor with a sweeter flavor with a caramel taste and a touch of biscuit. Maybe even some brown sugar. No real hop taste but some bitterness that could be the raspberries as well.

The body was light to medium. Some smoothness but mostly tart with a touch of bitterness. I would have like to see more malt but this is one of the better fruit beers out there.

Served In: Pint Glass