Berliner Framboos / Raspberry

Bottle shared at level 42 Canary wharf tasting. 11/07/2016. Many thanks to Matteo for this one. A hazed pinky peach coloured pour with a lasting thin pinky head. Aroma is tangy fresh raspberry fruits, little cherry and wheat. Flavour is composed of super tangy tart raspberry, fresh raspberry and red berries acid. Puckering. Palate is super acid, highish carbonation, uber dry in the finish. Good.

Collab of Alvinne and Laugar (which was present on last year’s Alvinne Craft Beer Festival), bottle says 4% ABV instead of 3.7% but I assume it is the same beer. A Berliner Weisse with raspberry, a clear nod to the tradition of adding Himbeersirup to the beer in order to make it sweeter - but in this case, the aim clearly was to produce a sour fruit ale, of course. Moussy, dense, rather thick, off-white, lightly lacing head, misty robe with stunningly beautiful, deep amberish orange colour with salmon pink hue, some darker dead yeast dots here and there. Aroma of indeed a lot of fresh red raspberries including that typical salted tomato-like smell I usually associate with them when used in beer, but the fruit sweetness is stronger here; other impressions include raspberry vinegar, unsweetened yoghurt, lemon juice, some stale sweat but integrated into the whole rather than being a false note, lots of raw rhubarb, unripe plum, hint pomegranate, vague orange peel whiff somewhere; adding the sediment does bring a certain, notably unpleasant manure-like odour which disturbs me, but luckily this fades away quickly. Refreshingly sour, crisp onset, tons of unripe stonefruit and even puckering lemony acidity, with a soft, ’fluffy’ sweetishness of red raspberry coming behind; spritzy but ’refined’ carbonation, long-stretched and very drying lactic sourness (sour cream) pairing well with the fruit sours, over a pleasantly bready middle, a tad soapy too and surprisingly ’full’ for a 4% ABV beer. Actual sourish and sweetish raspberry flavor lingers in the back with again retronasal salted tomato aspects and raw rhubarb-like sourness drying the throat. Very yeasty feeling too, a bit starch-like, adding breadiness. Lovely little sour but one for the true ’sourheads’ I suppose - then again there is always the possibility to add Himbeersirup, of course... I love the way the soft sourness and subtle sweetness of raspberry has been integrated here, this beer is teeming with fruit, and it being a bit on the ’dirty’ side cannot bother me at all. Recommended.

Bottle thanks to Matteo. It pours hazy bright pink with a decent pink head. The aroma is sharp, eye sting, sour green apple, very acidic and tart raspberry. The taste is crisp, very tart, big mouth - pucker, sour raspberry, candy, tart lemon, Granny Smith apple, lemon, sherbet, minerals, lactic acid with a dry, tart finish. Medium body and fine, foamy carbonation. I like the idea, but it is pretty fookin tart.

Bottle shared in London - thanks to Matfeo. Pours hazy pink with a white cream head. Sharp tartness in the nose, hints of raspberry, lemon. Light sweet flavour with brisk, quenching and sturdy tart raspberry, some salt, lemon, bracing acidity. Light bodied with spritzy carbonation. Quenching finish tub tart and juicy raspberry, more lemony acidity. Really tasty stuff.

Bottle at Level 42 tasting, thanks to Matteo, 11/07/16. Hazed pinkish / red with a decent light crimson head. Nose is big pissy raspberry straw, raspberry jam pips, light balsa wood, strong acidic nip, straw, smoke. Taste comprises tangy raspberry, red berry funk, straw, spice, pissy smoked licks, funk, cherry stones. Medium bodied, fine carbonation, drying close with an acidic bite. Solid Linner ... nice and tarte.

05/06/2016 @home - 33cl bottle from Bierhalle Deconinck, Vichte.Light red colour with just a small quickly fading head. Nose has sour berries and still a lot of rye compared to the Kriek. Taste seemed very sour to me with rye and red berries. Much more complex than the Kriek bit a tad to sour for my real like (or I had a bad day?)

04.06.2016, 0,33l bottle @ home:
Nice fizzy-creamy mediumlasting head, nice red-orange color. Aroma is fresh sour-ish, sorrel, soda powder, sour raspberries, weeds, grass, berry skin, grain, minerals, hints of popcorn and sulfur. Taste is sour-ish dry, sorrel, sour red berries, soda powder, berry skin, sour raspberries, weeds, citrus acid, grass, minerals, grain. Medium bitterness, dry sour-ish mouthfeel. Nice, but it could have been so much nicer without the sulfur + popcorn aromas.

On tap at The Bottle Shop Bermondsey. Cloudy pink orange colour lasting white pink head. Raspberry on the aroma with a touch of lactic. Better in mouth where it’s more straight sour and raspberry fruit. That creamy lactic aroma putscme off. Fruit is good. Moderate sourness. Ok .

Pale pink with no head. Aroma is sour and has some wild, funky yeast. Tastes very tart but there is a light sweetness from the raspberry.