This is my second attempt at a Raspberry Sour Blonde which is an attempt to create a Framboise Lambic. I have a very large raspberry patch which gets me about 100 lbs of fruit per year. Based on this, I can afford to be very heavy handed with Raspberries. I aged this beer with 20 lbs of fruit.
This is a beer I blended up using 5 Sour Blonde which I'd been aging for various amounts of time (from 1-4 years at that point). I have 12 fermentor (read about the tasting) and I chose the more mild beers to use in this blend to try to avoid an excessively sour product. I also back sweetened and then bottle pasteurized to retain a bit of sweetness which balances the acidity.
This is a beer that I blended in October 2019 and then bottled in May 2019. I can't believe it's been so long ago now. Happy to finally be getting around to a tasting.
Tasting Notes:
- Aroma:
- Strong and rich raspberry aroma most prominent. Get a bit of musty and earthy brett character in the background as well
- Appearance:
- Pours with a thin layer of foam that disappears almost immediately. The beer is dark red (like a red wine) and seems to be pretty clear
- Flavor:
- Intense raspberry flavor up front along with a pretty assertive sourness. These flavors linger into the finish together. I also get some brett character although it's pretty far in the background. Might be a little bit of malt like character in the finish as well.
- Mouthfeel:
- Medium-light bodied and just slightly sweet. The acidity of the beer prickles the palate
- Overall:
- Very intensely flavored fruit beer. The raspberry is front and center here. I make a Raspberry Wine, which I just drank a bottle of last night (so fresh in my mind), and would say this beer is much closer in character to that wine than to the Sour Blonde but that there is enough beer character that shines through to clearly make this a distinct product. There is some brett character to to beer that gives it some nice extra complexity and it compliments the overall product.
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