HEY, LOST ABBEY MAKES A FRAMBOISE

I started this blog back in early 2006, and back then the only experience I’d had with tart, sweet Belgian lambics were the ones from LINDEMANS. These are available even in corner liquor stores in the US, and I learned pretty quickly that these mass-produced lambics, decent enough as they are, use fruit adjuncts (gasp!!!) instead of real fruit. I remember taking a beer appreciation class in 2005 – which actually inspired me to create this blog – and the guy just relentlessly bagged on LINDEMANS and the fact that they didn’t stuff real bushels of raspberries or dozens of real peaches into their beers. Since then I’ve regrettably barely skimmed the world of the lambic. People who love this stuff really love it, and me, well I just don’t know yet. I had a CANTILLON FRAMBOISE back in 2009 that was so puckeringly perplexing that I couldn’t even score it, giving it an “Uncertain” rating.

At CITY BEER STORE the other night, I noticed that LOST ABBEY had a new beer on draft, LOST ABBEY FRAMBOISE DE AMOROSA. I marveled over the fact that I hadn’t tried a new one from these guys in well over 18 months, back in their glory days of 2007-2008 when new bottles were showing up on the shelves every month. Why not try their Framboise? Well guess what folks, it’s excellent. This is everything what I’d want a tart, ultra-fresh raspberry beer to taste like – packed with fresh and zinging yeasts, and puckering on the mouth but not so that you stop what you’re doing to clear the palate with water (which is what I had to do with the CANTILLON – rookie!!). It’s Belgian-style, full-stop, made right down there San Diego way. It’s absolutely drinkable and a much better intro to the style than those “adjunct” beers – right? You know Tomme Arthur and the gang don’t mess around. 8/10.