Not all fruit beers are sickly sweet and marketed to the lowest-common denominator of palates. In fact, many of Belgium's traditional lambic brewers produce a fruit beer that is bright, light on its feet, and full of acidity. Boon's Framboise definitely falls into the second category.
The Lembeek (one explanation for the name lambic is that it's derived from the name of this village south of Brussels) brewer ages spontaneously fermented beer in oak before moving it onto fresh raspberries for a second maturation. For every litre of young lambic, an impressive 300g of fruit is used.
Boon's Framboise is a purple-tinged, dark red that fades to clear at the edges.
As the light pink head falls, the unmistakable aroma of raspberry blossom backed with faint hints of vanilla, black tea and white pepper make their way out of the glass. The first sip is just as packed with true raspberry flavour, a slightly sweet core, and loads of balancing acidity from the wild bacteria that are introduced as part of the spontaneous fermentation. A remarkable amount of longevity gives you plenty of time to contemplate this complex and balanced profile.
In his Great Beers of Belgium, Michael Jackson recommends framboise (and its cherry-based cousin, kriek) as a welcome drink for guests arriving at a summer party. Served chilled and in champagne flutes, it is the ideal no-questions-asked drink to hand to new arrivals. He notes that even those who don't drink beer "surrender their virginity to John (or Jeanne) Barleycorn before they realise that this pink bubbly is innocent of grapes."
We may not have arrived at the time of year for backyard cookouts and garden parties, but this is bound to be one of the first bottles from the LCBO's spring release to sell out so it would be best to stock up quickly.
Boon Brouweriz's (Palm) Framboise, $5.85 for a 375 ml bottle, LCBO #962316
In addition to covering beer, new restaurants and food trucks for Post City, David Ort writes about food and drink for several Toronto publications including his own site, Food With Legs. He is the author of The Canadian Craft Beer Cookbook; now in stores and available for ordering online. For more of his thoughts on food, beer and life in general, follow him on Twitter or get in touch at info@foodwithlegs.com.
