New Belgium Frambozen – Fruit. Beer. Actually Yummy.
I will go on record as saying my mind is open to fruity beer. On that day I had the first Stumptown Tart, a whole new world of fruit brewed beer opened up to me. I was amazed and ready to experience beer life anew in this new world of taste. And then it all came crashing down as I tried horrible attempt after horrible attempt at getting anything even drinkable. Hey guys, juice poured into beer tastes like … juice poured into beer.
So it was with some trepidation that I sat down with my on again off again lover, New Belgium, to try their latest fruit beer concoction. The first thing I noticed was the audaciousness of it. This wasn’t your standard “gonna try it but not commit” 22 oz, but rather a full on 6 pack of bottles. Buying a six pack of something like this is a real commitment of trust between the brewer and the buyer. As in, this better be good, or there will be 5 unused bottled flying through the air toward Fort Collins.
Thankfully, due to a sale at the beer swiller, I took that leap of faith, and brought home a 6 pack. Now, home, I popped one open and braced myself. I was ready for tang, I was ready for yuck, but what I wasn’t ready for was….what the hey, this is good! It was a nice mellow brown ale, with a raspberry flavor that complimented it, without punching your tastebuds with a “HEY IM RASPBERRY, TASTE ME!”. In the summer time, sipping a beer in the shade by the grill, this Ale would be a perfect easy drinker; an ideal fruity escape from the cheap boxed wine your neighbor brings to the 4th of July party.
It is a bit sweet, so one a day certainly was enough (still not quite sure about the 6 pack thing), but I must tip my hat to old NB for making something that did the fruit beer world proud.
First up was a crazy little number from the folks at Dogfish Head called Midas Touch. I had seen this beer in the aisle before, but never thought to actually pick it up. Why? I’ll let the description on the bottle tell you: “Handcrafted Ancient Ale with barley, honey, white muscat grapes, and saffron.” Yeah that. The brewers claim it is the oldest known beer(?) recipe. All I can say, is that there is a reason that our ancestors stopped making it. Ew. Frankly, I just couldn’t get over the taste. Somewhere between grape juice, beer, and gross. This one got the abominal one swish sinker from both SwillJockey and I. I suppose on a different day I could have had the whole thing, but at this point I was still sober. The ladies liked it for some reason, but then, there is no accounting for taste. They married us after all.
Today was a day of “firsts”. The first time I ever posted a beer review and the first time I ever tried a beer made from sorghum and rice. Billed as a “crisp and refreshing session beer”, it was crisp, reasonably refreshing, and not quite like any other beer I’ve ever tasted. However, before even tasting it, I was struck by the brew’s unnusually floral scent. The crisp quality of the beer was also a secondary characteristic to the beer’s spicy finish, which was initally somewhat distracting. I can’t say that the experience was unpleasant but I was happy to limit my “session” to a single bottle.
Its Blueberry! In Beer! This tastes exactly like it sounds it would. Not terrible, not awesome. Its fruit. In beer. And yes, I know it says “Buffalo Bills” or whatever. But the side of the label says Pyramid brewed it for them. No cheating.
Skylark is discussing. 
Ivana Goodbeer 1:50 pm on August 30, 2009 Permalink
I think, if you are expecting a robust ‘beer’ taste, then it would seem nasty. But if you were expecting something along the lines of a beer flavored wine cooler, then you wouldn’t be disappointed. I’d drink it again… perhaps with a fish dinner.