Welcome back peoples! This week we will be focusing on one of my favorite berries – the raspberry. As I was looking at my beer collection one night trying to come up with a new idea for this week, I noticed that I had a few beers that had raspberry in them. Seemed like a pretty fun thing to have on the show, mainly because the three I’ve chosen are all very different in style and flavor (though all have a raspberry focus). I’m also excited about the next three sessions because the weather has just been phenomenal, and what better time to celebrate raspberries? First up is a Fruit Lambic called Rosé De Gambrinus from the one and only Cantillon. They are probably the most recognizable brewery making Lambic beers today. I also seem to get requests to review them fairly regularly. So here it is — a beautiful beer with an even more amazing label. Yes I’m a sucker for labels and packaging. As soon as the first drop hits the glass you are met with the most beautiful raspberry color and very nice light pink head. But what you don’t know is that it smells nothing like what you’d expect. This one is Cantillon through and through. It’s tart, funky, and has only a faint touch of raspberry. The flavor is also exactly as you’d expect. In fact, this tastes a lot like the other Cantillon beers. What you’re not going to find, however, is a bunch of sugary sweetness. This is not a Lindeman’s Framboise or raspberry wheat beer meant to be consumed by the masses; it’s definitely for the diehard Lambic folks. In the end I feel this is a very strong way to start raspberry week on The Hopry. My advice on this one is to buy a couple and hide one in the basement for a few years to see what happens. That’s what I’ll be doing…
Check out all sessions of The Hopry here.
This beer can be found in these states.
On the iPod: Wilco “Country Disappeared”
Brewery: Cantillon
Beer: Rosé de Gambrinus
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Location: Brussels, Belgium
ABV: 5%
Rating: 94/100
Posted by Phredrik on May 3, 2010 at 12:01 PM
Hej Mark
Great show again, I follow all your reviews, and always look forward to seeing the next. I just wanted to let you know, speaking of raspberries, that this wednesday, I am going to drink the Mikkeller Beer Geek Brunch One-for-one Sherry/whisky Barrel Aged with raspberries, and I am really looking forward to it. As you might know, if you’ve been updated on what’s going on in Denmark, Mikkeller will be opening a bar in Copenhagen, and there will be a hell of an opening Night. FFF Dark Lord on tap, FFF Dreadnaught on tap, Närke Stormaktsporter on cask, Kaggen Stormaktsporter bottled and a lot of Mikkeller special releases and one-offs. You can see what else on on at http://www.mikkeller.dk/index.php?id=9&land=0
And from thursday, the European Beer Festival in Copenhagen – heck of a week!!
Looking forward to the Kuhnhen Raspberry Eisbock.
Cheers, Phredrik
Posted by theReaper16 on May 3, 2010 at 12:07 PM
… that lineup for the opening of Mikkel’s bar has me thinking about flying to Denmark. Holy crap.
Anyway, new idea for a themed week: Cantillon week. More Cantillon reviews!
Posted by thehopry on May 3, 2010 at 5:00 PM
You know…I was looking at that list of beers not long ago for the new opening and about shit myself. Definitely a place I wish I could visit – but I’d venture to say I’ll never get there.
Also, let me know how that Mikkeller Beer Geek Brunch One-for-one Sherry/whisky Barrel Aged with raspberries is after you try it.
Posted by Phredrik on May 4, 2010 at 12:56 PM
Yeah, it really is a great line up for that day. I just hope I can try the beers in rather small samples so I can taste a lit of different stuff without geeting totally pissed!
I’ll return with my thoughts on the BGB One-for-one Whiskey/sherry-raspberry. (Just a bonus: The BGB One-for-one Calvados BA aged with raspberries will be available in Ølbutikken this saturday. The two beers are one offs, and only one keg is made of each beer. Really excited to try them!
Cheers, Fredrik
Posted by Bobby Digital on May 3, 2010 at 10:26 PM
That tap list is amazing. I would kill to be able to try a Stormarktsporter one day. I just got back from Darklord day last week and tried most of the 3 Floyds offerings they are going to have there and they all are amazing. Dreadnaught on tap at the brewpub was heavenly.
Posted by Trevor on May 3, 2010 at 6:15 PM
Just found your site over the weekend (someone re-tweeted your dark lord review link) and I am pretty excited to go back through the archives and catch up on what I have missed. From what I have seen so far, I really like how you do your reviews…keep up the good work.
I recently had my first raspberry beer that I really enjoyed and I have no idea who makes it…i had it a bar and the name that I put in my phone is not pulling up any hits on google. My best guess is Hopfenstark Framboise…but who knows. I just got a bottle of Forte, so maybe I should find someone to share it with.
Cheers!
Trevor (@beerpancakes)
Posted by thehopry on May 3, 2010 at 7:23 PM
Hi Trevor, welcome along…
It looks like there is a link on Ratebeer that talks about that Hopfenstark beer you reference. I’ve never had it or seen it…
http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/hopfenstark-framboise/72663/
And after about the first five sips of the Fort you’ll see why you should never go at it alone. It’s BIG! We call it model glue with raspberries.
Thank you for the comments,
Mark Starr
Posted by Rob Derbyshire on May 4, 2010 at 2:10 PM
I was lucky enough to visit the Cantillon brewery a few weeks ago in Brussels. It is an incredible place and a very unique experience. Seeing all those barrels lined up with dried-on fermented fruit spilling down the sides and wonderful lambics oozing out of freshly sealed casks is amazing.
Cantillon Rosé de Gambrinus is so far my favourite Cantillon beer I’ve tired, not as bitter as the kriek. As the lady at the brewery said before we started the tour “Forget everything you know about beer”.
I love the Fort vase, I’m a big fan of Tara McPherson who illustrated the label and hope to be able to try it one day.
Regarding the Mikkeller discussion, I bought a bottle of Beer Geek Brunch Weasel that is aged in Bourbon barrels while I was in Belgium.
Posted by Phredrik on May 9, 2010 at 4:55 PM
Just got back from a really nice trip to Copenhagen and the Mikkeller Brewery. I said I would give you my thought on the Mikkeller Beer Geek Brunch one-for-one Whisky/sherry BA with raspberries, so I’ll just give you my Ratebeer rating: “Opaque black pour minimal brown rim. The aroma has everything, whisky, oak, cherries, sherry, berries, fruit, chocolate, roastiness, coffee and vanilla. Very complex nose, but a bit on the sweet side for me. The taste has whisky, cherries, coffee, roast, vanilla, booze, very sweet indeed, also too sweet for me. Not bas tasting, it’s just very sweet. Low carbonation, big body, long duration, high viscosity.” I rated it 8-4-7-4-15=3.8. That may be a bit high, but I’m just amazed by the complexity and not as much by the actual smell and taste. It was like I said in the review a bit too sweet for me. I also tried the Calvados BA edition of the same beer, which was half as good. It was really liquory, very very sweet, very spicy and not balanced at all.
At Mikkeller, I also tried the Rosé de Gambrinus on tap, and it was just amazing. The most beautiful beer ever, and just amazingly tasty. So authentic in the raspberries. I loved it.
And Rob Derbyshire, you should look forward to the Mikkeller BGB Bourbon. It is really good, very smooth and subtle. In my opinion, the original is better, but then again, that one is so damn hard to match.
I also tried the Dark Lord on tab, which was just amazing. And the Kaggen too. You can see the list of the beers I tried on my ratebeer account. http://www.ratebeer.com/View-User-87575.htm
Thanks for now. Fredrik
Posted by thehopry on May 9, 2010 at 8:27 PM
Hi Fredrik -
Thank you very much for the nice write up on all these beers. It sounds like you had one amazing time. I still find it interesting that Dark Lord was on tap over there, but hey…Mikkeller has worked with Three Floyds before so I’m sure they hook each other up with beer all the time. And I’ve heard that Kaggen is just an amazing brew.
Cheers!
Mark
Posted by Phredrik on May 10, 2010 at 11:39 AM
Yeah, the Kaggen really is amazing. I got a sample for free by some really nice people coming all the way from Chicago, as I talked to them, telling them about the Copenhagen Beer Fest, giving them my recommendations and some directions, and they had just bought a bottle (25 cl for about 40 USD!!!), and they rewarded me with a sample, just enough to get a good taste and make my notes about it.
It was just amazing with big notes of wood, vanilla and honey and a huge complexity with both dark berries, chocolate and coffee undertones. On top of that, I’d say it is one of the most drinkable beers I’ve had. So just a phenomenal brew, the best I’ve had so far.
On an earlier occasion, I’ve tried the regular Stormaktsporter, but this one had just an extra nutch of complexity – just amazing. (I sent you an e-mail Mark, don’t know if you’ve seen it?)
Cheers, Fredrik