Saison Framboise
Brasserie Dunham

 

 

 

Brasserie Dunham "Dunham Saison Framboises"
on tap @ Le Projet, Québec, QC

Notes: Ruby-pink in color beneath a pinkish head. It's not too fruity, and I wish it had more saison character, or just one or the other. As it is, it's decent and very drinkable with a nice raspberry note in both the flavor and aroma, but it certainly doesn't scream "framboise" or "saison". It's more of an easy drinking, median kind of raspberry beer with just a touch of saison character. The light tartness is nice, and there is subtle earthiness/spice but the name leads you to think it'll be more than it is.

750ml, solid-ass bottle, as ever was for this brewing concern. Bring on the raspberries!

This beer pours a murky, dark salmon amber colour, with three fingers of puffy, very loosely foamy, and mostly just fizzy pale pink head, which leaves a few instances of sea plume lace around the glass as things slowly recede.

It smells of fresh picked raspberries (sweet, tart, estery - all the good stuff!), a bit of musty yeastiness, subtle grainy pale and wheaten malt, and maybe a touch of earthy and weedy hop bitters. The taste is musty, overripe raspberries, somehow mixed with underripe green raspberries, a bit of acrid burnt rubber, gritty and grainy pale malt, a lesser edgy wheatiness, fading testy yeast, and some weak leafy and earthy hoppiness.

The bubbles are quite thorough in their swirling and mildly probing frothiness, the body a so-so medium weight, and not particularly smooth, as the carbonation and the yeast kind of seem overwrought on my oh so forgiving palate. It finishes off-dry, but barely, as the raspberries give it their last, and the base Saison struggles to regain control.

Overall, the raspberry character really starts off strong, evoking memories of times and family summer garden goodness past, but then kind of gets lost in the mire of a Saison seemingly going through an identity crisis. Not a bad brew, just somewhat uneven, and hardly the fruit bomb that I had thus far been led to believe it to be!

 

Really beautiful pink color with a small white/pinkish head. Really cloudy with some carbonation visible.

Lots of raspberries in the nose, can't notice much else.

Really nice raspberry flavor in the mouth. Tartness and sourness is present but it's not over the top, really agreeable .

Dry finish, really nice carbonation on the tongue. I wasn't sure about buying a 10$ (750 ml) raspberry beer, but this is really good, no regret in trying it.

 

 

This is an extremely one-dimensional fruit beer. The fruit dominated the nose and palate both with flavour and sweetness. There was no trace of the saison character present at all as it was overpowered by the raspberry. Extremely sweet and difficult to finish my full pint.

Huge thanks to Kyle for sharing.

A - Poured into a hill farmstead tulip a hazy golden berry juice with a thin white head that fades to leave thin wisps.

S - Aromas of light raspberry seed, soft raspberry fruit, fresh berries. Really clean.

T - Taste is similar to the nose, loads of raspberry, nice faint seeds, almost raspberry soda like, really soft and subtle.

M - Mouthfeel is brightly carbonated, crisp, clean.

O - Overall this beer was really pleasant. The raspberry is subtle and goes great with the soft saison notes. Really pleasant blending of a saison and a framboise.

Serving type: bottle

 

 

 

3/5 for the first half of the bottle. Acidulated and small taste of out of date rasberries.
4/5 for the second half. Very fruity and tasty.

 

Bottle: Poured a light reddish color ale with a huge off-white foamy head with excellent retention and some good lacing. Aroma of lightly tart raspberry with some light residual sugar notes and a rustic malt base is also noticeable. Taste is dominated by delicate notes of fresh raspberries with some tart notes that are somewhat offset by some residual sugar notes. Body is about average for style with good carbonation. Base saison beer is a bit lost but the raspberries more than make up for it.