Frambozen Reserve
New Belgium Brewing Company

Poured from a 12oz can dated Feb 8th 2026. Oh well it's strong and dark.

On the pour not quite a fi German of off white head forms on top of a dark, hazy, reddish brown body. Head retention as anticipated isn't very good.

Aroma is of chocolate and raspberry, almost just like a chocolove bar haha. Very rich and surprisingly sweet.

The flavor is of course less sweet than the aroma, but it still follows with that fruity chocolate. It is much more cocoa forward than truly chocolatey.

The feel is actually lighter than expected and isn't all that thick at all. It feels like any other beer, and surprisingly the finish isn't all that long.

Overall this is not what I expected, but it is quite good. It is much less tart than expected as it isn't very tart if at all.

 

not sure what makes this reserve, slightly stronger, but it doesnt appear barrel aged or anything. how long since they brewed the original one? i have not seen it in many years, although i confess i have not been looking very hard. this came to me by way of the variety pack my dad picked up, nice buy, some good beers in this mix, and i was excited to see this one, although dubious, as all the flavored stuff from these guys lately has been really artificial. its been so long since i had the original that this kind of just reminds me of it, maybe a little more grain depth, a fuller base brown ale type, but still very much fruit driven, real raspberry, lots of it too, some jammy sweetness, cool to have so much fruit intensity in darker brew, fully dark brown rather than the chestnut tone i think i remember from the original. subtle belgian yeast, dry baking chocolate and chocolate malt, a whisper of red cherry and raisin type fruitiness, super complimentary, some molasses character adding depth, tootsie roll and brown sugar, perhaps slightly sweeter overall than it needs to be, but this smells and tastes like christmas and its very unique as the holidays season brews go, its tart too, not framboise lambic-like, but its not all sugar and there is contrast on the palate. i love the little bit of fermentation character, the richness it has, and the cozy fun nature of it, while still being serious too. this harkens back to a time when new belgium made nothing but good beers, i miss those days, and am happy this has come around again, this reserve form seems similar, about equally as good, minus a little of the oh my goodness factor this had working for it when it first touched my lips many years ago, so much more like this now, its less original, but just as compelling really. fun stuff for the winter season, love the fruit intensity and purity and the way the rest of this is built around it. yum. i believe there is also a barrel aged version of this, but thats in a bottle not a can, and appears not to be what makes it reserve, correct? hope to procure one of those!

Poured into a Pilsner glass. Look is a 1/2" tan head, with beer being a dark brown/red color. Smell is mild raspberry and yeast. Taste is subdued raspberry mostly, but is not overly tart or sweet. Mouthful is very even, is a little tart but finishes with a subtle raspberry aftertaste. Feel is moderate carbonation, average weight, but not sticky with no alcohol detected. Beer is interesting, it doesn't seem overly refreshing or sweet, and is not bitter at all.

This was different than I expected, mostly in a good way. Usually breweries make this sort of beer a neon pink sour bomb, but it was a lot closer to a traditional brown in color, as they say on the description. The fruit gives it some tartness and sweetness but I don't know that I'd call it a sour really. Here it is classified as a fruit beer, but that's not entirely accurate either since the backbone is a brown ale. It's 7%, which is a bit higher than I would have thought, but definitely not a boozefest. All told an interesting beer with some surprising traits, and maybe just a bit away from being something really unusual.

 

 

 

Dark reddish brown. Smells exactly like raspberry Crystal Geyser. Tastes like a chocolate covered raspberry jelly or a raspberry Tootsie pop. Gentle mouthfeel. Negligible ethanol or bitterness. Very light on lactic bite or bitterness. Strange, surprising, delicious. Would be amazing with cheesecake.

Almost like like a wine rather than a Sour brown little to no sour semi sweet and watery concord grape flavors with musty yeasts but it does cover the ABV quite well. Still not what I was expecting and it was somewhat of a struggle to get the can down. Had a much better experience with a Great Lakes Oktoberfest shortly after. Only drink if you love a beer and wine mash up.

 

12 oz. can from variety pack pours a mostly opaque reddish brown with average beige head and spots of lacing. Reeks of strawberries and tannic acid with a hint of sweet malts for contrast. New Belgium calls this a Brown Ale, but its fruitiness can't be avoided. Body is medium with average carbonation and a slightly syrupy mouthfeel. Flavors are clean and tart. I found my 2013 Ratebeer review of New Belgium's original, discontinued, Frambozen, which seems to be the same as Frambozen Reserve, except the ABV is 7 instead of 6.5.