La Mure
pFriem Family Brewers

First, the wonderful aroma of raspberries, and then the sip of fruit vinegar. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Pours a remarkable dark shade of red-purple, like Zinfandel wine. Taste is flat, sour, with some cardboard and stems, and interestingly there is virtually no fruit taste. Such a sad waste of an actual TON of ripe and valuable berries. From the 375 ml bottle, corked and caged. I finally had to break off the top of the cork and use the corkscrew to extract it. Illegible date stamp.

Appearance: Pours the color of Zinfandel wine with a short-lived lavender head that fades to a ringlet with a few islands in the middle; spotty lacing

Smell: Tart blackberry and sweeter raspberry tones; very oaky with lactic acid and a hint of funk

Taste: Very fruity, almost jammy, with the tart blackberry forward and the more subtle, sweeter raspberry flavors joining; oaky with lactic acidity and funky Brett flavors in the finish; very dry in the aftertaste

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with low to moderate carbonation; somewhat puckery

Overall: Impressed by the combination of marionberry and raspberry here; lots of fruit but plenty of oak and sour flavors, too

 

Bottled 9/23/22

This is another one from an old Tavour box. I’ve liked all the beers I’ve had from pFriem to date, so I’m guessing their blackberry and marionberry Wild Ale will be right up my alley. Let’s pop it open and find out what it’s all about

Pours an opaque dark purple with 2 fingers of reddish purple head that slowly fades to a ring and leaves minimal lacing

The nose is quite tannic, but sweeter notes help to keep it in chceck. I’m picking up on aromas of tannic red wine, sharp oak, old leather, wet hay, jammy blackberry, vanilla, lemon juice, light vinegar, and dark caramel

It’s a lot of the same in taste, just a bit sharper. On the front end of the sip I’m tasting jammy blackberry, sharp oak, red wine vinegar, brown sugar, dark bread, caramel, red apple, light molasses, and wet hay. The swallow brings notes of tannic red wine, brown sugar, tannic red wine, lemon juice, sharp oak, crabapple, old leather, wet hay, and red apple

A medium body pairs with gentle tingling carbonation, resulting in a smooth beer with a bite. Finishes a tad sticky but the funk dries it out

This one is damn good. pFriem is solid with Wild Ales

 

 

Satisfying dark purple body, violet tinted collar. Smell and taste are clones: vinous blackberry and raspberry with rustic oak and lingering brett. The brett grows with each sip in the taste. Feel starts wet and dries out, mildly sour and barely acidic, almost full in a jammy sense, oak is there in the background but is faint

stupid good, pfriem rules, i was so thankful to find this on tap, and only in a small eastern oregon town can you find something like this in a pint glass at happy hour pricing, seriously think i paid four bucks for 16 ounces of this gem, what a steal! another killer lambic type from these guys, this one about as purple as beer can get, deep almost bloody violet color here, pink head, insane color saturation, its gorgeous and quite lively. the aroma is tart, tannic and sharp from the fruit, bacterial but not overly acidic, kind of gritty and bracing, like for being this fruit driven i can tell its going to dry my palate out, and it does. the berries smell sweet and real, but blackberries never smell like all that much, some woody funk underneath the fruit layers, some white and red wine characteristics, even port, real appealing and summery. the flavor is just an explosion, wildly flavorful, super jammy and deep, there must be an absolute ton of berries in this, no denying its real fruit and heaps of it, shockingly not that sweet for how intense it is. the fruit obscures the ferment just a little, but the funk is still there and its obvious how woody and mature the base beer is, impressively complex even if the fruit takes over some, it gets more sour as it warms for sure, but its never too acidic and it never loses the brett part, which is well established and unique in this, unique to pfriem, love the ferment! the fruit is sweet in the middle but pretty quick to go on the swallow, i like the minerals behind it, and the nuances of plum, black cherry, and even raisin in this. not much grain to speak of, but there is some body here, oak through the finish and good carbonation keeping it prickly. what a lovely beer, cool expression of the fruit, and masterfully crafted. at the extreme end of the fruiting, but it works. not to be missed!

12.7oz corked and caged bottle packaged on 9-6-21. Opened 4-30-22.
Deep purple color with a pink/purple head - looks like grape juice. The head fades quickly and leaves a thin ring. Spotty and slippery lacing. Vinous aroma, wood, and rich berry fruit. Bright, brambly black fruit. Fresh tasting and rich. Medium body with a little zing, very well integrated acidity that makes the fruit really pop. Light tartness in an appealing, dry finish. Outstanding.

 

 

 

Pours a dark purple color. Completely opaque. A dark purple head forms on the beer but quickly fizzles away.

Aroma has strong notes of tart raspberries, blackberries, tart lactic acid, and some oaky notes.

Taste follows the nose with notes of tart raspberries, blackberries, lactic acid with oak, white wine and tannins.. Its pretty tart and the lactic acid is pretty pronounced.

Feel is medium bodied, smooth, tart, sour, with a very dry finish.

Overall it is a very nice wild ale. A bit heavy on the lactic acid for my personal preference, but very nice nonetheless.