Process Of Belief - Framboise
Alpine Beer Company

 

Look - Orangish tan haze with a nice slight white head and nice rimming
Smell - funky tart grainy slight fruity berry.
Taste - pretty much just like the smell
Feel - medium full creamy fizz
Overall - This was a 2016 drank in 2022 so I'm guessing this had more raspberry initially and lost it. Taste more like a farmhouse saison

 

 

 

 

500 mL bottle. Pinkish body. Like a rose wine. Strong raspberry aroma. A little acidity. Sour flavor hit me right in the nose. But died off quickly. Raspberry sourness, but drops off to an oaky flavor in the back end. High carbonation and pretty light in body. Nice, though not all that remarkable.

Type: 12-oz. draft
Glass: Clear tulip glass
From: Alpine Beer Company Tasting Room in Alpine, Calif.
Price: $4.50 (I think)
Purchased: Dec. 30, 2016
Consumed: Dec. 30, 2016
Reviewed as: Lambic - Fruit
Misc.: N/A

Had been wanting to try this one since it came out (I believe in the same month). Was not going to pay $17 to see if I liked the style (reviewing as a Lambic - Fruit), so decided to head out to my old stomping grounds for the first time in over three months. Had only had one Lambic before and I did not like it (gave Alpine’s Chez Monieux an overrated 3.41).

Poured a copper amber clear color with two fingers of frothy white head when I got it. Some bubbles coming up from the bottom of the glass. Decent foggy lacing. Good retention. (Sight - 3.75)

Smelled raspberry, raspberry sorbet, raspberry tart - raspberry I tell you. (Smell - 4.00)

Wow, the taste was on point. Got juicy raspberry, raspberry sorbet, a touch of lactose, tart raspberry and white wine barrel (not sure which type). Not getting much else, but this works. Just as good, probably better, than some of the Cellar 3 Natura stuff. (Taste - 4.25)

Medium body. Oily texture. Lively-to-fizzy carbonation. Long, acidic finish. (Feel - 4.00)

I’m still new to the style, but I liked this one. Not $17 for a bottle like, but still like. (Overall - 4.00)

4.09 | 91 | A-

 

500 mL corked bottle, poured into a tulip

Beer displays a gorgeous copper-tan color with a pink hue, while a gentle pour yields a fluffy, off-white head that never fully recedes. No lacing to speak of.

Funky, tart nose, slightly lemony with plenty of woodsy funk. Unripe strawberries and grapes play off notes of oak and lemon-pepper. Suggestions of grass and white wine edge the bouquet.

More fruit-forward on the palate as tones of peaches and strawberries are contrasted by acidic notes of lemon and unripe cherries. As the sip progresses, oak dries the palate, priming it for a gentle funky finish. A medium-light mouthfeel helps to usher in a short, clean close.

Although it doesn't mimic any particular brew, this is more Cantillon-esque in its craft than a lot of stateside sour beers. The brew starts off tart and fruity, but then dries mid-sip as a gentle tinge of fermented funk ushers in its close. The end result is a delicious brew, complex, memorable and easy to quaff.