Anybody make a Framboise?? Need some advice.

Assuming you are referring to the Framboise lambic (framboise is French for raspberry). Lambics are supposed to use aged hops, so that's a consideration. I once brewed a decent Framboise lamic with a 50/50 of pilsner and wheat malt fermented using whole saaz, WY3278 and no oak. I primed w/ canned puree of raspberries and added dry champaigne yeast and potassium sorbate. Mine was not nearly sweet as Lindemans, but still quite good. The sorbate did not prevent carbonation, but I was not sure of its actual effectiveness to prevent bottle bombs so I stored it cold. I don't think I would bottle again, but if I did I think I would try just pasturizing the bottles after I achieved carbonation.

 

Good reference: http://hbd.org/brewery/library/LmbicJL0696.html

 

Get a copy of Wild Brews by Jeff Sparrow. Read it through.

Have a huge amount of patience on this style of beer, it can take years to come into its own.

 

I don't know why, but I'm picturing a followup question in 2 or 3 years: "I have this Framboise I just kegged, and need it to be carbonated in time for a party on Saturday..."

(Not meant to poke fun at the OP or anyone in particular.)

 

I am going to steal liberally from Mad Fermentationist (OldSock) in this post: his blogs, BYO articles, interviews, podcasts, and personal emails, none of what I say is totally original.

I have not done a Framboise in particular, but have done a few sours: a couple lambics, and a couple sours with fruit. If you want something as close to a traditional Lambic Framboise with a little less difficulty than a traditional (turbid mash w/ raw wheat), mash Pils and Flaked Wheat (60/40) at 158*F for an hour, sparge with boiling water to get enough runoff for a 3 hour boil, and boil it with 3oz aged hops (yes, I stole this from BYO's last issue where OldSock / Mad Fermentationist tells you what to do). Chill overnight open to the breeze, but covered with a cheesecloth to keep bugs and debris out. Rack to a fermenter and hit it with a starter you made of wild yeast and bacteria (Wyeast blend, cultured from fruit (what I do), cultured from dregs, cultured from the air). Add a small amount of oak, and let it ferment for a year with an airlock in a carboy. After a year, add fruit, and and let it go another 6 months to a year. Add dregs from commercial sours, other homebrewed sours, etc, over the course of aging while trying to keep as much oxygen out of the carboy as possible (I have a couple 1 gallon sours that are turning into vinegar because I used the screw on plastic airlock fittings designed for starters instead of rubber bungs). The more sources of wild yeast and bacteria you add, the more complex a flavor profile you will get. Have a sour party where you and a bunch of friends get some good lambics/gueuze/krieks/framboises and enjoy them together. Add the dregs to a sanitized container that you keep sealed throughout the evening, and then add that to the carboy. Add dregs from beers finished with Brett like Orval. Want a list of good beers to add and ones to avoid, look here.

Patience, patience, patience. Then once it is finally done, and bottled, all carbed up, and ready to go... more patience so you don't drink it all in the next month and have none to tied you over until the next batch, nor to age for 5+ years to see how it continues to develop.

 

Well said by jbakajust1, although I don't think a sours need that much time on the fruit when you are using well aged beer. Two to three months is generally all that is required to ferment their sugars out. Raspberries are tough, they give a great aroma, but it takes more than you might think to get that great jammy flavor I want (1.5 to 2 lbs/gallon).

Good luck!

 

Thanks for the clarification... maybe I can bottle my Mango Blonde and Blackberry Blonde soon then

As far as raspberries, so true. I drank a Cantillon Rose de Gambrinus next to an Oakshire Framboise and on the sheer level of fruit alone, the Oakshire was a let down. Good sour, but no raspberry at all (Sorry Matt). Then again, a first time Framboise compared to the world sought after standard isn't too fair.

 

One of the little tricks I've picked up from a few people is reinforcing the fruit flavor by priming with juice or extract. Some brewers claim it helps to trap some more volatile aromatics, but maybe it is just the additional flavors. Lost Abbey does it for most of their fruit beers, including Framboise de Amorosa.

I’m planning on doing a sour brown in a third use rum barrel soon, hoping it turns out well.

 

I'd take carbonation advice from lost abbey with a grain of salt.