Frambozen - New Belgium, Fort Collins

New Belgium's Frambozen is quite a bit different than I'd expected. I've drank enough fruit flavored beer that I've come to expect certain things from them. Namely, fruitiness... now, of course you'd expect a peach beer to taste a bit peachy right? Sure. What ends up happening more of time is it'll be more peachy and less like beer. There seems to be very fine line between balance and overbearing when it comes to fruit beers. New Belgium managed to get this beer just right. It's a Raspberry Brown Ale that isn't overly fruity or too mellow.

New Belgium's Frambozen is one of the best "fruit beers" I've had yet. That's saying quite a bit considering this beer is brewed with raspberries, which are particularly tart. The Frambozen is very well balanced with the Brown Ale based, it tastes quite sweet and a bit sour but never really seems tart. My only real complaint with this beer is that it doesn't taste very Christmasy for a winter seasonal. That being said, this beer is a little reminiscent of a cranberry juice cocktail. While this isn't a great Christmas season beer, this IS a great fruit beer.

The Frambozen is sweet, sour and wonderfully creamy. I'd suggest this to anyone who has had a bad experience with a fruit beer. This beer is so well balanced that it will likely redeem the entire genre for anyone who has become soured to the fruit beer style.