The girls help me experience Lindeman's Lambics--Framboise and Kriek



Jenny and Nella trying the Framboise

This week I had two young females Jenny Sorenson and Nella Thomas decide they wanted to take part in the beer tasting. At their request, I purchased two bottles of beer that were fruity, and what better fruit beer than two of Lindemans Lambics.  I picked up the Framboise (raspberry) and the Kriek (sour cherry).  

Lindemans Framboise

Now first a little on the brewery.Lindemans was started out as a small brewery and farm in Vlezenbeek, Belgium. It started commercially brewing in 1811 and in 1930 they dropped the farming side of the business and began brewing the Kriek and Gueuze. They are still are family owned and produce eight different beers including the award winning Framboise.

To be a true Lambic the beer has to be brewed in the Pajottenland region of Belgium, even though some breweries have claimed to make a lambic. Lambics are open fermented acquiring their yeast from the timbers in the breweries which give the beer a sour taste fermentation process starts the lambics are put into barrels to finish fermentation. A true pure lambic is un-carbonated and un-blended but most breweries make their lambics from blends creating Gueze or the fruit varieties of lambics. Most lambics are lightly hopped sometimes using dried hops which help with preservation but take away the bittering.

We started out the tasting with the Framboise (raspberry). It poured out with very little  head and a dark redish purple color that could be described as you guessed it rasberry. It smelled very strongly of the rasberry and you could sense the sourness coming through. The sourness kind of set everyone off at first and we really didn't know what to expect. The first sip took us all back, it tasted heavily of raspberry with no malty flavors at all. It ended with a slight sour that lingered on your pallet but wasn't overpowering.

Lindemans Kriek

Next was the Kriek (sour cherry). It too poured out lightly carbonated with very little head. the color had a little more red than the Framboise but very if at all. It smelled strong of cherry, but with slighter sweet smell than the Framboise had. The smell reminded some of us of Ludens cough drops, but once the beer hit your tounge that notion went away. The beer had of course a strong cherry flavor, and was sweet at the begining but ended sour. In all we enjoyed both beers the girls prefered the Kriek but I prefered the Framboise. Overall very easy drinking and good beers. See ya next time for the barely legal beer tasting.

Holden (refused to put on a shirt), Bear and Ethan.