You apply the same principles for Lambics when brewing, handling, and serving Framboise. It is a great entry into the sour beer universe due to its balancing approach to tartness and fruitiness. Read on to learn more about why Framboise is making a splash in the beer scene.
Where Does Framboise Come From?
A Framboise Fruit Lambic originates from the same motherland as a Lambic. Pajottenland in Belgium is where all the brilliant brewers and their brews come from.
You can also grab Framboise outside of Belgium. Don’t expect authenticity as it will likely be a non-traditional version.
What Does the French Word Framboise Mean?
You can literally translate Framboise as “raspberry.” It is an old French word that has a Germanic origin. Scholars debate about the word being an offshoot from the Dutch word “braambezie.”
How Is Framboise Pronounced?
You can say “fran-bwaz” but it gets complicated because of the peculiar pronunciation of “a.” Weirdly enough, there seem to be variations. You can find simple ones like “fram-bwaa.”
What Kind of Alcohol Is Framboise?
Framboise is an alcoholic beverage made of water, hops, yeast, and a selection of grains. These ingredients are part of the basic formula of beer. And do not forget to add the raspberries to have yourself a Framboise.
Is Framboise a Beer or a Wine?
If you use the term Framboise as is, you can refer to either beer or wine. The thing is, Framboise is a blanket term for mostly anything involving raspberries. You can read it on labels of beers, wines, and liqueurs. Heck, you can even find it on syrups.
Nevertheless, it is a matter of context. To avoid confusion, you should append the appropriate noun when talking about Framboise.
What Type of Beer Is Framboise?
Framboise belongs to a family of Sour Wheat Beers. It has got raw wheat in its mix of grains. And it uses mother nature’s blessing of living microorganisms to ferment your brew.
Is Framboise a Sour Beer?
You can classify Framboise as a Sour Beer. At its core, Framboise beer is a Sour because it is a particular blend of a Sour. It may have levels of sweetness to it, but that would depend on whether it is a traditional blend.
Lambic vs. Framboise
Lambic should not be pitted against Framboise because Framboise is practically a Lambic. More specifically, it is a Fruit Lambic. It is one of the many ways you can dress up your Lambic. To put it in simple terms, you add the raspberries at the right time during the fermentation process.
Kriek vs. Framboise
If you swapped the raspberries in Framboise with sour cherries, you will get Kriek. Kriek was the original Fruit beer that paved the way for other Belgian Fruit beers. Because of this fact, you can find individuals who tag Framboise as “less traditional.”
What Is Similar to Framboise?
For straight-up beer, and if you are open to alternative fruity flavors, you can try Peche, Pomme, and Cassis. All these have a Lambic base. There are also raspberry blends with Oud Bruin and other similar beers.
In cooking and cocktails, you can use a variety of raspberry-flavored alcoholic drinks.
What Does Framboise Taste Like?
Framboise must give you a raspberry character with some tartness to it. Old-fashioned Framboise is dry because the microbes eat all the sugars in the fruit.
On the other hand, some brewers designed their beer to be balanced with sweetness. It seemed to be a matter of catering to market demand.
What Flavor Is Framboise?
Raspberry should be noticeable in your beer. It can be present itself subtly, or it can jolt your senses. It should not feel like artificial and sickeningly sweet fruit juice.
Do not look for hop bitterness because you will not find any.
What Is Framboise Made of?
The basics of Framboise consist of raw wheat, an essential mix of microflora, and a dose of raspberry. Your traditional brewer infuses the ferment with whole fruit, puree, or pure juice.
You could forego tradition and use artificial sweeteners like raspberry-flavored syrups. Just make sure that you are transparent with your marketing. Nothing beats the real thing though.
Does Framboise Have Wheat?
Framboise consists of at least 30% wheat. You can even find recipes with 50% wheat.
You theoretically could have a Framboise without wheat. To do that, you would need to change the base beer to something other than a wheat-containing beer. But if you want the authentic Belgian experience, brew it with wheat.
Is Framboise Lambic Gluten Free?
Gluten-free sorghum and corn extract are available for making a Framboise Lambic. However, it will be now considered a “style of” or “inspired by” Framboise Lambic.
Does Framboise Have Sugar?
If you want to be thorough about it, Framboise will always have sugar. This is especially true when adding the raspberries. They contain fructose after all.
Whether you go the all-natural or artificial flavoring route, sugar is omnipresent. The only way to deal with sugar is to allow the fermentation process to substantially cut it. If any sweetener is added in the bottling stage, you can forget about calling it sugar-free.
What Percentage Alcohol Is Framboise Lambic?
Fruit Lambics like Framboise play in the 5.0 to 7.0 percent Alcohol-By-Volume (ABV) range. Some brands have less than 3.0%.
Some people speculate that a quality Framboise has a higher ABV. This has to do with the proper introduction of raspberry. If you added your raspberry solution at bottling time, you would dilute the alcohol. You need to give the bugs enough time to convert the fructose into alcohol.
How Do You Serve Framboise?
People who love champagne will note that a flute glass is used for drinking Framboise. With all Lambics, if you want some decent foam head, roll the bottle.
Pouring fast into a vertically held glass improves head formation. If you want it clear, do not agitate the yeast and pour slowly with the glass at low angles. Reserve the last inch or so of beer for the finale.
For added flavor, give the remaining beer a swirl to unleash the hardened yeast. Finish your pour. Enjoy.
Do You Chill Lindemans Framboise?
Chilling is an essential part of serving any beer. However, you should consider a certain objective when determining your temperature target.
If you know the intensity of the flavor of your Framboise, reduce it by serving it at lower temperatures. This allows for your taste buds to be numbed by the cold, hence the reduced sensation of sweet or sour. If it needs a boost of flavor, a warmer temperature, say 45 to 55°F (7 to 13°C), puts more life into the beer.
Should Framboise Be Served Cold?
Serving any beer cold is a good idea. However, you can boost a mild-tasting Framboise by letting it sit in the room for a while. You can try a warmer temperature, say, 45 to 55°F (7 to 13°C). Warmth technically brings more life into the beer, as with all things.
Does Framboise Need to Be Refrigerated?
If you live in an environment that is not naturally cool, your beer’s shelf life will plummet. For unpasteurized beer, the microorganisms will get too active and mess flavors up. For pasteurized ones, the flavor will be lost over time.
How Long Is Framboise Good for?
Thanks to Framboise being a Lambic, it can last a good while unopened. However, one year from purchase feels like a bad idea. The longer a Framboise is not consumed, the lesser the raspberry is in the flavor profile.
The base beer flavor overcomes the raspberry since fruit is more volatile over a long period. You should drink your Framboise within a few months. A year is pushing it.
How Long Does Framboise Last After Opening?
One week is an eternity for a Fruit Lambic. Proper storage may make it last longer. But if you want to still taste the raspberry, do not delay. Even the visual appeal is lost from the first opening.
Does Framboise Lambic Go Bad?
The great thing about any Lambic is that it will not go bad if all the brewing protocols are done properly. The only issue with Framboise is that the raspberry appeal is overtaken by the Lambic as time passes.
The brewers’ recommendation is to consume Framboise within two years in one go. After that, there is no guarantee their description of the product will still be true.
Who Makes Framboise Beer?
Lindemans Brewery is one of the prominent figures in the Framboise industry. In fact, their products are available even outside of Belgium. Lindemans is a Belgian brewery that has been producing Framboise since the 1980s.
So, if you want a taste of the traditional Framboise, Lindemans is the way to go.
How Is Framboise Made?
The bare fundamentals follow the Lambic brewing outline. Below is a refresher on Lambics. You can find the additional procedures closer to the end.
- Prepare your grist.
- Do a turbid mash.
- Sparge the mash.
- Boiling your wort for three to four hours.
- Add in your aged hops at the start of the boil.
- Cool at least 50% of the wort in your rectangular pans. A sealed kettle is fine.
- Cool your wort for 8 to 16 hours.
- Transfer the wort to your fermentation vessels.
- Leave your brew to age.
- You may add whole fruit or puree at any point after the primary fermentation.
- You can put in two pounds of fruit per five gallons.
- Wait at least three months for the fructose to be converted. The actual duration will depend on the sweetness you are going for.
