Taproom Talk

The bouquet was distantly reminiscient of a Framboise Lambic. The color was gold-orange with an undeniable hint of red. The pureed raspberries had definitely found their final resting place. The first sip happily projected “THE FORT” into a category of its own. A true beer-drinker’s beer, which had no danger of losing its character or drinkability to the fruit flavor with which it was married. Don’t get me wrong, a good lambic is a good lambic. But the Fort!! It retained the strength and hoppy character of some of Dogfish’s other fine brews and expertly married it in a blissfull raspberry wedlock made in a wheat-filled heaven. There is perhaps only one thing missing from this beer… It is the typically overdone syrupy sweetness that is found in many “fusions” of fruit and liquid bread. Or, overt doses of flavor (PUMPKINS IN SAM ADAMS…) Fine effort and I must leave now if only to revisit the flavor, again and again…—Stirling Elmendorf—

Here are pictures.  Check back for a podcast from the event.

The flavor of fresh, ripe fruit comes though right away in this Belgian ale. It is deep purple in color; it looks like grape juice. The bite of this tart fruit infused lambic ale is strong but crisp and enjoyable. Its taste is reminiscent of non-alcoholic sparkling juice. Blackcurrant liquer isn’t something that I’d usually ever touch. It must be that Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck, under the St. Louis label, is responsible for a great Framboise, the almost candy flavored Kriek and the, “I will only try it once” Gueuze. Something just attracted me to this Cassis. Maybe it was the fact that I had just tried Unibroue’s version. Premium Cassis lives up to its name and is definitely worth a try if you’re in the mood for something different.

Sometimes when tasting a beer, you can pick up subtle traces of fruit flavors. A classic example is Magic Hat’s #9 with its light apricot taste. There are other times, however, when the tasting experience is totally flipped and you find yourself picking up subtle traces of beer.

The Framboise St. Louis lambic is more raspberry juice than beer; however, it works. It works wonderfully. It works so well that I want to stand up and shout it! This wildly tasty beer with a slightly bitter, acidic taste has a beautiful head and a deep clear raspberry red color, which gives off an amazingly sweet fruity smell. Don’t let the kiddie-like raspberry association fool you- this is an excellent beer with a hallmark lambic acidic beer taste.

This is a must try beer for any adventurous soul. You’ll probably find, however, the adventure is in the finding of this rare beer, but the taste will be well worth the search.

Ever tasted a Warhead? It’s this hard candy that is incredibly challenging to keep in your mouth due to its incredible sourness. Yet, for some reason, you keep it in your mouth because it tastes so good.

The Gueuze Fond Tradition St. Louis lambic beer has to be one of the coolest beers I’ve had in a long time. This amazingly acidic beer reminds me of a good Warhead, except this beer is better. This light colored beer has a pleasantly acidic taste of sour-apples from the start that you can feel all the way down your throat. With no hint of a head, a pleasant fruity sweet essence emanates from this must try tart beer.

While a bottle of Gueuze Fond Tradition may cost more than a box of Warheads, this is one puckeringly good beer that will leave you smiling (and in need of a good kiss).