Boon Mariage Parfait Framboise

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 6

2004 Vintage Bottle, Sampled August 2007
Topped by a pale, pinkish tan colored head that starts out three fingers in height. The beer is quite hazy, but is still a striking red color. This is clearly a raspberry influenced beer as I can smell the raspberries as soon as I start to pour this brew into my tulip glass. Once I go in for a deeper draught of the aroma the raspberry dominance is confirmed; sweet raspberry aromatics, combined with woodier, raspberry skin notes as well as an almost chalky raspberry flesh note. The raspberry aromatics at times remind me of strawberries. Underneath the dominant raspberry aromas are some dusty grain notes, a wisp of ripe cheese and perhaps a hint of Brettanomyces funk. There is also a light sour aroma to this beer, which is a combination of raspberry notes and fermentation character (urea & lactic acid notes are noticeable).

Quite light bodied, but this beer still has quite a bit of sweetness left in it. Not overly tart for a Lambic, but still almost lip puckering. The acidity clearly says Lambic with Lactic acid notes being most noticeable. A backdrop of funk serves as a counterpoint to the dominant sweet fruity flavors here. Interestingly enough the flavor is not nearly as sweet or raspberry dominated as the aroma is, which is not surprising for a fruit Lambic. Fleshy, sort of pulpy, freshly picked, and sweetly ripe berry flavors as well as a hint of fruit tannins contribute to the flavor profile. It is interesting that the flavor almost is more berry like than distinctly raspberry in character. The beer is pretty well carbonated, which serves as a foil for the residual sweetness; it cleanses the palate and makes you ready for another sip. A slight woody, tannic note adds some structure and helps to foil the sweet fruitiness as well.

What about the funk, well it is here as well, it is just behind the up front fruit notes, but it is noticeable, especially if you look for it; musty, damp cotton notes, hints of cat piss, . While I would not say this is a super sweet beer (especially compared to the really fake Lambics out there), it is a bit sweeter than I would like. For me to get really excited, this should be quite a bit drier & quite a bit funkier; a lot of the funk is muted because of the residual sweetness. This is very drinkable, but I cant' quite shake the wish for something much funkier. I am quite happy drinking this, but can't help but feel a little disappointed.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Bottled. Hazy murky reddish brown colour with mediumsized white head. Aroma is earth, raspberries and some sourness. Flavour is raspberries, sourness and some earthy notes. Pleasantly balanced and overall very nice.