Iron Hill Framboise de Hill

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 6

Wilmington Brewed; Sampled January 2009
The cork pulls out with hardly a whisper of a pop. Not surprisingly the beer pours quite flat, with not head, not even a few lonely bubbles. The beer is a deeply red-purple stained color that shows a hazy, raspberry red color when held up to the light. The aroma is scented strongly with raspberries, which are noticeable as soon as I start to pour this beer. Sweet raspberry fruit notes definitely dominate, at times I get a hint of lactic acid, perhaps a touch of mustiness, but really that could all be in my mind; the nose is all about the raspberry character.

The beer feels fairly flat as it first hits my tongue, it picks up a hint of a prickle though as it rolls across the tongue. The beer is much more sour and dry than I was expecting; the sweet raspberry aromatics had me expecting some initial sweetness, but my first sip was all sour. The sourness has notes of lactic acid up front, but finishes with a light burn of acetic acid that gets more pronounced as the beer warms up. The acetic acid actual causes a bit of burn as it slides down my throat. This has flavors of sour raspberries, but without the sweetness it is hard to realize just how much raspberry flavor is packed into this beer. There is a touch of sweetness here towards the finish that accentuates the fruity raspberry notes, but it can be hard to notice under the assault of acidity.

The acetic acid in this can be just a bit too much at times, even if it isn't overwhelming similar to vinegar; there is enough here that it makes it very hard to drink or even sip. This is best in very small doses.

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

Poured at the Wilmington location with a brilliant ruby color, small head. The aroma was firm tart raspberries, light funk, really smelling a ton like the New Glarus Raspberry tart. The flavor was exactly as expected, but short of the tart pucker I was anticipating. Tons of raspberries, balanced so well between moutfull of nasty tartness and sugary sweetness, quite well done. Lively carbonated mouthfeel, musty notes finishing each sip, complementing the acidity.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 10

Another fantastic beer from Iron Hill at ’04 GABF. Light red/dark pink color with a mellow cherry aroma. Taste is right in your face sour rasberry and light green apples. Tart but could use a bit more sourness to it but as drinkable a Lambic as I’ve had. A great variation of the style.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

GABF2004... Poured a hazy brownish red color with a light pink head. Funky, stinky aroma of brett and raspberries. Taste was tart and sour raspberries and cherry skins. Medium mouthfeel.