Alesong Brewing Adding Framboise

We have used raspberries several times in beers past, but never — until now! — have we crafted our take on the classic Belgian style framboise.

To make this beer, we began by brewing a golden sour base. We aged it in retired wine barrels to allow the microflora that we added to create a dry and complex beer. Then we included heaps of raspberries from Stahlbush Island Farms.

We chose to over fruit the brew and then carefully blend in more of our base beer until we found the right balance of fruity, tart and funky. It ended up with a beautiful magenta hue, a jammy start on the palate with a dry and crisp finish. You might find some sweet framboise beers out there, but we like it dry. It’s true to style and tradition, plus it’s delicious!

Some say that Belgian beers like framboise, kriek, peche, you name it, can only be made in Belgium because of the unique ecology of micro-organisms that affect their beers. Well, we couldn’t agree more that beer has a terroir, a sense of time and place related to where and how it was brewed. Of course we can’t exactly replicate their terroir, but we are always inspired by Belgian brewing tradition, as was the case with this beer.

Our version of framboise is tart, dry and fruity, the way we like it. The beer also turns out this way because of how our house cultures of lactobacillus and brettanomyces have been developing over the years. They create a combination of flavors and acidity that we think is beginning to characterize our beers. In a sense, our framboise has its own terroir because of this, not to mention the flavor impact of Oregon-grown raspberries. We won’t go as far as saying that this is a Pacific Northwest framboise, or an Oregon framboise, but we’re happy to call it an Alesong Framboise.

We’re also excited to say that even before releasing this beer to the public, it won bronze at the Best of Craft Beer Awards in the Belgian-Style Fruited Lambic category!

So swing by the tasting room for a glass of framboise and let us know what you think. Cheers!