Jultember: beer for humanity's sake...

i laid claim to our in-house studio (the erstwhile spare bedroom) in the midst of all the chaos of furniture being hastily rearranged during the recent balcony redo, and i intend to continue to occupy said space for the remainder of Summer... or more.

this is where you find me, in my commandeered quarters, surrounded by hundreds of cartoony figurines staring out at me from the multiple display cases arranged around the room. it is a bit unnerving to tell the truth.

i have been spending part of this Summer engaged in the wholly selfless task of drinking beer for humanity's sake, and i am ready to make my first official report.

tonight's brew is the Dubbel aux framboises from Microbrasserie au Frontibus (warning: site is in French), a local-ish brewery on the eastern end of Quebec. [random aside: the name on that glass has nothing to do with this beer. i have been using it as my designated tasting-glass for this entire tasting exercise.]

my attraction to this particular bottle was based entirely on the promise of a raspberry-flavored beer. i like a good beer, but i am also a fan of ciders, and the suggestion of a raspberry-infused beer seemed like a happy marriage of those two delicious places.

boy did this one deliver!

this is a dubbel-style beer, which is smack-dab in the middle of my preferred beer type. it has a slightly-yeasty, toasted-grain background with just enough hops to counter the slightly sweet notes of something approaching almost-burnt-caramel.

but before all of that, there is this really enjoyable raspberry flavor that comes across more like a very-hard cider. this is not the raspberry taste you get in a can of soda. this is a very adult fruit taste. there is a slight hint of tartness that plays very nicely with the medium hoppy tones of the background beer, and the overall effect of the raspberry is almost reminiscent of a dry sparkling wine.

this is by no means my favorite of the beers i have tasted to date, but it easily stands out as my favorite of the flavored (or otherwise gimmicky) beers thus far. i am so fond of this one, that i cannot wait to try some of the other beers they have to offer... which they classify as the anglaise (English) and belges (Belgian) series.

oh, the things i put myself through for humanity's sake.