Liefmans Fruitesse (Fruitbier) - Brouwerij Liefmans

cwc

Japan

2.17/5  rDev -34.2%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

It was a hot day in Tokyo so I thought I'd try something interesting from the local Belgian specialty shop. I wanted to try a Kriek, but they didn't have of those in the refrigerator, so I saw this and it looked right for this kind of weather. Looked right, but didn't really taste right.

Anyways, it came in a 25 cl bottle. I didn't have a chance to pour it in a glass, as I drank it in a park, so it's hard to say how it looked. I imagine it was a deadly sweet red color!

Opening it up I gave it a whiff and...boy, that's a very fruity smell. The taste was very sweet. Alcohol was 4.2% and I couldn't taste a hint of it.

Won't be buying this one again.

Serving type: bottle

08-29-2010 06:23:36 | More by cwc

mrfrancis

Kentucky

2.75/5  rDev -16.7%

06-18-2013 14:19:01 | More by mrfrancis

archero

Texas

3.75/5  rDev +13.6%

06-18-2013 02:28:59 | More by archero

DbbC

Illinois

4.75/5  rDev +43.9%

06-15-2013 01:39:55 | More by DbbC

FLima

Brazil

4.01/5  rDev +21.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Red amber color with a thin pink head with low retention.
Nice and clear aroma of sweet strawberries, cherries and raspberries. Amazing how you can even individually capture those. Hints of acid and sour.
Delicious flavor with a pleasant sourness that counterbalances any fruit sweetness. Taste of the same fruits felt in the nose, first Strawberry hits you which mutates into cherries, and raspberries and blueberries appear randomly. Hints of cough syrup, likely the sweetener.
Light body with a good carbonation with very small bubbles and an effervescent sensation.
Very balanced beer for the style, not overly sweet with a nice sourness. Far from my favorite style, but I did like this one. The only defect is the sweetener addition, which barely affects the taste. I found this much better than Floris from Huyghe, which carries too much sweet juice (twice as much).

Serving type: bottle

06-06-2013 00:57:44 | More by FLima

InspectorBob

New Jersey

3.25/5  rDev -1.5%

05-23-2013 20:48:06 | More by InspectorBob

Ciocanelu

Romania

3.75/5  rDev +13.6%

05-21-2013 12:39:55 | More by Ciocanelu

RobertColianni

Pennsylvania

3.25/5  rDev -1.5%

05-15-2013 04:56:13 | More by RobertColianni

beernads

Florida

3/5  rDev -9.1%

05-08-2013 07:50:58 | More by beernads

finstadp

Michigan

4.15/5  rDev +25.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

I recently had the Fruitesse by Liefmans. This beer had a red appearance with some floating particles in it. The aroma was pleasant and fruity. This was a very light beer in accordance to mouthfeel. The taste was very sweet like candy. It had an almost black cherry flavor and was very enjoyable. This would be a great summer drink.

Serving type: bottle

04-24-2013 19:42:54 | More by finstadp

UstickM

Michigan

3/5  rDev -9.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

This beer has a nice red tint with little to no head. The smell is fruity and sweet with hints of cough syrup due to the combination of all the fruits: cherry, blueberry, elderberry, strawberry and raspberry. The taste is very sweet and might be better paired as an after dinner drink or dessert.

Serving type: bottle

04-23-2013 22:18:55 | More by UstickM

lpayette

Vermont

3.75/5  rDev +13.6%

04-20-2013 02:48:23 | More by lpayette

souvenirs

British Columbia (Canada)

3.25/5  rDev -1.5%

04-18-2013 09:26:40 | More by souvenirs

Boilerfood

Indiana

3.5/5  rDev +6.1%

04-14-2013 16:18:45 | More by Boilerfood

ihmurria

Saskatchewan (Canada)

3/5  rDev -9.1%

03-04-2013 21:12:04 | More by ihmurria

jessicapreuss

Brazil

3.25/5  rDev -1.5%

02-14-2013 03:09:58 | More by jessicapreuss

sumpjh

California

3/5  rDev -9.1%

02-08-2013 10:47:00 | More by sumpjh

Gagnonsux

Texas

3.25/5  rDev -1.5%

02-06-2013 00:09:52 | More by Gagnonsux

Bashao

Israel

3.38/5  rDev +2.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5

Appearance: Pours red color from the bottle. Almost no foam head.

Smell: Smells of sweet fruty flavours. Mostly cherry and strawberry.

Taste: Starts sweet but tastes like artificial sweetner and ends acidic sour. Mildly carbonated.

Mouthfeel: Very lite body.

Overall: Nice fruit beer. Not more.

Serving type: bottle

01-25-2013 19:18:04 | More by Bashao

bismarksays

Iowa

3.5/5  rDev +6.1%

01-16-2013 06:02:36 | More by bismarksays

falloutsnow

Illinois

3.13/5  rDev -5.2%
look: 2 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

From: Tenuta's, Kenosha, WI
Date: Cork has "2010" printed on it, cage has "08-2012 LFF 13 01782"
Glass: Tulip

Liefmans' Fruitesse is something of a fake-candied fruit beer, a bit too light in scent and flavor, for my liking, when compared to others of the style. When aged at over two years, there's a discernible bit of tartness in this beer, which imparts a pleasant contrasting flavor with the fruit juices, but for the price and potential length of time to achieve this effect, I'd prefer to have a different fruit beer, particularly one that didn't use artificial sweeteners.

Pours a small, 0.5cm light-pink head that rapidly fades in a soda-like fashion to a virtual nothingness atop the body. Lacing is minimal to nonexistent, a small streak here or there. The body is a transparent, dark ruby red color with visible and vigorous carbonation (the question arises: where is the foam?). Light brings out lighter red hues around the perimeter of the body. To me, the soda-like retention and lack of lacing decrease the aesthetic appeal of this beer significantly; the body itself resembles any other red fruit-based beer.

Aroma is candy-like raspberry and cherry with a hint of tartness, which perhaps emerges from the two-plus years of aging this bottle has undergone. When I compare this to the fruit beers produced by New Glarus and other Liefmans beers, the scent is a bit light and thin, perhaps due to a lesser load of fruit and presence of artificial sweetener.

Overall flavors would be of light cherry, strawberry, and raspberry juice mixed with artificial sweetener and a modest hint of tartness that likely emerges with the two-plus years of age this bottle has. Opens with light fruit juice sweetness and a trace of artificial sweetener flavor, leading to a fairly decent mid-palate of blended strawberry-cherry-raspberry juices (heavier on cherry and raspberry) with a hint of tartness and lesser artificial sweetener. Closes with similar fruit juice flavors (cherry and raspberry juice, primarily) and a continued, faint tartness and fake sweetness. This wasn't as lacking in flavors as in aromas, and the tartness I find makes it better than an overly sweet, basic fruit beer, though Fruitesse still reminds me of a pale version of many bolder fruit beers.

The beer is medium to medium-light in body, with a carbonated fizziness reminiscent of soda that makes this a bit too prickly across the palate for my liking. Once this wears off, though, the beer is pleasant enough and fairly foamy across the palate. Closes with a slight astringency that either is from the fruit acids or the artificial sweetener; either way, it works fairly well with a sweet beer that drinks quickly like soda.

Serving type: bottle

01-06-2013 04:28:07 | More by falloutsnow

Takeahnase

3.25/5  rDev -1.5%

01-05-2013 18:11:39 | More by Takeahnase

acurtis

New Jersey

3.75/5  rDev +13.6%

01-04-2013 13:32:48 | More by acurtis

Morpheus

Alberta (Canada)

3.5/5  rDev +6.1%

12-29-2012 08:49:39 | More by Morpheus

NickThePyro

Washington

3.75/5  rDev +13.6%

12-24-2012 04:33:25 | More by NickThePyro