Cantillon Lou Pepe - Framboise - Brasserie Cantillon

allengarvin

Texas

4.7/5  rDev +5.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

2001 vintage. Served in a chalice glass (a duvel glass)

Appearance: Orange-tinted mahogany color, very hazy. Big head at first, but settles down quickly.

Aroma: Wonderful, fully funky aroma: cheesy, old leather, sharply metallic, with an underlying raspberry tartness.

Flavor: Very tart, puckeringly tart and acidic. Fruity, but not identifiably raspberry, as all trace of sugar content is gone; instead it feels almost citric, like an old, almost dried-out lime. Sweaty and leathery lambic flavors are present as well. Finishes quite dry.

Mouthfeel: Fairly light body, but the pungent tartness gives a really great texture.

A beautiful beer. Framboises are my favorite fruit lambics, and this example is one of the best.

Serving type: bottle

02-05-2005 02:44:16 | More by allengarvin

northyorksammy

Ontario (Canada)

4.4/5  rDev -0.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Cloudy beautiful pink, with real raspberries. Cider-like aroma and no barnyard. Great sediment of more sour at bottom of bottle. Very smooth drink, hard to gulp down although I gave it a college effort. 2001 vintage. Must be shared. Seems richer than 5%. A very special unique beverage as my two pals concurred.

Serving type: bottle

12-24-2004 00:17:36 | More by northyorksammy

TheLongBeachBum

California

4.8/5  rDev +8.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Framboise 2001 Vintage:

Presentation: Like a Pornographic Magazine I spotted this seriously sexy offering looking all hot & cumly & staring down at me from the top shelf, it begged me to buy it. It didn’t take much to convince me. Cost me all of $13.99, you have to be kidding me right?! The typical 750ml Cantillon green glass bottle comes with a cork/crown cap which is covered in a high quality thick externally black colored silver foil that covers the slender neck for about 5”. Once the foil & crown cap were removed it revealed a pristine cork that immediately started to bubble, this is still a lovely beast & most certainly could handle more aging but I’m impatient to try this now. The main obverse label is a generic one for the Lou Pepe, & it has a picture of the area around Mannekin Piss statute, which is also the view seen from the Poechenellekelder. A small oval sticker above the main obverse label lists this as Framboise 2001, the cork has a bottled (misspelled “botteld” LOL) date of 2.003. The Lou Pepe range was created to mark the handing over of Brewster activities at Cantillon from father (Jean-Pierre) to son (Jean). The Lou Pepe Framboise is one of the better 2-yr old lambics steeped with 50% more Raspberries (300g/l as opposed to 200g/l) than its “standard” stable mate Framboise [better known as Rosé de Gambrinus] & reinvigorated with a sweet liquor sugar solution. Bordeaux barrels are also used, lending some further unique flavors to this special Vintage Framboise.

Appearance: Partially decanted from the 750ml into a large 1 Pt Jug, from which I then poured & topped up my chosen drinking vessel, a straight sided Cantillon tumbler. Superb looks, a supremely awesome totally clear looking reddish-pink color that looks medicinal. A thick but consistent flamingo pink head forms & fizzes for all its worth, volcanic at times the bubbles in the head rise & fall with a lava like bubbly residue. The effervescent rousing is audibly loud, but when this rescinds & the quiet returns, there is a bereft sliver like pink halo & a small broken floating thin island in the middle of the Jug, yet once it is poured from the Jug to the Cantillon Tumbler a huge voluminous pinkish head forms again. Bloody Hell this is Seriously Sexy!

Nose: Classically Cantillon, sharp & extremely pungent yet somehow seriously fucking fruity in a manner only the Van Roy’s seem to be able to accomplish set against the backdrop of traditional lambic. Not much “Anderlecht funk” in this one though, the horse piss & cow shit is replaced with a pronounced yet mild wild yeast character that has strong Raspberry vinegar traits which are very dominant, as are the sharp red berries & acidic grape skins which all work together to give a bloody impressive all-round cutting fruity nose that will sting any open wound with a vicious biting. It is never demeaning to apply the term astringent with Cantillon; it is merely an appreciative sign of a deep understanding & a comprehensible complement of their offerings.

Taste: Majestic raspberry multiple orgasms soak the lambic clitoris with a fruity & very tasty berry juice that begs to be licked clean from the nether regions, again & again, then spread over the luscious red skinned labia. A sharp, yet incredibly smooth ‘shaven raver’ that advances from the initial Raspberries with the best “worst?” parts of an acrid 2 year old lambic to produce a Forbidden Fruit drink that makes you feel guilty of such pleasure. Saliva removing finish that can make you believe that your lips just vaporized. Drier than Ghandi’s Sandals.

Mouthfeel: Acrid, acidic, sharp, cutting yet fruity in a smooth vinegary “testicle-yanking” Cantillon sort of way. Selfish masturbatory influences on the tongue as you lick your own lips after this one.

Drinkability: As I will always freely admit, I am deeply biased when it comes to traditional lambics, especially Cantillon, but yet again I find myself quite literally blown away by the sheer quality & individuality of this Framboise which is completely unswerving & unapologetic in its sheer dedication to making your love organs shrink.

Excuse me whilst I now go searching for my testicles…I know they’re “round” here somewhere….

Overall: Of all the fruit-lambics, Framboise never seems to get a serious look in, its the more "Girlie" of the commercial fruity beers & is easily misunderstood as a 'Liquid Panty Remover' when essence or syrup is used - yet when the real deal fruit is used in a truly authentic lambic, it produces an incredibly dry offering that is the anti-thesis of the more commercial “sweet” Liquid Panty Removers that are out there. Raspberries will never give the overall satisfying feel that Cherries will I feel; due to their more restrained profile, but don't underestimate the bite of a traditional Framboise for the sweet sickly crap that you may have had previously. Along with Drie Fonteinen Framboise – this is the Premiere offering of its ilk. F'in Fantastic!!

Serving type: bottle

10-20-2004 05:30:55 | More by TheLongBeachBum

Rastacouere

Quebec (Canada)

4.22/5  rDev -5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Bloody light red, very thin pink head. Aroma is extremely barnyardy, like when you pick raspberries in a field where cows have passed and left their "trace". Lactic sour yogurt past its prime, mild cask wood. Very fruity acidic palate, citric, lactic with definite blood oranges flavors. I think I’d like it better if it was more sour. Cask wood flavors, while there, seems also a bit restrained to me. Medium carbonation, medium bodied. Those beers are great, no doubt about it, but I guess it’s the oak and fruit focus that makes the difference between a great beer and an exceptional one. Lou pepe framboise, while very complex and apparently well blended doesn’t strike to me as the perfect blend of complexity and focus. I had greatly anticipated this beer for a long time and stand disappointed though, it’s fairly similar to the lou pepe kriek and while being authentic and a quality product, just doesn’t appear to me even as a top shelf framboise and how many of those are there? Thanks Martin!

Serving type: bottle

06-07-2004 22:06:11 | More by Rastacouere

Realale

Missouri

4.68/5  rDev +5.4%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

2001 Edition.

Deep hazy red with a slight touch of onion skin. Foam was oozing out of the bottle upon opening, and was enthusiastic upon pouring, but, in typical Cantillon fashion, quickly dissipated in the glass.

Absolutely stunning nose of pure wild raspberry supported by acidic citrus notes. Touch of funk, but much more subdued than most Cantillons. Still obviously a traditional lambic, but the quality of the raspberry is like nothing I've smelt.

Typical Cantillon in the mouth. A bit surprising, given the richness that the extra fruit and barrel treatment gave the nose. Tart citrus dominates, with a bit of crisp crackery grain making itself known. Finish is unbelievably long.

Beautifully carbonated, and a lovely mouthfeel. As easy to drink as any Cantillon, although the transition between the richness of the nose and the typicity of the palate is a bit distracting.

Serving type: bottle

05-15-2004 18:24:22 | More by Realale

ngandhi

Illinois

3.48/5  rDev -21.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Vintage 2002, decanted

The Lou Pepe Framboise does exhibit a stronger fruit character than most Cantillon, as was the goal of this line of lambic, but is as dry and acidic as any other. The Brett character is sacrificed in this beer to mouthwatering tartness. And though much of this comes from the raspberries, I find it difficult really to distinguish the fruit character from the lambic itself. It is in what it isn't -- Lou Pepe Framboise is not earthy or woody -- but to say that this is a fruit bomb would be a huge overstatement.

The Framboise is still prototypically Cantillon with so much acidity that you'll think you're drinking an ulcer or a very, very tight wine. And by adding more fruit and sacrificing a lot of that classic funk, Cantillon has weakened the beer. The focus comes to be strictly on the intense, cheek-collapsing acid and parching dryness.

The sludge off of which this was decanted is much richer in raspberry aroma and a few drops of it into the glass yielded more body and a much more rounded lambic. But the brewer does suggest decanting.

Without the barnyard nose and earthy taste I've come to expect from Cantillon, this framboise is one-dimensional and, as a result, painful to drink. Among fruit lambics, Lindeman's pastuerized offerings are good at showing off pure fruit without the "wild" characteristics of lambic while Cantillon Kriek is a difficult but remarkable achievement of precisely what a fruit lambic ought to be. This one tries to walk the line, showcasing fruit but trying to maintain some historical integrity. Stripped of all its sugars, however, we don't seem to really be dealing with raspberries anymore and, stripped of funk, we aren't really dealing with Cantillon.

Relax, relax.
ng

Serving type: bottle

05-04-2004 20:44:28 | More by ngandhi

WVbeergeek

Ohio

3.88/5  rDev -12.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Vintage 2001

Appearance: Ruby red pink tone with a light whitish pink head leaves some lacing scattered and fine. Aroma: Sour notes of acidic quality, funky wild aromatics with cat pee and horse blanket farmhouse characteristics with a raspberry fruit backbone. Taste: Puckering even more so than most Cantillons I've tried, raspberry sweetness shows up somewhere in there funky edge yeasty note, I know this style is an artform but damn this one is wild. Spontaneous fermentation at it's best hits the palate with a barrage of sour notes but with each sip it grows on you. Mouthfeel: Medium bodied spritzy carbonation world class lambic. Drinkability: One bottle by yourself would be a venture, but I recommend sharing it with beer loving friends or somewhat educated about this tradition style. This one could possibly send a newbie running.

Serving type: bottle

04-26-2004 04:32:34 | More by WVbeergeek

francisweizen

Australia

4.68/5  rDev +5.4%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

Appearance:

2001 Vintage: 750ml brown glass bottle. Corked and crowned. The crown is pried off and the cork is removed. A lovely, exceptional looking reddish liquid emerges from the bottle and is topped off by a lovely off-white/pinkish head of foam. The foam lasts the entire glass and coats the sides, leaving exquisite patterns of Belgian lace.

Smell: The aromas are exceptional (always the case with Cantillon it seems) and consist of freshly picked raspberries, raspberry seeds, pits, flesh, skin, pulp, everything raspberry!, as well as belgian yeast, wheat, farmyard animals, horse blankets, old shoes, musty movie theatres, and old basements.

Taste: The taste is excellent. A lovely blend of lambic funk and fresh raspberries. The taste is a bit too tart (even for us hardcore lambic heads!) up front, but it than smooths out with some lovely raspberry essence in the middle and a lovely smooth, lingering fruity flavor in the finish. The funky hints are very prominent up front and in the middle, but suprisingly the finish is pure, whole raspberries!

Mouthfeel: This one is spritzy with some lovely carbonation going on. This is neither too thick, nor too thin, it resides in between the two in a town called "perfect".

Drinkability: Insane! Very tart and funky, but oh-so good and tasty. The fresh raspberry aromas and the lovely fruity flavors of this Cantillon offering are excellent. The lou pepe series is really quite different than many other Cantillon offerings, as this brew is much sweeter, and fruiter than the Rose De Gambrinus and similar brews from Mr. Van-Roy.

Overall: Expensive? Yes!, but oh-so worth it at least once. At $30 a bottle, this beer is quite pricy, and hard to find...but you should still really try to get some. As the fruit is the main attraction in this one, the fresher your bottle is, the better! Man, oh man do I hope that I can sample some of this fresh at the brewery next week! Please Jean-Pierre, put some aside for me!

Serving type: bottle

03-08-2004 21:26:11 | More by francisweizen

Gueuzedude

Arizona

4.7/5  rDev +5.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Bottle Vintage 2002, Sampled February 2004
Pours a deep hazy red color. It is well carbonated and produces a pink head as I pour it into my glass, though the head disappears quickly. There is an immediate aroma of raspberry seeds (fruity and woody). A slight sour aroma is joined by a musty leather note, though raspberries certainly dominate the nose. There is a good raspberry presence in the taste as well. The raspberry fruitiness makes it seem like there is a hint of sweetness in this otherwise austerely dry Cantillon offering. As expected this is fairly sour, though not extreme. The beer has a tannic, woody aftertaste that coats the teeth and mouth like a tannic red wine. A bit musty, but overall the Brettanomyces character seems subdued.

This beer definitely expresses the raspberry character more than the Rose De Gambrinus, though this is still quite dry so that the fruit can be hard to pick up if you don't know what to look for. I really like how the acidity pairs with the fruit character. This is a very well integrated beer, no one element overpowers the other.

Serving type: bottle

03-02-2004 19:45:25 | More by Gueuzedude

jlervine

Georgia

4.68/5  rDev +5.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

2001 vintage.

Poured a muddy reddish-brown with a ring of off-white with a hint of pink head around the edge of the glass. Smell has hints of vinegar, wet horse blanket, earthy barnyard smells. Taste is very tart, with a hint of raspberry. The sourness is very strong and overpowers the tongue, crosswiring "sour" with "salty". Hints of raspberries stay throughout the drink. Has a malted vinegar character to it, but every time you breathe in after swallowing, there is the raspberries all over again. The mouthfeel is very bubbly and stimulating, light and refreshing. This is one tasty beer, and my first "real" lambic - I'm hooked!

Serving type: bottle

02-27-2004 00:30:54 | More by jlervine