Lindermans Framboise / Leinenkugel Berry Weiss and others

[dave ziegler]

While on vacation the past week the first time I took a week in 7 years A friend bought me something I had never had as far as beer? Lindermans Framboise it was wonderful and I enjoyed my 8 oz glass of it, but it is way to much money to buy by the case $53. for 12 bottles. So I am trying other stuff on that order and one I bought the other day was Leinenkugels Berry Weis it is wonderful for the price of $26.50 a case. Went through 3 late last night and plan to have some tonight. Another one I have been told to try in a 'Framboise' is Appalachian Brewings Framboise - Lambic. I wondered how many have had these two kinds of Beers the Framboise's and the Berry Weiss's. I am going to try and find the ABC's Framboise and price it as have read it is really delious. Another Beer I have found I really like is Philadelphia Brewing's Walt Wit it is really a great Wit Beer.

Dave Z

Beer Its Not Just A Beverage Beer Is Food

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[barturtle]

I am a big fan of Belgian Ales. My favorite styles would be the Flemish ones, the Flander's Red and Brown, both sour beers and as such having a commonality to the Lambics. While I'm not much of a fruit beer fan, I have had the Lindemans Peche, a peach flavored offering and proclaimed it to be tasty. Another common flavor is the Kriek, sour cherry. However leaving the flavors aside, I find Gueuze to be very drinkable.

[Gillman]

Dave, German wheat beers and probably Belgian-style ones (the wit type) were made in the U.S. before Prohibition. The styles came to America in the 1800's with immigrant brewers. Some of these were probably flavored, in a way similar to berry weiss. (I always thought that mixing beer and tomato juice, which is a concoction known in Western Canada and parts of the U.S., was the same idea as a fruit beer). So everything old becomes new again..

Gary

[dave ziegler]

Dave, German wheat beers and probably Belgian-style ones (the wit type) were made in the U.S. before Prohibition. The styles came to America in the 1800's with immigrant brewers. Some of these were probably flavored, in a way similar to berry weiss. (I always thought that mixing beer and tomato juice, which is a concoction known in Western Canada and parts of the U.S., was the same idea as a fruit beer). So everything old becomes new again..

Gary

Boy did you bring back a memory there Gary When I was young I went to a club called the Club 1000 in Pottstown and a friend there told me Dave try putting some Tomato Juice in your beer well I got hooked on that and just lately with some of my Cheaper Brands of Beer have tried this again and I still enjoy Tomato Juice in my beer! Back then The guy told me It will keep you from getting a Hang over well I do not know about that but it is very tasty!

Thanks for bringing Back that memory Gary!

Dave Z

Beer Its Not Just A Beverage Beer Is Food

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[Gillman]

In Canada it's called a Calgary Red-eye.

Gary

[nor02lei]

Another common flavor is the Kriek, sour cherry.

I am no fan of Belgian beer but a relatively dry kriek on a hot summer day is quite all right. However I did discover a real kriek sensation this summer. I did have Timmermans kriek with rhubarb pie and vanilla ice cream. A real smash hit!

Leif

[SBOmarc]

In several bars I have taken notice to a 50/50 blend of the Young's Double Chocolate Stout and the Framboise. It is a very tasty end of the meal type drink. My wife enjoys it and has gotten her friends that are not really beer drinkers to appreciate it also.

[barturtle]

Boy did you bring back a memory there Gary When I was young I went to a club called the Club 1000 in Pottstown and a friend there told me Dave try putting some Tomato Juice in your beer well I got hooked on that and just lately with some of my Cheaper Brands of Beer have tried this again and I still enjoy Tomato Juice in my beer! Back then The guy told me It will keep you from getting a Hang over well I do not know about that but it is very tasty!

Thanks for bringing Back that memory Gary!

Dave Z

Beer Its Not Just A Beverage Beer Is Food

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I just noticed the other day that Bud has started doing a beer and clamato in aluminum bottles. You may enjoy that is you like the beer and tomato juice, Dave.

[SBOmarc]

I routinely float a large shot of beer on top of my Bloody Mary's. It marries well with the Vodka and all of the seasonings.

[CorvallisCracker]

In Canada it's called a Calgary Red-eye.

Gary

Sounds like a great chaser for a bacon-infused shot of bourbon.

[dave ziegler]

I just noticed the other day that Bud has started doing a beer and clamato in aluminum bottles. You may enjoy that is you like the beer and tomato juice, Dave.

Thanks Tim I will look for that just for the Plain fun of the Mix! I really loved it that way back then The Bartender would automaticly bring a can of Campbles Tomato for me when I stopped in for a beer those days Did not do it all the time but a good bit.

Dave Z

Beer Its Not Just A Beverage Beer Is Food

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[dave ziegler]

In Canada it's called a Calgary Red-eye.

Gary

Thanks Gary So That is what they call it cool Name Gary I used to love beer that way and it is a nice way to pick up a cheap Beer and give it some good taste! I really have also been enjoying all the Weiss Type Beers out there lately. Have you ever Had Walt Wit By Philadelphia Brewing Company? If you ever can get it, give it a try. I was lucky enough to buy a case right at the brewery that was bottled on 8 / 20 and I bought it on 8 /21 can't get any fresher then that!

Dave Z

Beer Its Not Just A Beverage Beer is Food

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[CorvallisCracker]

Ah - Leinenkugel's Berry Weiss - the beer I love to hate.

Leinies lager is the first beer I ever drank. My grandparents had a cabin on a lake about ten miles north of Chippewa Falls, and there's a pic in our family album of me, age two, drinking from a Leinie's bottle held by my grandfather.

During our annual summer vacations, in Wisconsin (two day drive from Florida), sipping the stuff was one of the great attractions (commencing at age twelve I was allowed one per day).

They made the standard lager, a crisp clean refreshing brew, and a bock in the spring.

In the early 70's they started making a light beer. No comment.

During the mid seventies I attended grad school at a location within a day's drive of Chippewa, and drove up there periodically to stock up.

During the 1980s they started to introduce some other varieties. The "Reserve" was a more full-bodied, darker lager. I loved it.

In 1988 they were purchased by Miller. My initial reaction was panic, but this turned out to be a Good Thing. Miller moved production of the regular lager and the light to Milwaukee, leaving the guys in Chippewa free to concentrate on new specialty beers.

They brought out a red lager, the "Big Butt" doppelbock and my favorite, the Auburn Ale. Later on the very popular Honey Weiss. The Reserve was renamed "Northwoods Lager".

Sometime in the 1990s distribution was extended to Florida. I could buy it locally! This probably coincided with the acquistion of the old Blatz brewey in Milwaukee, which allowed an increase in production.

For some reason they stopped selling in Florida around 2000.

In 2003 I took my wife on a late September vacation to Wisconsin, partly to visit the old family stomping grounds and partly to enjoy the spectacular autumn foliage. We visited the old Leinie's brewery in Chippewa. The visitor center has a tavern where they give out free samples. We're not talking about little 2 oz plastic cups here, kids. We're talking nine ounce glasses. They generally had 4-5 varieties on tap and you can get a glass of each, so you can get feelin' pretty good if you're not careful.

I was bitterly dissapointed that they didn't have the Auburn Ale - it had been replaced by a new beer - the Berry Weiss. NOOO!!!!! I was told that they only had so much production capacity, and couldn't make both.[1]

My wife liked the BW, but I refused to try any. I drowned my sorrows in some Northwoods Lager, Red Lager and Big Butt.

We did bring an assortment back with us, stuffed into our checked luggage. Those were the last Leinies I ever drank.

I drove out to Oregon the last week of 2006, with my wife staying behind for a couple of months to put the house in order for sale. In mid January she calls me and says, "Guess what I just saw in the beer section up at Albertson's?"

Anyway, they don't sell Leinies here in Oregon, and we must settle for the suds from Deschutes, Widmer, Terminal Gravity, Rogue, Full Sail, etc. I suffer so. :cry: ( )

1. The Wiki article on Leinenkugels lists Auburn Ale as current production. This is incorrect. Verify at http://www.leinie.com

[thatred1]

While on vacation the past week the first time I took a week in 7 years A friend bought me something I had never had as far as beer? Lindermans Framboise it was wonderful and I enjoyed my 8 oz glass of it, but it is way to much money to buy by the case $53. for 12 bottles.

Dave,

I agree the Lindeman's seems pricey, but you're getting wild yeast, 2 years of aging and real fruit, not just fruit juice added like some of the other products you've mentioned.

Merchant Du Vin is the importer - here is more information:

http://www.merchantduvin.com/pages/5_breweries/lindemans.html

One of the Lindeman's Lambics is a real treat on a hot summer day, or in lieu of dessert...

[dave ziegler]

Gary and Anyone Else How are Pumkin Ale's and what brand is the best value Smooth not real heavy but tasty as I want to try these I never have and I am also thinking about trying Blueberry Ale I see there is a version by Atlantic Coast Brewing out of bar Harbor which when My Mother was living I traveled to every fall a very Beautiful Place that time of year!

Dave Z

Beer its Not Just A Beverage Beer Is Food

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[craigthom]

It's mostly off topic, but Merchant du Vin, the importer of the Lindeman, was responsible for me meeting Michael Jackson.

Twenty something years ago I was working at a large Buckhead alcohol retailer in Atlanta. The National Beer Wholesalers Association national convention was in Atlanta that year, and a salesman from a distributor took pity on me and my budding interesting in beer and let me use his pass to spend a day there.

I was in my twenties and just getting into quality beers, so this was like a trip to heaven. I had great beer and great food. I didn't want it to end.

It got better, though. Merchant du Vin had a hospitality suite at a nearby hotel, and they hosted a "ceremony" with the Belgian embassy in which Mr. Jackson was inducted into some brewing society. There were monks with those beer stirring paddles that show up beer labels.

I didn't understand a word of it, but I did get to meet Michael Jackson!

[gr8erdane]

New Belgium in Fort Collins did a fall or winter seasonal framboise that I enjoyed much more than other fruit beers I've had. I still have three left that weathered the winter in the beer fridge that did away with my stock of Red Stripes and made such a mess in the fridge that I just got around to cleaning it out last week.

As for beer and tomato juice, it's a taste I'm not going to turn my nose up but neither am I going to be trying anytime soon.

[malto]

Dave, German wheat beers and probably Belgian-style ones (the wit type) were made in the U.S. before Prohibition. The styles came to America in the 1800's with immigrant brewers. Some of these were probably flavored, in a way similar to berry weiss. (I always thought that mixing beer and tomato juice, which is a concoction known in Western Canada and parts of the U.S., was the same idea as a fruit beer). So everything old becomes new again..

Gary

I have to question this. German's came in droves to the US post Civil war and established their German style breweries from NY to the midwest.Up until that time the American beer of choice was ale but in a short time the clean crisp German lager beers became the most prevalent beer style, supplanting ale. I've read quite a few history books of beer and looked at lots of old advertising material and have never run across any mention of large scale Weisse beer production in the US pre-or post prohibition. I'm not saying there were none but I'd wager they were few and far between. It was all about lager.If you have info that refutes this I'd be interested to hear it.

As I know of no large Belgian immigration to the US it's even less likely that any wits were being brewed in the US and I've never read of any 19th century Belgian US brewers. The beer world in Belgium, up until fairly recently, was amazingly insular with beers not traveling much within the country and people just drinking whatever local product was available so other than locals drinking Hoegaarden I'd wager that back in the day wits were not even that common in most of Belgium, much less the US.