Longwood Framboise; Sissy Name, Delicious Taste.

It's a warm summer evening.  Naturally, your first reaction is to jump on your cruiser and ride down to the lake, enjoying a bit of fresh air, scenery and perhaps even some sun if you're not too late.  But of course, what cruise is complete without a great beer to accompany it?  And on a warm summer evening, you're not going to want just any beer, but something exceedingly refreshing and, er, summery.  Above all, you clearly want something to test your fortitude and security with your masculinity.  Well, happily, you need look no further.

Ah Longwood's Framboise.  The beer with quite possibly the worst, most humiliating name imaginable in the history of everything.  And unfortunately, unlike other beers such as Molson Canadian,  Miller and Kokanee, this beer will not automatically make you the life of the party, allow you to excel at any number of extreme sports, or let you meet endless droves of attractive women with ease, as the advertisements of those particular beers would suggest.  Oh dear; point against Longwood.

Fortunately for the Framboise, that is about where the negative points end.  Because, to put it quite bluntly, this beer is extremely good.  Let's just go right ahead and address the elephant in the room; yes, this is a flavoured (specifically raspberry) beer.  It's also made by Longwood Brew Pub in Nanaimo, BC and thus is likely not widely available.  These minor, niggling points aside, if you have to opportunity to buy this beer, I would strongly recommend it, especially for the summer months.  There's nothing inherently wrong with drinking it out of season, but it's just so mind-alteringly refreshing that you're guaranteed to get the most out of it when the weather is warmest.

A point worth noting is that I have tried other flavoured beers as well.  Some are in the same league as the Framboise, others fall very far short.  Of raspberry beers in particular, I have tried a few others, and I can safely say that for those that I've tried, the Framboise has them beaten by a significant margin.

Now, on to the review, as if it were truly necessary.

You may have gathered by this point that I rather enjoy Longwood's Framboise.  This is a truth.  In fact, the name aside, there's very little I can critique about it.

Taste:  Exceptional.  Both extremely refreshing, as well as very flavourful, managing the perfect balance of sweetness without becoming remotely sickening.

Aroma:  It smells of raspberries, shockingly.  It's actually difficult to believe it's really a beer at first, though you can certainly detect the hops and barley through the fruity smell.

Aftertaste:  None that I could detect.  The taste remains consistent throughout.

Recommended?:  Hells to the yes.

Verdict:  Absolutely one hundred and ten percent...do try it.  If I were to have one complaint, it would be that this beer is not available on tap, should you visit the Longwood Brew Pub.  Unless you have an allergy to raspberries or some absurd objection to flavoured beer, I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't like it.  Swallow your pride, ignore the limp-wristed name, and enjoy a Framboise this summer.

Score:  9.5 mugs out of 10.