Fruits, juice or extracts have been added to beer for a very long time,
especially with lambic. Kriek (cherry) and Framboise (raspberry) are
two traditional styles, famous in belgium. Peach is also a common
addition to this type of beer.
Kriek is lambic fermented with sour cherries, traditionally coming from
Schaerbeek (a district of Brussels). The cherries are left in
for
several months, causing a refermentation of the additional
sugar. Typically there is no sugar left at the end of the
fermentation,
thus traditional kriek has a fruit flavour
without sweetness. |
|
Framboise or
Frambozenbier is similar,
fermented using raspberries instead of sour cherries.
But
traditions tend to disappear: raspberries do not come from Schaerbeek
anymore and are often imported, notably from Poland; some brewers
sweeten their kriek to turn it into an "easier" drink in order to widen
their customer base...
As fruit beers have become very popular,
many new varieties have been introduced, using among others strawberry,
blackcurrant, apricot, grapefruit, apple and grape. Some breweries make
cherry beers based on
Flemish Brown Ale instead of lambic (sometimes called 'kriek' as well).
There are also brown beers with fruit extracts
(blueberry, raspberry, ...) |
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