Cantillon Lou Pepe - Framboise

Description
Lou Pepe Framboise is part of Cantillon's Lou Pepe series which is bottled on a regular basis. The series also contains Lou Pepe Gueuze and Lou Pepe-Kriek. Lou Pepe Framboise is made from two year old lambic that has been aged exclusively in used Bordeaux barrels. Whereas Cantillon's Kriek 100% Lambic and Rosé de Gambrinus lambics contain 200 g/L of frozen fruit, the Lou Pepe fruited beers contain about 300 g/L of fresh fruit.[1] To carbonate the beer, a small amount of sweet liquor is added at bottling causing the refermentation in the bottle.
According to Cantillon's official website, "the particular name of these beers comes from the south-west of France, a region the Cantillon family is very fond of. In this beautiful region, the grandfather is called Lou Pepe."[1]
In 2025, after rumors that the beer was discontinued due to the increased fruit in Rosé de Gambrinus, making these beers too similar, Jean Van Roy confirmed that he does not plan to release a new Lou Pepe Framboise in the future. He stated that this beer was not aging particularly well, becoming too acetic with time. However, he conceded, "never say never". Additionally, Lou Pepe Framboise shares too many similarities with another regularly released beer, but according to him it is Magic Lambic, and not Rosé de Gambrinus, which indeed became more aromatic with time, but only due to a change in the raspberry aromatic that evolved over the year (probably with global warming) rather than an increase in quantities added to the beer, which didn't happen. [2]
History / Other notes
Lou Pepe Framboise, as with the other Lou Pepe bottlings, comes with two dates: a vintage date and a bottling/cork date. The dates are generally two years apart, with the vintage date shown as a sticker on the bottle above the label.
Some reviews mention that there may be 375 mL bottles of this beer in existence, Jean Van Roy confirmed that rumour to be false, the only Lou Pepe beer made in that size being Lou Pepe-Kriek.
Label
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U.S. label approval application, 2001
European Label:
The Lou Pepe Framboise, a well balanced beer with a rich fruit flavour, is made by adding raspberries to two year old lambic chosen for it's fine taste and it's flavors.
Beer with an evolving taste. Keep and serve at cellar temperature (12-15C). Best before: 10 years after the bottling date.
Ingredients: Malt, wheat, hops, raspberries (300 g/L)
Bottle Log
References
- ↑ Jump up to: 1.0 1.1 https://www.cantillon.be/framboise-lou-pepe-en Cantillon - Framboise Lou Pepe
- ↑ Lambic.Info Interview with Jean Van Roy, february 2025
Photos