I had this beer last night, actually, but didn’t get around to writing about it yet: Melbourn Brothers Strawberry. I found it at Ray’s Food Place on Bend’s west side, hadn’t heard of it before. It turned out to be quite good, very much like a lambic—Melbourn’s relies on spontaneous fermentation by wild yeast.

The best way to describe this beer is to compare it to a rose champagne, I think. And strawberries, strawberries, strawberries. Did I mention strawberry? Seriously, my wife even liked it, and she’s notorious for hating beer.

My notes:

Appearance: Poured into a Pilsner glass, it resembles a slightly dark rose champagne, pink and orange. Faint pink head, very thick and creamy.

Smell: Strawberries! Very sweet. Champagne again, hardly any beer character.

Taste: Strawberry sweet and a bit tart, a nice combination. Similar to Lindemans Framboise. A hint of malt in the background, but no hops.

Mouthfeel: Sparkly, on the thin side, thinner than a lambic, more like (you guessed it) champagne. Seems appropriate.

As for the inevitable BeerAdvocate review, they scored it 84 out of a hundred, with 96% thumbs up. This would make a good Valentine beer.