Wild for Raspberry Ale

I've finally given up and admitted that I like fruit beer. I'm not ashamed. I even bought a six-pack of fruity, malty goodness recently (OK, a month ago):  Great Divide Wild Raspberry Ale.

Described as a "beer lover's fruit beer", Wild Raspberry Ale is dry, bitter, and full of raspberry flavor. It smells like pureed raspberries with a little bit of graininess behind the fruity aroma. A little reminiscent of raspberry cobbler.

The flavor is pretty similar to the aroma. Initially tons of raspberry, followed by flavors of baked malt & grain and finished by a balanced, lingering hop bitterness. Mouthfeel is also dry thanks to a moderate-high carbonation level. Perfect for spring & summer!

I found this to be an interesting fruit beer because it's not like most of the ones I've had before. It's not the sweet, fresh, bready Samuel Smith strawberry ale I discovered (and loved!) last year. It's not a Belgian fruit style, so it doesn't have the esters or signature lambic-style flavors that are so common with various Belgian fruit ales. And it's much drier and hoppier than the ever-popular O'Fallon Wheach, Pyramid Apricot, Founder's Cerise, or even New Belgium's Framboise.

So here it is. If you aren't offended by the concept of fruit beer but you often find the sweetness of most on the market a bit too much, this is definitely one to try. It has a ton of raspberry aroma and flavor but is pretty dry and hoppy compared to its fruit-filled peers. I give it a wort hoggy thumbs-up and will likely buy this again.

I don't like fruity beer, pt. 2

Inspired by my experience with Samuel Smith's Organic Strawberry Ale, I picked up the other two Samuel Smith fruity beers: Raspberry and Cherry. I tried the Raspberry one yesterday and am enjoying the Cherry one today on this warm summer afternoon. These are great beers that highlight the fruits of summer we love so much, and are perfect for sipping outside (or inside while sitting in front of the air conditioning).



The raspberry one, pictured to the right, was significantly fruitier and more sour than the strawberry beer. The Merchant duVin site describes it as "intense" - I think that's about right. While the strawberry ale tastes like a light ale with strawberry juice added, the raspberry beer tastes like tart, funky raspberry puree. It was certainly drinkable, but probably not something I'll buy again.



The cherry ale, at left (in my Rogue Santa glass), lands somewhere in-between. While not as light and refreshing as the strawberry ale, it's certainly less tart and intense than the raspberry ale. The sweetness of the cherry juice balances out the inherent tartness, leading to a sweetly-mouthpuckering flavor that has just a hint of maltiness behind it.


In short, the strawberry ale's the winner. The cherry ale tries hard for Best in Show but can't compete with the refreshing lightness of the strawberry ale. The raspberry one would probably be better served with a couple scoops of vanilla ice cream. Which, really, is hardly something to complain about.

I don't like fruity beer, but....

I am going to have to stop saying that. I've had enough fruit beers in my life to finally admit that, yes, I like fruit beer. Mind you, I don't like all fruit beer. Some of it is just plain gross (cue 't Smisje Blond), but I find that quite a few of the fruit-inspired beers are more than palatable.

We stopped at Gomer's Midtown tonight to see what they had and hoped pick up some Founders. We ended up getting Founders' Dirty Bastard, New Holland's Dragon's Milk, and Samuel Smith's Organic Strawberry Ale. If you keep up with my preferences, I tend to like drier, hoppier, more astringent or citrusy beers. I don't like the cloyingly-sweet stuff, even those double-IPAs that, despite the 99+ IBUs, go down like cough syrup.

This ale poured quite well, with a giant head that took a few minutes to die down enough for me to take a picture. It's a bit spritzy, and that characteristic stays through the entire beer. As soon as I opened the beer, it smelled of strawberries. It's pretty apparent they add strawberry flavoring to the beer, but not overwhelmingly-so. This is still a beer.

The initial taste of the beer is strawberry, followed by a nice bready flavor, followed by a somewhat intense sourness. It is just like eating strawberry rhubarb pie or cobbler, in that you get the up-front sweetness & doughy flavor, but have that lingering sour/bitter flavor for a while... this is truly a great "fruit beer" and one that I think could be appreciated by beer connoisseurs and beer-snubbers alike - especially as summer nears. Bottoms up!

* Edited - Gomer's midtown has the Samuel Smith's Winter Warmer (which is fabulous) on sale for under $3 per bottle. It is one of my favorite "Christmas" beers.