Samuel Smith's Organic Raspberry Fruit Beer - Samuel Smith Old Brewery (Tadcaster)

tdm168

North Carolina

4/5  rDev +4.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a deep purple with 1/2" of pinkish purple head that fades after a few minutes. The nose is fresh raspberries almost like jam. The taste is very sweet like juice. The raspberries are intense and delicious. The mouthfeel is medium bodied, well carbonated, and rich.

This is a well put together, balanced, fruit beer. It's very sweet so I probably couldn't do more than one of these, but it's got to be one of the best fruit beers I've had.

Serving type: bottle

10-23-2011 23:32:26 | More by tdm168

cindyjeffsmith

Georgia

4.22/5  rDev +10.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Appearance: very hazy, almost opaque red. Lots o raspberry bubbles.
Smell: sweet and tart raspberry. This isn't just a hint, this is like Nehi raspberry and I like it.
Taste: After Blushing Monk thought for sure this would be a letdown but not at all. Tasty, refreshing, quaffable raspberry.
Overall: wish I had tried this earlier in the summer. Very refreshing and since Blushing Monk isn't exactly readily available, this one's goin in the regular rotation.

Serving type: bottle

09-23-2011 00:12:49 | More by cindyjeffsmith

russpowell

Oklahoma

3.63/5  rDev -5.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours a purple tinged chestnut with a thumb of khaki head with pink notes. Good head retention & lacing

S: Raspberry, figgy notes

T: Follows the nose, some hints of raisin too up front. More jammy notes as this warms, some strawberry, tart raspberry & figs too, some dryness. Finishes jammy, with sweet figgy & raspberry

MF: Light bodied, low carbonation, some sticky notes

Decent raspberry ale, better than the strawberry ale to be sure

Serving type: bottle

09-10-2011 00:58:51 | More by russpowell

tobelerone

New Jersey

4.1/5  rDev +7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

One of my favorite fruit beers; the big downside is the cost, which is almost always more than I would like to pay...this is a once in a while treat.

A dark red beer with a pinkish head that fades quickly. Smells like, yes, raspberries! The taste is right there too; not too subtle..nicely balanced between sweet and tart. Very crisp and refreshing, excellent mouthfeel, fairly dry finish that leaves you wanting more. Gotta recommend this one to anyone that likes raspberries and fruit beers in general. Stops short of being overly sweet or cloying.

Serving type: bottle

09-06-2011 19:40:42 | More by tobelerone

DavidST

Texas

4/5  rDev +4.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a 550 ml bottle into a wine glass. Unknown freshness date.

Pours a dark red with a thin pinkish tinted head, it has very little retention and before I can type this sentence its gone. The smell is sweet, mostly fruity raspberries. Feel is medium to light, very tart and tingly on the tongue. The taste is pretty good, this is very tart, I get a little raspberry, a little over ripe fruit, maybe something slightly rotting, there is a little hop bite at the end. Overall this is a pretty good beer, more sour tart than I expected, but I liked the way this one falls towards the tart end than the Strawberry one I had a few weeks ago.

Serving type: bottle

08-24-2011 01:04:40 | More by DavidST

TheHoppiest

Ohio

3.63/5  rDev -5.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured from a Sam Smith 550 ml bottle into a small chalice. Pours a dusty garnet color, starting with a 1/2" white head that quickly reduces.

Has a sweet honey aroma punctuated with tart raspberry. Smells like a raspberry sorbet, with hints of floral strawberry and jam.

Has a tart, borderline sour taste, with abundant raspberry fruit flavor. Mild malt follows, with the a hint of sour apple

Has a light body, with a crisp tart that leaves the mid tongue feeling slightly dry.

A decent fruit ale, though not quite as good as the Strawberry or Cherry that Samuel Smith puts out. It is also the tartest of the three, which could be why I like it the least.

Serving type: bottle

08-14-2011 20:36:03 | More by TheHoppiest

eggodoom

Tennessee

4.5/5  rDev +17.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Beer poured with a pink tinted head. Color is red/orange where the light comes through on the side and cloudy brown in the center. Smells of strong raspberries (not artificial either.) Backed by a sweetness of some kind. Taste is sweet and thick berry flavor. Tastes like a mouthful of raspberry juice with a bit of crisp finish that is accentuated by the carbonation. Great fruit beer same caliber as Samuel Smith's other organic fruit beers, which I can't wait to drink at this point. Bought these for my fiance and had to give them a try. Like everything I've tried by Samuel Smith so far.

Serving type: bottle

08-08-2011 05:19:04 | More by eggodoom

ZenAgnostic

Texas

3.68/5  rDev -3.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

1 PT. 2.7 FL.OZ. bottle poured into my Irish crystal wedding flute glasses. Neck stamped SK24J1. Not sure if that is a date.

Appearance - Dard orange/red/brown (from bottom to top). Small white pinkish head.

Smell - Koolaid powder. Not mixed Koolaid. It smells like the powder. Powered sugar.

Taste - Slightly sour. Moderately tart. Pretty candy sugar sweet. Like pixie sticks in some sort of fruit juice.

Mouthfeel - Slightly frothy.

Overall Drinkability - Decent for a fruit beer, but no where near as good as the Strawberry version of Sam Smiths Organic beers.

Serving type: bottle

08-07-2011 00:45:15 | More by ZenAgnostic

Mit

Ontario (Canada)

3.95/5  rDev +3.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

pours a delicious looking clear red colour. Not much head to speak of.

smells of sour berry flavours...very nice.

Nice finish...very crisp. The raspberrys played the star of the show. Very refreshing

thicker for the abv I found

overall one of the nicer fruit beers on the market. I really liked it and will get it again.

Serving type: bottle

07-25-2011 03:22:18 | More by Mit

paxkey

Ontario (Canada)

4.13/5  rDev +7.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

overwhelming heat and humidity. this is gonna be a treat.

poured in a chalice ruby dark raspberry in a glass with raspberry head that fades quickly.

big raspberry aroma. juicy sweet aromatic smells incredible. no alchohol hops malt or beer whatsover but smells great anyway.

crisp and refreshing. with raspberry sweetness all the way through. this really doesnt taste like a beer at all.

the trick is you want to chug it then the booze hits you. hard to review this as a beer when there are no beer characteristics in here at all. for what it is it tastes great though.

Serving type: bottle

07-19-2011 04:20:51 | More by paxkey

bryehn

Ontario (Canada)

4.05/5  rDev +5.7%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

I cannot think of a nicer-looking fruit beer that I've tried. Pours a lovely gem-like ruby colour with a medium-large frothy light pink head that settles as a soapy collared film and minor lacing.

Smells like real raspberry with a nice bready and buttery undertone. Like toast and raspberry jam. I could tell that this was good beer with flavour rather than "flavoured beer" immediately.

Syrupy sweet at first before going through tart, bitter and sour on the way back. Uncommonly solid malt backing, but still quite syrupy and sweet overall.

Solid mouthfeel. Thick and syrupy. The light carbonation and raspberry tang balance each other nicely.

A smooth-drinking fruit beer that tastes both like fruit and beer. Likely too sweet overall for some, but a fantastic desert beer for me. Might even save one to mix with an Oatmeal Stout in the fall.

Serving type: bottle

07-04-2011 23:58:01 | More by bryehn

ChainGangGuy

Georgia

4/5  rDev +4.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Appearance: Pours out a dark reddish-hued body, fairly clear, and capped with a scant, near-white head.

Smell: An aroma that's part tartish, part sweetish, and scented of raspberry, as one might imagine, and, thankfully, without that oft medicinal quality I sometimes identify with raspberry brews.

Taste: Sweetish and permissibly raspberry flavored, slightly tart, and with, perhaps, a perceived underlying breadiness. Low bitterness. Slight acidity. Finishes crisp.

Mouthfeel: Medium-light body. Medium-plus carbonation.

Overall: Stood shoulder to shoulder with it's cherry and strawberry based cousins for a tasting and, for me, it was the best of the Samuel Smith fruit bunch.

Serving type: bottle

07-03-2011 16:13:37 | More by ChainGangGuy

TheBeerAlmanac

Kentucky

3.6/5  rDev -6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Bottle poured into a snifter

A: Pours an interesting peach color, almost like a flesh tone. There is a tiny bit of head I really had to force.

S: Smells very strong with raspberries, some maltiness, and other Belgian fruits which are, more or less, masked by the overwhelming raspberry aroma.

T/M: Taste is lightly carbonated with the obligatory raspberry tartness. It’s not sour, fortunately, and is quite refreshing and crisp.

This ale shares a lot more in common with a cider than it does a beer. For what it is, it’s great, but if you really want a beer, you might want to think twice before jumping into this one. As a straight beer, I'd give it a 3, but as a cider, I'd give it a 4. Let's go with 3.5.

Serving type: bottle

06-28-2011 22:53:41 | More by TheBeerAlmanac

mjurney

Texas

3.3/5  rDev -13.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Appearance:
Deep red color. Lots of carbonation. Pink color head. Very odd looking beer.

Aroma:
Very sweet, candy like aroma. Tons of raspberry.

Taste:
Very sweet and fruity up front along with tartness at the end. I’m getting lots of raspberries. There’s some dry tartness at the end. I couldn’t detect any hops or malt, the raspberry is overpowering. Body is medium with moderate carbonation.

Finish:
Very smooth, yet very dry tartness in the finish and aftertaste.

Overall:
It’s most definitely a fruit beer. It’s way too sweet for my palate, but it’s very smooth.

Serving type: bottle

06-20-2011 22:58:27 | More by mjurney

Knapp85

Pennsylvania

3.6/5  rDev -6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

This beer poured out as a reddish color with a soapy white head. The lacing was minimal but left some suds on the glass. The smell was similar to a sweet lambic. Strong aromas of raspberry on the nose. The taste was sweet with the fruit dominating the flavor. The flavors of malt didn't show themselves until the late aftertaste. The mouthfeel is pretty good, it's very refreshing. Overall it's a good desert beer or a starting beer.

Serving type: bottle

06-19-2011 20:59:24 | More by Knapp85

peensteen

Ontario (Canada)

3.75/5  rDev -2.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Bright blood red colour, light pink head, 1.5 fingers, nice lacing. Smell is of sugar coated raspberry, fruit juice like scents, malty presence if you dig deep down. Taste is of tart raspberry, semi-sweet, light sour notes come in before the finish, nice malt aftertaste. Medium weight, carbonation is quite good, a touch syrupy, not bad overall. Good brew, fairly well made however this is not my favourite style though one is quite satisfying.

Serving type: bottle

06-14-2011 01:27:15 | More by peensteen

mrnobody

Ontario (Canada)

4.03/5  rDev +5.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

550 ml bottle poured into a Duvel tulip.

A: Pours a raspberry red with three fingers of cream soda head; decent retention with some nice lacing.

S: Smells of fresh raspberries and lots of them! That's all I get but it smells delicious, almost overpowering.

T: Tastes of tart berries. I'm told there's some ale in here somewhere but I can't spot it. Really tasty and refreshing.

M: Medium body with plentiful prickly carbonation.

D: For a fruit beer, the drinkability is pretty high.

Serving type: bottle

06-02-2011 02:00:14 | More by mrnobody

woodychandler

Pennsylvania

4.58/5  rDev +19.6%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 5

I must be a slow learner since on Easter Sunday 2011, I was marginally a fan of the cherry ale and not a fan of the strawberry ale, both thanks to their being a bit too sweet for my taste. I did not have a bottle of the raspberry ale at the time or I would have reviewed all three at once. I have since procured a bottle of the raspberry ale and my review follows.

From the bottle: "Brewed at Melbourn Bros ancient brewery in Stamford, Lincolnshire and blended and bottled as Samuel Smith's Brewery, Tadcaster, North Yorkshire."; "Handcrafted at Melbourn Bros' tiny brewery set in a time warp in Stamford using the old manually operated brewing equipment. Finest organically grown barley and wheat are used to create a complex ale which, having undergone primary and secondary fermentation with different yeasts and extended maturation, is taken to Samuel Smith's small, independent British brewery in Tadcaster. There it is blended with pure organic raspberry fruit juice and a previously cellared organic brew - creating an unparalleled fruit ale. The smooth distinctive character of the matured ale serves as the perfect counterpart to the pure organic fruit juice."

The pour produced the prettiest two fingers of pink head ever! It looked like cotton candy atop the beer. The beer itself was a deep pinkish-red with NE-quality clarity. The nose smelled of red raspberry preserves, like my late paternal grandmother used to make from berries grown out back in her garden. Bliss! Mouthfeel was fizzy and big in the mouth and there was nothing sweet about this beer. I have long known that raspberries impart a tartness that may be overwhelming at times, but this was great on a hot, humid late-spring afternoon. I poured about three-quarters of the bottle into my glass, setting the rest aside for a blend with some Bear Republic Stout later. Finish was tart, not puckeringly so, but enough to let me know that I was alive and kicking. I have to give major props to a beer not only this tasty, but certified organic, to boot.

Serving type: bottle

06-01-2011 20:43:12 | More by woodychandler

Stocean1

Ontario (Canada)

4.28/5  rDev +11.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

A - a beautiful two finger foamy head with patchy lacing - slowly subsided to a half finger long lasting head that could be regenerated with a quick swirl of the glass - cloudy bubbly sparkling raspberry juice

S - Raspberries wafting out the bottle before it was poured - not some syrupy knock off but real raspberries picked from the backyard - slight malt and wheat notes

T - Again huge raspberry flavor that is not overpowering like a cooler, more like raspberry juice without the extra sugar in a cooler, still an undercurrent of wheat and some malt - just enough to balance this ale perfectly

M - lots of carbonation in this medium bodied brew - if I ever become a raging booze hound this will be my breakfast beer on a warm sunny morning - has that refreshing champagne feel with a nice dry finish

O - definitely the best fruit ale I have had - although it was not cheap - from begining to end I savoured the flavor and refreshing mouthfeel - and even my wife loved it!!

Serving type: bottle

05-31-2011 02:41:41 | More by Stocean1

ChrisCage

Alberta (Canada)

4.55/5  rDev +18.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4

A- Where to begin...the head! It starts out thick, but is weak looking underneath the puffy top, and quickly dissipates to a thinnish, but dense layer that is reddish, with a hue of plum purple in it. The color is a hazy raspberry red (go figure!) and there doesn't appear to be a ton of carbonation. My glass is really full but it looks like there is good lacing in this one...after a few sips, I can say that the lacing is thick on the glass, so huge props to that!

S- Raspberries, raspberries and more raspberries! It really smells like I've just been picking them off my mother in laws' bushes in the garden late in the summer! There is a bit of a cloying sugary sweetness that gives the aroma a bit of a jam like character. Really nothing else is detectable here, so it has this area nailed down really well!

T- Mmmm, this is really good! There is an upfront fresh raspberry juice flavor that hits the palate with all the tartness it can muster, yet has that ripe berry sweetness to help balance this out...just like the perfect berry! The finish is surprisingly clean, with a very modest hop presence. I really like the flavors presented here!

M- Along with the richness of the berry flavor, this has a full body, and has a very creamy bread like quality to it. The carbonation is there but is very well absorbed into the beer itself that it just helps bring out the tartness. Very nice indeed!

D- I have given a lot of brews a very high mark, but I'm going out on a limb and saying that it'll be hard to ever top this as my favorite fruit based beer! Samuel Smith, as always, does an excellent job with their product! The alcohol is so well hidden that you don't even know it's there....and even though this is an excellent beer, one pint is plenty for me....but on a hot summer day on the patio, I might be up for seconds!

Serving type: bottle

05-12-2011 22:44:34 | More by ChrisCage

zaphodchak

Virginia

4.05/5  rDev +5.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

About 1.5 fingers of light pink head, unexpectedly dark ruby body, not very transparent, which bodes well. Laces liberally.

Smell is pungent, tart raspberry. One-dimensional, expected, and very, very pleasant.

Taste is of raspberries, like sour raspberry candy, almost 'blue raspberry' artificial flavor, but it's organic, so it must be good, right? Taste is really quite nice, all told, and finishes up pretty cleanly; there's some faint, well masked hops to clean it up. Strangely, it gets more bitter as I keep sipping, more vegetal and leafy.

Mouthfeel is quite pleasant and creamy; this is a major strong point of the beer which saves it from being 'soda.'

Overall great if this is what you're looking for. It's not as if it purports to be anything else, but for what it is, it's quite nice.

Serving type: bottle

05-11-2011 04:08:00 | More by zaphodchak

tigg924

Massachusetts

4.22/5  rDev +10.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Appearance: high carbonation, 1 inch head, dark red in color, clear

Smell: tart raspberries and sugar

Taste: big tart raspberries...a bit of caramel malt, and sugar.

Mouthfeel: tart and sweet. The sweetness never gets to the cloying level, high carbonation, light body

Overall: The Sam Smith organic fruit line all seems to follow in the same pattern. Very good, fruity, sweet beers that all taste like beer still as opposed to wine coolers. This one has a bit more tartness than the others and is my favorite of the pack, but all make excellent dessert beers. I will be having this again.

Serving type: bottle

05-10-2011 14:35:31 | More by tigg924

Atlas1

Texas

4.08/5  rDev +6.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Generally speaking, I am not a huge fan of fruit beers. I like some of them more than others, of course, and certain styles of lambic are exceptional. But many fruit beers on the market today are not brewed very well. Sam Smith's organic line of fruit beers are an exception. I've not had a bad one yet.

Poured into a barrel pint glass, this beer is a deep dark red mahogany color, but with a bright reddish tint around the edges more akin to, fittingly, raspberries. Beautiful pink head. One of the more visually appealing beers I've ever seen. Such vibrant colors. The nose is malty raspberry. Assertive, but not overwhelming. The taste follows suit, but is a bit more bold than I might have expected. Really strong, tart raspberry flavor. Nice balance though, once you get through that initial pang of tartness. Mouthfeel is nice enough, but nothing special.

I really like this beer. A good, drinkable raspberry ale that I will gladly return to in the future. A tasty treat when you're in the mood for a fruit beer. Worth trying even if you're not a fan of the style.

Serving type: bottle

04-24-2011 18:08:59 | More by Atlas1

SkeeterHawk

Texas

3.63/5  rDev -5.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

I am not normally too big on fruit beers, but I have liked just about everything that Sam Smith has put out, so I picked one of each up. I am doing the Raspberry first and the Cherry and Strawberry will come along soon.

Appearance: Pours a deep red color with a pink head made up of small creamy bubbles and was about 3/8" thick after a reserved pour. After 30 seconds, thehead was about half its height. You can't tell how many bubbles are rising as the beer is a bit murky.

Aroma: You could start picking up the Raspberry from the pour, and it is absolutely the showcased element in the aroma of the actual beer. Syrupy sweetness is throughout this beer, and the rest of the aromatics are muted in the cold beer.

Taste: The flavor is also dominated by the Raspberries, but there is some supporting malt to make it more beer-like. I can pick up a bit of dark caramel. The balance is toward the sweet, so in that respect this beer is consistent. It is quite sweet. I don't really mind this, but it is notable. The body is a solid medium to bordering on full with ample carbonation which crucial from keeping this beer from becoming a syrupy mess on your palate.

Opinion: Overall this is a pretty decent fruit beer. The Raspberries have a tendency to get tart, and they balanced it toward to sweet to counteract that, which will probably make the chicks dig it. I won't be drinking this beer much, but I would recommend it to someone (especially female) as a beer to try if they are a wine drinker or something.

Serving type: bottle

04-16-2011 02:21:31 | More by SkeeterHawk

Cresant

Kentucky

3.95/5  rDev +3.1%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured this 18.7 oz. brown bottle into a large Samuel Adams glass. No date on the bottle. The body was semi-opaque and a dull golden red. The tall pink head left freckles of lace.

The smell was raspberry and fresh grain. Simple but intense and delicious.

The taste was raspberries, as you would expect. Very full flavored and hearty. Well balanced tartness and sweet, rich fruitiness. Not cloying. There was no hint of alcohol despite this being over 5% ABV. Mild spiciness comes through at the end. Enjoyable.

The mouthfeel was medium in body with plenty of carbonation - yet some smoothness too.

Serving type: bottle

04-12-2011 13:19:32 | More by Cresant