Dark Horse Raspberry Ale

A: Pours a clear red amber into my new Bell's glass, until I swirled the bottle, which it then it finished pouring an opaque red amber, like a lighter and much more red dunkelweisse. It poured with a two finger head that soon dissipates to a cap. Lacing and head retention are very poor. 3

S: Smells exactly like fresh raspberries, with a hint of malt in the background. Imagine some fresh raspberry jam spread onto a nice lightly toasted piece of sourdough bread, then top that with fresh raspberries, this is the exact scent that this beer gives off. I am not a huge fruitbeer person, but this smells good. 4

T: Tastes like said raspberry jam spread onto sourdough bread. Raspberries are upfront and overshadow the malt in the background, though the actual beer part (that is sort of important!) makes it self known unlike some other fruit beers (Short's Soft Parade). There are some fruity esters that provide depth to the raspberries, notably a hint of banana and plum. The finish is quick and clean, with a bit of crisp malt. This beer is a bit on the sour and dry side, which is very pleasing. 4

M: Well carbonated and medium bodied, just about right for this beer. 4

D: I probably only want to drink one of these at a time, the fruity flavors get a bit cloying about half-way through. 3.5

O: The fact that this still tastes like a beer rather than Smirnoff Ice puts it in a category of fruit beers those of us that don't really care for fruit beers. This beer pleases me.

Serving type: bottle

Reviewed on: 03-10-2010 23:26:28 | id: 1124641

Had this beer from a bottle in a typical tumbler pint.

The beer poured a reddish-orange color, with a decent foam that leaves quite a bit of lacing on the glass as it is drunk.

The aroma is of raspberry, although not so much as to be overwhelming. It would seem that this is indeed real fruit and not extract. There is also a slight amount of British malt in the background.

The taste is quite good. There is the light malt up front, which is combined with the raspberry taste. No hops to speak of, with a clean, dry finish.

Mouthfeel is carbonated and on the dry side. Not cloying at all.

Overall, a good beer. This is an interesting combination, and is not overdone. I could definitely have a few pints in a sitting. A bit expensive for what you get, though.

Serving type: bottle

Reviewed on: 03-04-2010 00:16:56 | id: 1119452

A fruit beer that just misses. The raspberry is very subtle in taste and not there at all in smelll. The mouthfeel is thick and grimy. The aftertaste just flatout reminds me of medicine. I wanted this beer to be a good one because I love raspberries, but I was not excited about this one. Dark Horse makes other beers that are much better than this, and wouldn't recommend this to someone who wants a "fruity" beer

Serving type: bottle

Reviewed on: 02-07-2010 21:44:10 | id: 1101011

Reddish copper in color. About a two-finger dense head that retreats kind of quickly leaving nothing stuck to the side of the glass. Smells sweet and tart like, well, raspberries. Yeasty as well. Not much of anything else but I like to smell. I tastes like a decent malty and hopped ale that's being overtaken by raspberries. Bready, tart, a little bit of hop bitterness on the finish. A little creamy in the texture and the right carbonation level. I'm almost at the end of this one and I don't have a really strong desire to open another. Therefore I place the drinkablity a bit lower that the other categories. I'm having a pilsner next...

Serving type: bottle

Reviewed on: 01-26-2010 20:43:19 | id: 1091838

Pours a large, foamy head, very froth-like in texture and appearance. Smell has the characteristics of sour grape skins, with a vague scent of raspberries in the background.

Taste is quite a bit lighter than I thought it would be. It has the consistency of an average lager, with hints of raspberry. And while that's no reason to throw the bottle out, it's not particularly a very good reason to choose this beer over other ones of the same category, such as say, Founder's Rubaeus. It's premise is fine and good, but the delivery just isn't there.

My advise: while this is not a bad beer, there are much better options to look into than this one.

Serving type: bottle

Reviewed on: 01-21-2010 03:35:06 | id: 1087558

I got a bottle of this beer out of a Dark Horse Brewing Company variety case. I poured it into a pint glass.
Appearance: The body is a mostly dark amber color with some light amber sides and bottom. The head was one finger tall, a light tan color, thin but abundant lacing and better than decent retention.
Smell: The aroma is dominated by sparge, slight raspberries and some wheat scents.
Taste: The flavors are most certainly raspberries, some wheaty notes again as well as some subtly sweet, tartness.
Mouthfeel: The mouthfeel is crisp but the body is very thin.
Drinkability: Despite the bad aroma and the thin body, this beer is still pretty good.
Don't drink and review.

Serving type: bottle

Reviewed on: 01-18-2010 22:43:26 | id: 1085920

The last of my three bottles from a recent trip to TJ's in Paoli.

My pour resulted in a finger of ecru head with decent retention. Nose was filled with sweet red raspberry! I have recounted many times in my reviews of my late paternal grandmother's raspberry bush in her backyard garden and let this be no exception. Color was a slightly hazy reddish amber. Mouthfeel was medium with an unexpected raspberry tartness, as opposed to the perfumy taste that accompany many raspberry beers. I should be drinking this on a hot summer's day, rather than a chill Thanksgiving morning. C'est la vie! Finish was very dry. Zephyr winds could be heard blowing across the Sahara. I think that I may sweeten this up with a shot of that Labatt's Porter from earlier.

Serving type: bottle

Reviewed on: 11-26-2009 14:32:35 | id: 1046513

From BeerAdvocate Magazine Volume II, Issue II:

Not all fruit beers are fruit beers. Dark Horse Brewing states that they use "real" fruit, meaning that it is real fruit rather than the essence like many other brewers use. Brazen ruddy orange color shows some haze, nice lift of froth that keeps ample lacing on the glass. Could the haze be from the fruit pectins? Mild raspberry aroma, smells of fresh jam, pie filling or simply pectin in the nose with some biscuity and yeasty notes from the malt. Fluffy moderate body with just enough smoothness to get by. Light bready, biscuity or almost short bread maltiness meets a distant tartness and subtle raspberry flavor. A tad yeasty but clean. Finishes on the dry side, with more mild raspberry and graininess.

So their thought of "beer first, fruit second" is right on target. Don't be turned off if fruit beers are not your thing, you'll be surprised of how well this ale drinks compared to the fake, cloying sweet essence-ladened fruit beers out there.

Serving type: bottle

Reviewed on: 11-13-2009 18:59:20 | id: 1037252

Originally posted a few days ago but then deleted somehow. Live review. Poured from the 12 oz. brown bottle with basic black cap that I bought at Siciliano's in Grand Rapids for $1.69 during my visit there last weekend. No observed "best by" date on the label. The label, incidentally, is pretty cool. Kind of a swirl of bees, raspberries and some green material. Perhaps there is honey in the beer? Also, this was the beer that was in the same line at the brewery when I tasted their stout and I could still taste the raspberries, so I anticipate that this beer will be quite flavorable. Also, proudly poured into my Dark Horse Brewing pint glass that I bought at the brewery last week.

A A glowing orange body that reminds me of all of the other dark horse beers (all of their somewhat translucent beer bodies look similar). Really, it is an attractive look. Moderately creamy head stuck around for a few minutes. 4.0

S Light raspberry and possibly honey to the nose. This smells interesting. 4.0

T Light barley behind nice, soft raspberry and honey taste. Excellent beer which is what I now expect from Dark Horse. 4.5

M Light with minimal honey like stickiness. 4.0

D Very drinkable. I mean I think that this beer was brewed to be this drinkable and man, it works. 4.5

Notes: Probably my favorite fruit based beer.

Serving type: bottle

Reviewed on: 10-27-2009 03:18:04 | id: 1025053

12oz bottle into a pint glass.

A- A reddish tint with some darker pinks in the way as well. Small head, becomes a cap, no lace.

S- Smells of raspberry puree and some sweet malt underneath. Doesn't smell fake or medicinal like some other fruit beers i've had.

T- This is not a bad fruit ale, it's not the greatest, but it holds up. Raspberry that is not over the top. I really cant pick up any other tastes besides some malts.

M- Below medium bodied with a good amount of carb felt. I could drink tons of this stuff with the low alcohol.

D- all day.

Serving type: bottle

Reviewed on: 10-17-2009 21:04:38 | id: 1018542