Beaver Tail Raspberry Ale - The Grizzly Paw Brewing Company

joemcgrath27

Alberta (Canada)

3.48/5  rDev +2.4%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

from notes, I believe at Ferguson Bix in Calgary
A - Cloudy pink orange, arrived with no head so tough to judge
S - Faint berry hint, bready grains, light leafy
T - Tangy creamy rasperry, buttery bread, slight crisp leafy hops, cream finish
M - lightish with a some berry tartness, mild hop dry finish
O - not a bad offering from this small Alberta brewer, definitely enjoyable on a warm summer patio

Serving type: on-tap

09-19-2012 23:05:05 | More by joemcgrath27

biboergosum

Alberta (Canada)

3.5/5  rDev +2.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Newly available in bottles, for those of us not predisposed to stopping over in that southern Alberta mountain park area...

This beer pours an unfiltered, very cloudy, practically opaque burnt orange hue, with two fingers of soapy off-white head, which leaves some sparse blots of lace around the glass in its wake. Its smells of tart, greenish raspberries, natch, and bready malt. The taste is definitely raspberry, but a muted, earthy, vegetal kind of raspberry, more like what you would get from a mixture of ripe and unripe berries. This is blended quite well with a decent sweet and grainy malt, tempered more by a noticeable earthy hoppiness, since the raspberry essence isn't a sour palate-killer. The carbonation is moderate, the body light, and fruity. It finishes with a bit of raspberry sourness, lingering bready malt, and earthy, vegetal hops.

While this is what a real raspberry-infused beer tastes like, I need me some more intense raspberry essence. Other than that, an easy drinking, summer-friendly quaff.

Serving type: bottle

11-04-2010 23:57:22 | More by biboergosum

biegaman

Ontario (Canada)

3.35/5  rDev -1.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

On-tap at Grizzly Paw Brewpub, in Canmore.

Raspberry beers don't have to look red - on the contrary, I prefer them not to (the ornately colourful ones are usually only so because of the addition of syrups or colorants). This beer's crisp but delicate gold tone, its thin but insulating head and, naturally, its hazy blush sit well with me. I find, in general, the "au natural" look to be a good one.

The beer smells delightfully of raspberries and feels as though it's tickling the nose with a rosy pink blossom. The smell is fruity and only faintly sweet - it's actually more tart than anything - and seems to support the menu's claim about using whole berries in the brew. It's simple and predictable, yes, but unreasonable to not accept it for what it is...

Which is simply a pleasant, albeit middling, raspberry accented beer probably intended for those who don't appreciate beer on quite the same level connoisseurs or even habitual craft beer drinkers do (that much is evident from its lighter body and more resigned level of maltiness). Still, for a garden-variety offering it is very palatable and enjoyably drinkable.

I usually quickly tire of fruit beers; they often become cloying or flat or too plastic and uninteresting. While I don't doubt a second pint might have induced these kinds of sentiments, I was more than content with the one glass (which, truth be told, exceeded initial expectations). It held up unexpectedly well against the brewery's other offerings.

Not all fruit beers automatically make refreshing, toothsome, summertime tipples; if they're not raked with artificial syrup then they're usually insipid and ordinary. Beavertail Raspberry Ale - despite being a little lackluster - still steers clear of being either synthetic or insipid and, assuming you don't mind middling fruity beers, is well worth the price of a pint.

Serving type: on-tap

08-15-2010 19:27:34 | More by biegaman

vanrassel

Alberta (Canada)

3.53/5  rDev +3.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

I had just run a half-marathon in Canmore and was craving refreshment — and not just any beer would do.

This one did the trick, surpassing its underwhelming appearance and aroma in the taste department. It had the nice, cloudy golden body of an unfiltered beer with a bit of a pink tinge, but came to me essentially devoid of any head.

The raspberry is an accent here rather than the main attraction, and added a nice refreshing tartness to the beer's gentle graininess. It's nicely hopped and finished crisp and easy-drinking. I could have easily ordered another if not for the hour-long drive back to Calgary.

Serving type: on-tap

09-10-2006 23:55:29 | More by vanrassel

IronDjinn

Alberta (Canada)

3.08/5  rDev -9.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

When this was finally served to me it had a thin film of frothy lace, but no head whatsoever to speak of. Whether it comes down to slow service or poor retention, I may never solve that riddle. The beer itself possessed a pink-tinged peach hue when held up to the light. Wheat, coriander, and sweet raspberry in the aroma. A blast of very sweet raspberries in the flavour at first, they were almost extract-like in their intensity, as I'm used to fermented raspberries being more tart. The flavour then turns bitter and grainy in the middle, with a tart, mouth-puckering spicy finish of pepper and coriander, and a very pronounced presence of what seems like chinook hops, which continues throughout the aftertaste. Not a very balanced beer, it sort of swings from one end of the spectrum to the other without any warning. A light pleasant mouthfeel at least, but the synthesis of all its elements don't work together, turning this more into some sort of unleashed chimera rather than a refreshing fruity Belgian-styled beer. My overall impression: too much going on with an absence of harmony.

Serving type: on-tap

07-22-2005 00:56:08 | More by IronDjinn