Yesterday I mentioned the raspberry wheat ale homebrew that I bottled recently and I said I'd probably review it next week. But talking about it got me thinking about it, and thinking about it got me impatient to try it. So even though it really should sit for another week, I'm going to try one tonight. If it's nasty I've got an excuse and a slender hope that it might get better.
APPEARANCE: Nice inch to an inch and a half head. It looks darker than I was expecting. ( Come to think of it, my first batch, an Irish red ale, turned out darker than it should have. Any of you homebrewers have any thoughts on why that might be?)
AROMA: Definitely fruity. If I didn't know better though I would probably guess blueberries.
TASTE: Well, modesty forbids me from getting too exuberant, but it's definitely not nasty. (Yay!) The fruit and the sweetness are not overwhelming, more of a strong undertone. Although successive sips do seem sweeter than the first, and try as I might I can't find the hops. Still, I was already nostalgic for summer, and this intensified that feeling. This would be delicious on the beach when it's 85 degrees outside. I drank this at room temperature because I hadn't decided I was going to drink it yet, and it would be even better cold -- even though room temperature the last couple days feels pretty cold too.
MOUTHFEEL: My only complaint -- and this maybe should have gone in the previous section since it's a taste issue and not a textural one -- is that the raspberries have that artificial sweetener aftertaste. My next fruit beer will be made with all fruits. I've got a freezerful of blueberries I picked last summer, maybe we'll use them.
DRINKABILITY: Very easy on the tastebuds. I can see knocking back a few of these, unlike so many of the more complicated beers I've had this month.
2 comments:
Well caramelaztion (I know that cant be right spelling) can occur with a very hot or very extended boil. Did you use any specialty malts? And what sort of extract did you use?
Matter of fact why not just share the recipe? Kind of hard to judge otherwise.
Sounds tasty. Cool.
I don't see how it could have been a overly hot boil. It went for an hour and was vigorous but not at all threatening to boil over. I used 6 lbs wheat LME, and 8 oz. carapils, which is what was in the kit -- and tettnang and hersbrucker hops. Here's the link to the kit and the recipe. http://www.midwestsupplies.com/raspberry-wheat.html
At any rate, I don't guess the stout I'm planning to do next can possible turn out too dark.
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