Duggan's #18

Duggan’s Brewery in Toronto has adopted a numerical system of naming their beers (see previous posts in which I reviewed #9, #46, and #99). The #18 is billed as a raspberry weiss beer. It’s a 5.4%, 22 IBU brew that I recently picked up at the bottle shop in a bottle (volume uncertain, but it must have been between 400-500mL).

For a wheat beer, I found #18 to be notably dark in colour—closer to an auburn than the pale gold I was expecting. The beer poured with a fluffy cloud of off-white head, but it was short-lived. The beer had a tart berry nose supplemented with a waft of banana and a yeasty fug. The tartness of the raspberry elements really came through in the flavour, which is nearly sour. The mouthfeel was sturdier than many others in the style, which hurt crispness but gave the beer a bit more substance.

 

The big one-eight from Duggan’s is a pretty enjoyable little wheater; however, it is a bit wanting on the back end, which finishes short, tart, and uninspired. It’s also a bit low on the fizzy fizzy. Otherwise, the beer has a lot going for it: good strength, meaty body, and a tart raspberry vibe that tastes authentic and isn’t sweetened into jammy oblivion. Even with out a better established back end, I thought #18 was good stuff.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Barn Owl No. 13

Looks to me like the last batch of Bellwood’s Brewery’s Barn Owl that I reviewed was No. 3, which I reviewed with me mudder-in-law. Two plus spins around the sun later, Barn Owl No. 13 came into my life. This iteration was a bit stronger (6.7% compared to No. 3’s 6.5%) and it looked completely different. This version had a hazy pink tone, owing to it being a “sour ale with raspberries and cranberries barrel aged 18 months”. The beer in the 500mL bottle poured with a nice pinkish white head that didn’t have a lot of staying power.

No. 13 had a pungent aroma that walked the line between assertive and pushy, with big notes of tart raspberries and tangy cran. The sourness in this ale packed a pretty nifty punch, with funky yeast working hard, but it was the duo of sharp red berries that really amped things up. The 1.5 years spent aging in a barrel stuffed with sour fruit clearly made quite an impact, though I didn’t find a surfeit of the woody, oaken qualities I’ve come to expect from wood-aged ales. That said, some barrel was in evidence in the short and tart finish.

This beer had a lot of the same qualities of a Belgian kriek, which means it will appeal to some and alienate many—not a beer for everyone. But if you dig sours and you dig ‘em fruity, this is a fine brew for you.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Raspbeery Coco Lait

An entry from the Muskoka Brewery’s Moonlight Kettle series that I picked up at the brewery in Bracebridge, Ontario, Raspbeery Coco Lait is a milk stout flavoured with raspberry purée. The easy-drinking 4.5% alcohol ale comes in a 473mL can. It’s a dark ale with elegant ruby highlights.

RCL has an engaging chocolatey aroma with just the faintest hint of a tart raspberry backbone. The raspberry in the flavour is considerably more than a hint, though, giving the beer an assertively fruity vibe that follows on the heels of a malty, cocoa rich base.

Raspbeery Coco Lait is a decadent dessert beer that would pair brilliantly with a chocolate indulgence of some sort after a rich meal. And, since if you’re anything like me, you probably had a bottle of wine or two with dinner, you’re in luck that the beer has low alcohol count, so you might not nod off in your tort.

I’m irritated that the can didn’t tell me whether this is a stout or a porter, though those labels are often pretty arbitrary and the website declared it to be a milk stout. Otherwise, I have few negatives to heap on RCL, other than the fact that I’d have preferred a more bitter and gritty chocolate to the milky number in evidence.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Raspy Engine--Old Engine Oil

Raspy Engine Old Engine Oil is a 5.3% alcohol porter brewed with Scottish raspberries. Born in Hillfoots Village, Alva, Scotland, this little number was created by Harviestoun Brewery. According to the label enveloping the 330mL bottle, Raspy Engine is a modified and lighter version of Harviestoun's Old Engine Oil--an imperial porter--although I've never had the opportunity to taste the original. As well, the label indicates that the berries used in this brew were used whole--seeds and pulp, as well as juice.

Sure enough, the midnight dark ale with the ruby-tinged highlights and creamy head had a potent whiff of raspberries on the nose. Not the tartness of fresh berries, though. Rather the sweet, sugared aroma of jammed razz. Along with the jammy scent, there was a chocolate and coffee vibe that made it clear that this is a dessert brew. The beer had some loose porter elements--it was relatively malty, had some cocoa notes, a dark chocolate spine, and a modestly bitter fin--however, raspberries were the factor that made this ale's engine turn over.

Not quite as tart or as java-focused as I wanted, perhaps, but Raspy Engine still managed to demonstrate the range of flavours a that a raspberry porter can occupy, and with a bit of flair, too. Extremely easy drinking, I found that my glass was empty long before I expected it to be.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Winnower

From the Burial Beer Co. in the beer Mecca of Asheville, NC, comes Winnower, a porter brewed with raspberries and cocoa nibs from the Burial Beer Co. At 40 IBUs and 7% alcohol, it is not messing around.

The beer is a dark, hearty colour; hazy and nearly black. It has a strong chocolate scent, with a waft of berries. The flavour is tart and berry-first, with a cocoa backing band. Winnower has a flavour that ranges betweeen an initially sharp berry taste to a more rounded and chocolatey finish.

Rich and indulgent, Winnower was a fine ale with a strong, syrupy vibe. Well made but a bit sweeter than expected.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Burlington Funk: Nickel Brook Raspberry Über Berliner-Style Weisse

Nickel Brook Raspberry Über Berliner-Style Weisse is a 3.8% alcohol ale in the German style from Burlington, Ontario's Nickel Brook Brewing Co. The ale poured a surprisingly pink and hazy hue, topped with a short-lived light pink head. According to the label of the 375mL bottle, this pink concoction clocks a mere 3 IBUs.

Über has a punchy raspberry aroma that straddles between tart berry and cool-aid sweetness. The flavour is far leas sweet than the aroma, built around a tart raspberry vibe. Über has a tight, short taste, with a fraction of sweetness dwarfed by seriously fruity sourness. It is effervescent, but fairly thin on the mouthfeel.

Once one battles through its lurid pinkness, NB's Raspberry Über Berliner-Style Weisse has an engrossing cordial quality that makes it quite enjoyable. I'd have liked a bit more body from this wheat beer, but it tasted pretty nice all the same. The real beef for me was that the raspberry flavour really dominated the beery elements of this little ale.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.