Bretta Rosé
Firestone Walker Brewing Co.

Bretta RoséBretta Rosé
Beer Geek Stats | Print Shelf Talker
From:
Firestone Walker Brewing Co.
 
California, United States
Style:
Berliner Weisse
Ranked #3
ABV:
5.3%
Score:
97
Ranked #502
Avg:
4.4 | pDev: 7.5%
Reviews:
141
Ratings:
990
Status:
Active
Rated:
Saturday at 05:18 PM
Added:
Apr 30, 2014
Wants:
  226
Gots:
  195
Thirty miles north of Barrelworks lies the fertile Santa Maria Valley. Its warm days and cool marine layer-fed evenings allow for a cornucopia of fruits and vegetables to be grown in its rich soil. One of Santa Maria’s crown jewels is locally grown raspberries. We jumped at the opportunity to ferment fresh local raspberries with one of our Barrelworks creations. Behold Bretta Rosé! A low-alcohol Berliner Weisse style ale, acidified and matured in French oak puncheons for 6 months, is the foundation for this gem. Add 1000 lbs. of fresh raspberries, allow a secondary wild fermentation for 4 more months and voila (!), we have a crisp effervescent concoction, bursting with raspberry perfume and flavor, a rosé color, bracing acidity, and a clean and refreshing finish.
View: More Beers
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by RAlmeida77:
Photo of RAlmeida77
Rated by RAlmeida77 from Massachusetts

4.47/5  rDev +1.6%
look: 5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Tart raspberries everywhere. Aroma is full of raspberry and the flavor is se with some sourness. Highly carbonated but delicious!
Jul 31, 2015
More User Ratings:
Photo of Roy_Hobbs
Reviewed by Roy_Hobbs from Connecticut

3.37/5  rDev -23.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25
Bottled November 20, 2017

Appearance is a very clear, light orange / amber with a small amount of fizzy white head.

While the appearance is good but nothing special, the aroma really pops. Given that this beer is over 6 years old, there is an astounding amount of raspberry aroma bursting from the glass. It's not complex, but damn it's tasty smelling.

Taste is raspberry forward, but with an underlying, almost bitter funk. The raspberry makes it hard to tell if this has gone south. It's tasty, but the earthy funk has a slightly bitter edge that I don't normally experience with wild ales like this.

Overall, this is ok, but hard to rate given its age.
Saturday at 05:18 PM
 
Rated: 4.25 by Patches826 from Massachusetts

Feb 19, 2024
Photo of gatornation
Reviewed by gatornation from Arizona

4/5  rDev -9.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
From a corked and caged 375 ML bottle. Pours a clear raspberry apple juice color . Smell is raspberry, with apples pears and berries. Taste has tart raspberry’s first with some sour apples and wheat Mouth feel tart with raspberries and not super sour .
Jun 15, 2023
 
Rated: 4.5 by DOCRW from Kentucky

Jun 09, 2022
 
Rated: 4.09 by TMoney2591 from Illinois

Dec 01, 2021
 
Rated: 4.18 by drstalker from Illinois

Aug 24, 2021
 
Rated: 4.03 by robotic_being from Illinois

May 18, 2021
 
Rated: 3.99 by DudeBeerYaBro from California

Jun 17, 2020
Photo of EMV
Reviewed by EMV from Pennsylvania

4.31/5  rDev -2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Poured from a cork'n'cage bottle into a Dogfish Head tulip. Bach #4.

L: Nearly clear golden rose pour... cloudy at the end with some sediment. A finger of fizzy white head leaves a modest ring of lacing.

S: Tart raspberry and jam. Fruit/berry... a bit of funk and lemon.

T.F: Tart without being overly sour. Modest acidity... big time raspberry jam. Fruit/berry with light lemon citrus and some funk/lacto. Oak and tannins. Medium bodied... effervescent carbonation. More raspberry at the finish.

O: An outstanding oaked Berliner-Weisse. The raspberry is phenomenal, and this one was a real treat.
Jun 16, 2020
Photo of just1cho
Reviewed by just1cho from California

4.38/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 3.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
*Bretta Rosé batch: 005 poured into a Teku glass from a 375mL bottle*

*Bottled on: 11/20/17*

*Drank on: 05/27/20*

This beer poured an attractive Rosé pink/orangish amber. It had a white colored finger thick head which had very little retention to it. When the head subsided, which took no time at all, it left a white lacing around my cup. I'm not sure if it was the age that caused the lack of head or some other reason, but I wish that there was a larger presence of a head as I'm comparing this to other Berliners that I've had.

On the nose, I was presented with a lot of fruity esters upfront ranging from apples to pears, kinda giving me an apple cider kind of vibe to it. I also found there to be a good presence of tartness coming from aromas of raspberries. The presence of sour acetic acid from notes of cranberries only appeared for me in the back-end. I found that the tartness coupled with the sourness made the aroma on this beer an overall balanced experience.

The taste on the other hand was very acetic forward as expected. With sour notes of cranberries and raspberries upfront, I also definitely picked up on some bellow oak characters along with these sour flavors. In the middle was where I found some tartness from the raspberry. So in a sense, the roles of the sourness and tartness that played in the aroma and taste were reversed. The beer finished with a malted wheat taste coupled with a bit of sourness and tartness that I got from the beginning and middle.

The feel of this was medium bodied and had a high carbonation to it. This made it feel like I was drinking cider--which coupled with the low ABV and absolutely no alcohol taste--made this super drink-able and enjoyable for sour lovers everywhere.

I would definitely drink this beer again. I feel like the price tag is worth it for the quality you're getting for this Berliner. I just wish that there was a larger presence of a head along with a more balanced taste of the oak, wheat, tartness, and sourness rather than the overwhelmingly large sour taste that I got in the front.
May 30, 2020
Photo of Scotchboy
Reviewed by Scotchboy from Idaho

4.25/5  rDev -3.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Corked & caged bottle (batch 3) poured into a teku;

A: Beautiful clear faintly-reddish light copper body; white head dissipates quickly.

S: Raspberry is prominent, impressions of lemony tartness and lacto sourness, hints of a sweetness from the oak I’m guessing with a flash of vanilla.

T: Lemony raspberry sourness isn’t quite bracing in its sourness but it is upfront and prominent here as well; rolls over the tongue quickly and leads to a fairly quick finish that isn’t drying or bitter. Again, a vanilla-like sweetness pokes through but is entirely an afterthought. The lacto character and the raspberry notes underneath carry the palate.

MF: Light and creamy with prominent tartness.

O: This is a really nice BA raspberry sour. Light body, drinkable, tart and sour, fruity. A good, low abv sour.
May 03, 2020
Photo of StoutElk_92
Reviewed by StoutElk_92 from Massachusetts

4.6/5  rDev +4.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75
375ml bottled: 02/13/17

Pours mostly clear copper amber orange with sediment and a quickly dissipating head. Smells like fresh pure raspberries, toffee, caramelized malt, oak, with floral earthy grassy hops. Tastes like sour raspberry, caramelized malt, oak barrel, toasty hay, spice, acetic vinegar, with floral earthy grassy hops. Feels medium bodied, slick and smooth with moderate carbonation. Overall a nice wild ale fermented with raspberries.
Apr 14, 2020
 
Rated: 4.5 by taospowder from New Mexico

Apr 03, 2020
 
Rated: 4.43 by Curt3 from Ohio

Mar 12, 2020
 
Rated: 4.35 by caffeinelogic from New York

Feb 23, 2020
 
Rated: 4.12 by Shy5 from Oregon

Jan 06, 2020
 
Rated: 4.25 by rare_bird from Michigan

Dec 02, 2019
Photo of pathman
Rated by pathman from Ohio

4.5/5  rDev +2.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
10/3/19 bottle @ Pub 365 Las Vegas
Dec 02, 2019
 
Rated: 4.5 by KeyWestGator from Florida

Aug 04, 2019
Bretta Rosé from Firestone Walker Brewing Co.
Beer rating: 97 out of 100 with 990 ratings