Anna Valiquette (Red Raspberry, Blackberry Pomace & Black Currant Juice)
Hill Farmstead Brewery

375ml bottle, dated April 7, 2020, poured into a stemless wine glass. Enjoyed on 10.01.2023, reviewed from Tasting Journal.

The beer pours a dark copper color, amber and garnet hues, with a nice fizzy white head that offers good lacing. The aroma is nice, dark pitted fruits, red grape, earthy oak, a bit of smokiness and bitterness, with mineral water and fruity funk. The flavors are good, bitter stone fruit pit, light smokiness, earthy oak, red wine, stone fruit juice, wildflower, tangy funk, soft grain and mineral water. The mouthfeel is good, coating, lively medium body, tart with a dry finish.

Verdict: A nice saison, albeit a little smokey and bitter which overpowers the fruitiness a bit. There is nice brightness and a delicate balance of flavor underneath.

 

 

 

This one pours a golden pinkish color, with a small head, and a bit of lacing.

This smells pretty sweet, with not much of the funk that Anna is known for. I do get some honey, along with black currant and raspberry being the dominant fruity aromas.

This is maybe a bit too sweet, as the fruit adds basically zero acidity, and the sort of balancing funkiness that Anna might provide is somewhat buried under the fruit blanket. It's not overly fruity, or even gloopy or anything like that, it just seems like the Anna is hard to discern.

This is light bodied, relatively clean, and pretty drinkable.

This isn't my favorite fruited beer from Hill Farmstead. It lacks complexity, but it's still definitely pretty tasty.

 

375ml capped bottle into a Brooklyn Brewery snifter.

Nice color. Nose is raspberry, hay, farmhouse funk, lemon zest, and other juicy red fruit. Spritzy with great balance. Beer opens and the blackberry is immediately apparent. I've not had anything that blackberry forward in the while... After the initial wave, I get hints of dried currant, lemon zest, and hay. Yeasty with a mellow raspberry seediness towards the end. Soft, fruity finish. Body is light with moderate to ample carbonation. Prickly on the palate and goes down zesty and yeasty with a muted aftertaste.

A really solid beer all around but I expect more from one of the best breweries in the world.

 

 

2019 bottle courtesy of chesco.
L: hazy pink colored. Kind of like grapefruit juice. Minimal head with lacing.
S: Brett, oak, berries, funk.
T: Tart, lemon, brett, funk. yogurt, apples, berries, cherries. As expected, more flavors keep show up as it warms.
F: full bodied, dry finish.
Overall: this is exceptional. Not really sweet but also not too sour. Very subtle. More berry flavors and layers of complexity keep coming as you drink.