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Fruit/Wood/Time: Black Raspberry
Westbrook Brewing Co.
- From:
- Westbrook Brewing Co.
- South Carolina, United States
- Style:
- Wild Ale
- ABV:
- 5.7%
- Score:
- 92
- Avg:
- 4.28 | pDev: 5.61%
- Reviews:
- 5
- Ratings:
- Status:
- Retired
- Rated:
- Dec 23, 2021
- Added:
- Aug 16, 2018
- Wants:
- 0
- Gots:
- 1
A blend of 33% dry sherry cask matured mixed fermentation saison and 67% oak foudre aged sour beer. It was blended and refermented with black raspberries for three months in second use 500 liter marsala puncheons.
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Reviewed by BEERchitect from Kentucky
4.06/5 rDev -5.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
4.06/5 rDev -5.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Fruit, wood and time. Sounds easy enough. But it turns out that although these elements cannot be slighted in sour ale making, it does however take some skill as well; the type of skill that Westbrook Brewing fosters in the Fruit Wood Time series, Black Raspberry edition.
Dark purple and with a blend of burgundy and mauve, the dark and winey appearance settles with a necklace of purple foam. The black raspberry character is evident right at the onset of the pour, packing an aromatic punch of all things dark berries, grape, apple and citrus along with a lighter tone of weathered woods, leather and an earthen cellar-like perfume. Its taste however is short on sweetness framing a flavor of hard candy, cobbler and taffy.
As the ale opens up, the radiant and juicy flavors of the berries and the beer's natural fruitiness lays a medley of black raspberry, cherry, blackcurrant, blackberry, blueberry, dry apple cider, lime, gooseberry and lemon for a well blended taste of fruit cocktail and sangria. The sourness gains strength on the late palate as its piquant acidity links up with berry skins and seeds for once last fortified thought of a robust bordeaux red wine.
Juicy and succulent, the sourness of the beer ensures that the medium bodied textures dry beautifully into a peppery, fruity and warming bliss. Those sangria flavors seem to get bolder in finish as the sweetness falls away and the sourness reinforces the fruit. A brief aftertaste of macerated berries and a return of those woodsy, leather retro-olfactory whimsies briefly return.
Nov 08, 2018Dark purple and with a blend of burgundy and mauve, the dark and winey appearance settles with a necklace of purple foam. The black raspberry character is evident right at the onset of the pour, packing an aromatic punch of all things dark berries, grape, apple and citrus along with a lighter tone of weathered woods, leather and an earthen cellar-like perfume. Its taste however is short on sweetness framing a flavor of hard candy, cobbler and taffy.
As the ale opens up, the radiant and juicy flavors of the berries and the beer's natural fruitiness lays a medley of black raspberry, cherry, blackcurrant, blackberry, blueberry, dry apple cider, lime, gooseberry and lemon for a well blended taste of fruit cocktail and sangria. The sourness gains strength on the late palate as its piquant acidity links up with berry skins and seeds for once last fortified thought of a robust bordeaux red wine.
Juicy and succulent, the sourness of the beer ensures that the medium bodied textures dry beautifully into a peppery, fruity and warming bliss. Those sangria flavors seem to get bolder in finish as the sweetness falls away and the sourness reinforces the fruit. A brief aftertaste of macerated berries and a return of those woodsy, leather retro-olfactory whimsies briefly return.
Reviewed by Bum4ever from California
4.35/5 rDev +1.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
4.35/5 rDev +1.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
Look: Has a deep reddish/purple color. Bubbles pop as the beer pours, but are gone so fast that no head actually forms. No lacing.
Smell: Starts out with big fruit notes of mostly raspberries with a hint of blackberries and maybe strawberry. Also smell some oak and the smell makes me think it will be pretty sour.
Taste: Much milder on the sour side than the smell would have led me to believe. Big raspberry flavor and a hint of lemon.
Feel: Nice medium body with a dry finish.
Overall: I really like fruited sours, but sometimes find them too acidic. This was very nice because it was on the mild side and had a very nice flavor.
Nov 05, 2018Smell: Starts out with big fruit notes of mostly raspberries with a hint of blackberries and maybe strawberry. Also smell some oak and the smell makes me think it will be pretty sour.
Taste: Much milder on the sour side than the smell would have led me to believe. Big raspberry flavor and a hint of lemon.
Feel: Nice medium body with a dry finish.
Overall: I really like fruited sours, but sometimes find them too acidic. This was very nice because it was on the mild side and had a very nice flavor.
Reviewed by superspak from North Carolina
4.2/5 rDev -1.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
4.2/5 rDev -1.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Got in a BIF from Dragginballs76. 500 ml bottle into tulip glass, bottled on 3/20/2018. Pours a moderately hazy very dark ruby red/purple color with a small foamy dark pink head with poor retention, that reduces to nothing pretty quickly. No glass lacing, some clinging bubbles and streaming carbonation. Aromas of big sour/tart/tangy black raspberries, fruit skin/seeds, lemon, lime, cherry, plum, currant, red/green apple, red grape/wine, oak, hay, straw, grass, wheat, cracker, and lightly toasted bread; with lighter notes of peppercorn, leathery/musty funk, red wine vinegar, and yeast/oak earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of fruity/funky/acidic yeast, black raspberries, and moderate oak/bready malt notes; with great strength. Taste of big sour/tart/tangy black raspberries, fruit skin/seeds, lemon, lime, cherry, plum, currant, red/green apple, red grape/wine, oak, hay, straw, grass, wheat, cracker, and lightly toasted bread; with lighter notes of peppercorn, leathery/musty funk, red wine vinegar, and yeast/oak earthiness. Light-moderate fruity/lactic tart/sourness, fruit tang; and light yeast/oak tannin spiciness on the finish. Lingering notes of sour/tart/tangy black raspberries, fruit skin/seeds, lemon, lime, cherry, plum, currant, red/green apple, red grape/wine, oak, hay, straw, grass, wheat, cracker, lightly toasted bread, light leather/funk/vinegar, and yeast/oak earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Fantastic complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/funky/acidic yeast, black raspberries, and moderate oak/bready malt flavors; with a great malt/tart/sourness and tangy fruit balance; with no puckering/astringent flavors after the finish. Moderate increasing dryness from tart/sourness, tangy fruit, and carbonation. Medium-plus carbonation and light-medium body; with a very smooth, moderately bready/grainy, acidic/tangy/tannic, and fairly crisp balanced mouthfeel that is great. Zero warming alcohol for 5.7%. Overall this is a fantastic fruited sour/wild ale. All around outstanding complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/funky/acidic yeast, black raspberries, and moderate oak/bready malt flavors; very smooth, crisp, and easy to drink with the modestly acidic/tangy/tannic/drying finish; not overly lactic. Fantastic jammy berry presence, and balanced Brett/Bacteria complexity; nice oak presence, and pale/wheat malt backbone against acidity. A highly enjoyable offering, and spot on style example.
Nov 03, 2018Reviewed by kemoarps from New York
4.2/5 rDev -1.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
4.2/5 rDev -1.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Deep dark body that you can tell if it weren't so dark would be a rich cherry red. Kind of merlot coloured. The head which swells up on the pour is a beautiful sultry lipstick red that lives hard and dies young settling into a vacant nothing that really seems a metaphor for our brief splashes on this planet, and absolute absence once it's done.
Nose is primarily sweet with a bramble of raspberries, maybe boysenberry, and a slight red wine tartness. Rich and sweet.
Flavour comes up with more of the same. Berry sweet and tart with a tart finish. This is all bramble with some red wine and a nice tart finish.
Fine points of carbonation in a dry body with a good tart finish...
I like this. I've professed my love for various berries on these pages before, and this one is a well executed berry wild ale.
Oct 08, 2018Nose is primarily sweet with a bramble of raspberries, maybe boysenberry, and a slight red wine tartness. Rich and sweet.
Flavour comes up with more of the same. Berry sweet and tart with a tart finish. This is all bramble with some red wine and a nice tart finish.
Fine points of carbonation in a dry body with a good tart finish...
I like this. I've professed my love for various berries on these pages before, and this one is a well executed berry wild ale.
Reviewed by Dragginballs76 from South Carolina
4.14/5 rDev -3.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
4.14/5 rDev -3.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
Appearance - pours deep purple with dark pink head that quickly dissipates to nothing, no lacing.
Aroma - Oak, tart raspberry. light vinous aroma, mild lemon, slight funk. The aroma is very mild overall nothing is super strong.
Taste - Nice tart raspberry up front along with a mild oak. Lemon, the taste is very balanced no funk in the taste just mostly mild sour.
Feel - Medium bodied, pretty dry syrupy finish that really sticks to your mouth.
Overall - Really mild sour, nice flavors does not destroy your palate.
Aug 26, 2018Aroma - Oak, tart raspberry. light vinous aroma, mild lemon, slight funk. The aroma is very mild overall nothing is super strong.
Taste - Nice tart raspberry up front along with a mild oak. Lemon, the taste is very balanced no funk in the taste just mostly mild sour.
Feel - Medium bodied, pretty dry syrupy finish that really sticks to your mouth.
Overall - Really mild sour, nice flavors does not destroy your palate.
Rated by WOLFGANG from South Carolina
4.17/5 rDev -2.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
4.17/5 rDev -2.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
BOD 031618
Aug 25, 2018
Fruit/Wood/Time: Black Raspberry from Westbrook Brewing Co.
Beer rating:
92 out of
100 with
19 ratings
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