Surette Reserva Raspberry 2016
Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project

Has aged to perfection!

 

 

L: pours a deep red color but is very transparent. Held up to light you see golden undertones. large carbonation bubbles but no head and overall pretty flat and inactive.

S: Raspberries are obvious, but there is a beautiful earthy funky smell as well of fermenting of fruit. A sour scent that makes my mouth water expecting the sour pucker of the first sup.

T: Amazing ability to be sour and still light in the mouth. A long slow berry burn through the palatte is just awesome. Somehow the good earthy scent belies the delicate flavors contained inside.

F: A light sour that does not attempt to win with ridiculous overpowering heaviness of the very flavor. This is delightful up front and still leaves a long after taste of sour goodness.

O: pretty excellent. I prefer some of their other versions 5hat create deeper depth of flavor with some of the other fruits like the palisade peach, but this is still really good and an interesting counter flavor to some of the others.

great beer, i wasnt really sure what to expect, as this is my first one in this series from a bottle i think, and its a couple of years old now, but its drinking incredibly well, and probably is worthy of the high prices these bottles command, a standout from a heady session of raspberry beers on thanksgiving. the color is awesome, a neon fuchsia, with a high rising white pink head and insane clarity for what this is, i suspect its cleaned up in the bottle some over time. the aroma is tangy fresh raspberries and funky crooked stave house yeast, drier than the bianca raspberry we had from them in the same sitting, but equally funky and mature. lots of oak on this, red and white wine characteristics in the flavor, and the fruit is incredibly natural, the absolute essence of raspberry, highlighted by the right amount of bacterial acidity, minerals, and a lemon note. this drinks like champagne, explosive and uplifting bubbles, makes something intensely flavored feel almost delicate. awesome beer overall, which has me excited for the others in this series that are down in the cellar. its aged super well, no fade on the fruit at all, and this is among the best crooked stave beers ive had in a long time to be honest. yum!

Pinkish to ruby red with a fingernail of pinkish white around the rim and two thirds of the top. The aroma is a that of a pint of tart raspberries. The taste is not as tart as the nose seemed to imply, but I'm betting that is due to being aged on oak. Lot's of raspberry flavor. The mouth is dry, crisp, and smooth.

 

 

 

Good raspberry beer. Good drinkability and colour, and not too tart. Strong carbonation, perhaps to preserve this beer for more years? I normally drink later on when extremes have moderated.

 

 

 

 

Pours a clear and pristine raspberry red and topped with a long-lasting pink froth.

Has a bold aroma full of raspberry juice, ripe cherry and candy.

Sugary sweet forward with a vein of lingering dark and medium fruit tartness throughout. Faint vinegar noticed as it warms.

Medium in body and supremely dry (like I like it). Fruit zest add to the body.

Just exceptional.

A: Poured into a tulip to a deep reddish violet topped by a very small off white head which fades quickly without a trace.
S: Smells of raspberries, oak, funk and some nice sourness
T: Taste is bright and juicy raspberries with some nice sourness, some clean oak notes come in through the middle followed by some nice funk with a slight hint of barnyard and horseblanket. Swallow is more juicy rasberries, clean lactic sourness and some slight lingering funk and oak.
M: This beer is on the lighter side of medium in body with a slightly slick mouthfeel. Carbonation is effervescent but not prickly while the beer has a drying finish from the acidity.
O: Overall this is a really nice beer. It has great flavors and some nice complexity while the fruit notes are just outstanding. Definitely a really well executed beer that is hard to top for the style. I'd say this one is worth the cost of entry.