Black Razz Blonde
Joyride Brewing Company

a gabf bronze medal winner this year, which surprises me, not that this isnt good, it is good, but i think it speaks to what is happening in beer right now, folks want flavor before they want beer character, and this is nothing special, seems just like a basic almost neutral blonde ale, dosed with an absolute ton of fruit puree, which is unexciting on the ingredient and process side, not even really artful or anything, but its clean and well executed and they hid all the beer parts, which i guess is what people like these days, good for these guys though, a medal is always nice. very pretty color to this, stained glass glow, deep pink hued, and nicely clear. the aroma is less sweet than it looks, which is to its credit, blackberry and raspberry are identifiable but more as jam than fresh fruit, very little malt or hops to this and nothing from the ferment either, almost juice then, or fruit drink rather, appealing anyway, summery, quite light, maybe a hibiscus note in there somewhere. the flavor is all fruit, and im not saying its bad, in fact its delicious, and the quality overall is very high, this is tidy for what it is, i guess im lamenting the trends rather than the execution of this, both berries appreciable, popsicle and fruit punch character too, fruit roll up with the faintest tartness, and its not sweet past the center, quick to finish, even refreshing as these go. light bodied even with all the fruit, well carbonated, and technically nice. unexciting fruit beer, maybe not even made from actual fruit, feels flavored, but a classic combination of berries and well made blonde at its core i suppose. low key and low brow, somewhat feminine, tasty but also woefully basic, i want a little more interest in my fruit beers that this, but thats personal preference of course, cant knock the quality here...

Minor, light pink head. Rose colored liquid. Clear. A few minor streaks for lace.

Raspberry (not blackberry) is the initial smell I get. It's more dry than sweet. I also pick up on a grape like aroma.

The beer starts with a drier berry flavor. It does turn lightly bitter in the swallow. It leans to the thinner side with a lesser level of carbonation. The raspberry notes create a small amount of tartness. I noticed some greenery (in the smell as well) but it's closer to leaves than grass/weeds. The combination is pleasant and relatively unusual.