City Boy
Platform Beer Co.

A thanks to the captain of the canquest, woodychandler, for this beer. Poured from a 16 oz. can. This beer came gushing out of the can, resulting in a pinkish color with several inches of head. Smell is full of raspberries. Taste is of raspberries, tart, dry at the finish. Feels medium bodied in the mouth and overall is a decent beer.

Today is my (Un?)Happy New Jumping Off of the New Platform Beer Sunday (Week 755)! I have been redding up my house during my CANvalescence from surgery & putting together a number of brewery horizontals in doing so. I had planned, even before its announcement about its sale to A-B/InBev, to drink a buncha beers & a seltzer from Kleveland's Platform Beer Co. for this week's NBS. I was disheartened to hear of the news, especially having read the GI story. I am not one to boycott a beer due to their acquisition by a large corporation, but it did take some of the wind out of my sails.

From the CAN: "Kettle Sour Series"; "Berliner Weisse"; "Berry*Refreshing*Tart"; "Malts[:] Pilsner[,] White Wheat[,] Hops[:] Crystal[,] Yeast[:] American Ale[,] Adjuncts[:] Red Raspberry[,] Red Currant[,] Plato[:] 9".

I beCAN by doing some gentle in-CAN agitation since it was a wheat beer at base. The Crack! was nice & loud so I decided to go with an aggro, not inverted, Glug into the awaiting glass. It foamed up to briefly form a finger of fizzy, foamy, rocky, pinkish head with extremely limited retention, quickly falling away to wisps. Color was a hazy Cranberry Red (SRM = N/A). Nose was redolent with red raspberries! I thought that I was back in my late-paternal grandmother's backyard garden with its raspberry bush. I would eat them as quickly as I picked them, but she made them into pies & preserves which were equally good & memorable. Mouthfeel was thin & watery. The taste was pure raspberry, great for me, lousy for the style. There was a tartness from the adjunct fruits, but there was no way that I could identify this as a Berliner Weisse, even one with red (raspberry) syrup. For one thing, the base wheat was lost & for another, it really was not either sour or tart. Finish was semi-dry & highly refreshing. For me, this was very pleasant, but for someone expecting a Berliner Weisse, it would probably be a huge letdown. I would think that it would fare better as a Fruit & Field Beer. YMMV.

 

 

Poured into a stange.
The appearance was a dark pink/reddish color with a quickly dissipating little white semi-foamy head. No lace.
The aroma had some red raspberries, currants, lemon notes and acidic grassy fruity features.
The flavor blended the sour to the tart with a fruity underscore of raspberries, lemon and an ever so light strawberry. Slight acidic aftertaste of red raspberries and lemon with a super light touch of sour-ed wheat.
The mouthfeel was between light and medium bodied with a fair in between quality of being sessionable and being a sipper. Good carbonation and ABV. Slight red raspberries and lemon-ish finish.
Overall, to me, it's a nicely done fruited sour ale but not enough "sour-ed wheat" to call it a true Berliner weisse. I'd still have again.

Pours a hazy strawberry color, minimal head. Smells like tart raspberry. Tart with a little sweetness, I definitely taste the raspberry and currants, has a light sourness. Crisp and clean, maybe a little overcarbonated. Overall a very crushable beer that I will buy again.

8/6/18
16 oz can dated 10/17/17
4.25 rating

 

 

 

 

 

A: The beer is clear cherry red in color and has a slight amount of visible carbonation. it poured with a quarter finger high pink head that died down, leaving a collar around the edge of the glass.
S: Light aromas of raspberry purée are present in the nose.
T: The taste follows the smell and has flavors of raspberries along with notes of other berries such as blackberries with a light amount of sourness.
M: It feels a bit more than being light-bodied and slightly creamy on the palate with a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: I liked how this beer had lots of raspberry flavors without any of the associated acidity that you would normally expect. It is very easy to drink.

Serving type: can

 

16 ounce can into tulip glass, canned on 9/28/2017. Pours slightly hazy ruby reddish orange color with a 1-2 finger fairly dense and fluffy light pink head with solid retention, that reduces to a minimal spotty lace cap that lingers. Slight spotty lacing on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of big juicy and lightly tart/tangy raspberries, red currants, fruit jam, lemon, pear, red apple, fruit skin/seeds, wheat, cracker, white bread, herbal, light lacto funk, and yeast earthiness. Very nice aromas with good balance and complexity of fruity/acidic yeast, raspberry/currants, and light-moderate moderate pale malt notes; with great strength. Taste of juicy and tart/tangy raspberries, red currants, lemon, pear, red apple, fruit skin/seeds, wheat, cracker, white bread, herbal, light lacto funk, and yeast earthiness. Light fruity/lactic tartness and fruit tang on the finish. Lingering notes of tart/tangy raspberries, red currant, fruit jam, lemon, pear, red apple, fruit skin/seeds, wheat, cracker, white bread, herbal, light lacto funk, and yeast earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Nice complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/acidic yeast, raspberry/currants, and light-moderate pale malt flavors; with a nice malt/tartness and tangy fruit balance; with zero puckering/astringent flavors after the finish. Moderately crisp/clean finishing. Moderate increasing dryness from lingering tartness/fruit tang. Medium carbonation and light body; with a very smooth and fairly grainy/acidic/tangy/tannic balanced mouthfeel that is nice. Zero warming alcohol as expected of 3.8%. Overall this is a nice fruited Berliner weisse. All around nice complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/acidic yeast, raspberry/currants, and light-moderate pale malt flavors; very smooth, crisp, clean, and refreshing to drink; with the mildly lactic/tangy/tannic finish. Better aromas than flavors. Nice jammy nose going on; but the flavors felt watered down and not as heavy on the berries as I hoped. Still has nice overall balance, and is a well made style example. A nicely enjoyable offering.

 

 

 

Mild fresh raspberry aroma with a hint of tartness, pours a clear red with a dusting of white head. Clean sour flavor, which fades out to raspberries. Light body and easy drinking, with just enough tartness to keep the flavor bright. A very enjoyable Berliner Weisse.

 

Quick hit. Let's go.

Clear ruby color with no head or lacing.

Jammy raspberry and blackberry on the nose. Little to no acid. Very sweet.

Medicinal berry notes like generic hard candy. Not even remotely tart or acidic. Astringent aftertaste. Everything about it screams extract.

Thin bodied, even for the style.

This is my last Platform beer unless they seriously step it up. Just too underwhelming as a whole.