Raznarok
Central State Brewing

A - Dark impenetrable body, with a moderate tan head, and extensive lacing of tiny bubble and lines.

S - Raspberry with minor malt notes of roasted malts and chocolate. But the fruit is forward.

T - If anything, the fruit is more forward, a lush romp. The malts are quiet, hinting chocolate. The close is dry enough to clear off the tart berry hit.

M - Brisk and clear, but with just enough weight. Dry enough close to scrub the tongue.

O - A nice fruit beer with a stout backbone. The berries are the star, and are delicious.

 

 

 

 

 

I generally agree with all that the venerable StonedTrippin has to say here. Central State prides themselves on their unique yeasts, love affair with everything brett, and open fermentation in koelschips. They have produced several "farmhouse stouts" that are all heavily attenuated, dry affairs, and this is another one. The fruiting is quite light and natural, with no syrupy flavors. Also nicely hopped with a significant floral character. Not nearly as stunning as their orange-flavored stout, A Well-Forged Sword, but this was still good enough for my father--not a beer drinker--to take a 4-pack back home to the Carolinas after a weekend visit to share with his friends.

a splendid beer right here, super original and really really good. it pulses out of the can the second i crack it, a dense rich foam almost as dark as the stout itself. it sits high on the beer in the glass, looks almost nitro, and leaves patchy lace as it drinks. obsidian shine black brew, not overly viscous or sticky, with as good of carbonation as any saison out there. the nose is raspberries first, fresh and tart, they must have used a ton of them to get it so forward in such a robust base beer. the stout has some deep burnt coffee notes, earthy roasted barley, and a nice bitter char. lots of body here, and some sweetness from the fruit offsets the intense dark grains in the flavor, a cool back and forth through the whole thing. the yeast is intriguing here, the can says house wild yeasts or something, but this doesnt taste funky to me. its not a wild beer in a bretty sense, but it quite obviously is unconventional yeast for this style, and while it never tastes like a saison strain, there are belgian and estery elements that just love the raspberries, but they seem kept at bay by the malts. the beer has effervescent carbonation which is strangely delightful in the style, and there is some amount of yeastiness to it, but not as developed and funky as i thought it might be. bitter to finish with the fruit still hanging on too, not a hint of the alcohol strength, and a creamy richness that feels refined and fancy to me as it closes out. impressive beer from a brewery i am really growing to love. neat beer to put in a can too, these usually command cork and cage glass bottles. kind of high brow beer in a low brow package, i can dig that. incredibly original beer!