Mother Schmuckers
Grand Armory Brewing

A: orange pink in cookie with a small white head.

S: rich raspberry, and a bit of a bready note.

T: lightly grainy with some nice berry flavor. I wish there was a little more berry flavor. Perhaps some lacrosse in there.

M: light with moderate carbonation.

O: overall not bad, but I'd like a bit more berry in it.

 

 

 

Just grabbed a six pack of this, this week. Fresh from this summer, less than 6 months old. I've had raspberry blondes before but this one is on another level. Exploding with taste and smell of fresh raspberries and the beer is juicy enough tasting that it actually does remind you of delicious raspberry jam.

 

 

I picked up a can of Grand Armory Brewing's Mother Schmuckers last week for $1.99 at The Lager Mill. This can caught my eye and I'm interested to see how it turns out, so lets see how it goes. 2017 Vintage. Poured from a 12oz can into a imperial pint glass.

A- The can looks good, it's got a nice design that goes well with the name and it's eye catching. It poured a slightly hazy orange and red color that took on a little brighter hue when held to the light with a little over a finger worth of creamy and slightly fizzy off white head that died down to a thin ring that eventually faded away and it left some a little bit of patchy lacing behind. This is a pretty nice looking beer, I have no complaints.

S- The aroma starts off with a slightly higher amount of medium sweetness with the raspberry being the first to show up and they impart a nice and natural raspberry like flavors that leads into a nice jam and like aroma. Up next comes a little bit of doughy yeast that leads into the malts which impart some pale malt, bready, grainy and sweet malt like aromas. This beer has a pretty nice aroma that lives up to the name.

T- The taste seems to be similar to the aroma, but lighter and it starts off with a slightly higher amount of medium sweetness with the raspberries being the first to show up and they are much lighter than they were in the aroma and they are less sweet and impart a lot less of a jam flavor. Up next comes a watery flavor that goes into just a slight amount of doughy yeast and it's followed by the malts which impart the all the same aspects and they show up just a little more this time. On the finish there's a slight bitterness with just a little bit of sweetness and it's a little dry with some watery raspberry and slight malt flavors showing up in the aftertaste. This beer tastes just ok, I like the aroma more than the taste.

M- Smooth, crisp, a little fizzy, medium bodied with a higher amount of medium carbonation. The mouthfeel is pretty nice and it works well with this beer.

Overall I thought this beer was just ok and I thought it was just another average example of the style, it wasn't really bad and it didn't have much off flavors, but it was just too watery for the style and it didn't showcase the raspberry like I was hoping. This beer didn't have the best drinkability, one is enough for me, more than that and I would start to be worn out of the flavor. What I like the most about this beer is the aroma and the mouthfeel, to me those were the highlights of this beer. What I like the least about this beer is the taste, it's just too watery for the style and it doesn't hold my attention. I wouldn't buy this beer again and I can't say I would recommend it. All in all there's a good amount of improvement that could be made for this beer and I find the taste to be pretty rough around the edges. It's now my least favorite beer from this brewery and it's an average at best example of the style. Better luck next time guys, this one could use some work.

 

12 ounce can into pint glass; no can dating, but is a recent release. Pours moderately hazy/cloudy pinkish golden/orange color with a 1-2 finger foamy and fluffy off white head with good retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Light spotty lacing clings on the glass, with a light amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of lightly tart raspberries, fruit seeds, pear, apple, wheat, cracker, biscuit, herbal, light pepper, and yeast earthiness. Nice and pleasant aromas with good balance of pale malt, raspberries, and light-moderate earthy hop notes; with solid strength. Taste of lightly tart raspberries, fruit seeds, pear, apple, wheat, cracker, biscuit, herbal, light pepper, and yeast earthiness. Light-moderate herbal/spicy hop bitterness and light fruit tartness on the finish. Lingering notes of lightly tart raspberries, fruit seeds, pear, apple, wheat, cracker, biscuit, herbal, pepper, and yeast earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Nice robustness and balance of pale malt, raspberries, and light-moderate earthy hop flavors; with a nice malt/bitterness balance, and zero astringent flavors after the finish. Fairly clean finishing. Moderate increasing dryness from bitterness and carbonation. Medium-high carbonation and light-medium body; with a very smooth, moderately crisp, bready/grainy/sticky, and lightly acidic/tangy balanced mouthfeel that is nice. Zero warming alcohol as expected of 5%. Overall this a nice fruited blonde ale. All around good robustness and balance of pale malt, raspberries, and light-moderate earthy hop flavors; very smooth, crisp, clean, and refreshing to drink. Was hoping for way more fruit presence, but it hits the blonde ale style really well. Perfectly balanced and very flavorful for the ABV. A nicely enjoyable offering.