Tarta de Queso
Barbarian Brewing

weird and gross on paper, pretty darn cool in the glass, a cheesecake sour with a ton of raspberries, why do we need to make beer like this? i will never know, but ive had a lot worse things in a similar style space than this, and its cool they had it as a beer slushy too, i think it works even better in that format, but calling this beer is a reach i think, even if it is made out of fermented grain, its almost unrecognizable as such. murky and pink from the tap, short headed, pretty dense looking but the color pops, leaning a little purple almost looks more like blueberry than raspberry to me. the nose is super tart but not overly acidic or aggressive, its tangy and citric, mouthwatering. the dairy element is evident, brewed with cheesecake bites, super weird, but its there, fatty and creamy, some lactose likely too, definitely a vanilla sweetness here as well, quite odd but pleasant too with all the fruit. the flavor is like the nose, actual cheesecake is definitely part of the mix, hard to not be a little grossed out by that, but also it kind of works! the fruit leads, the acidity is high but not overblown, and this has a lot of body so its kind of needed, almost chewy. its sweet but not too sweet, the fruit tastes real to me, and there is a nice vanilla note accentuating the dessert elements, quite cohesive actually, and its sneaky strong, i dont taste any alcohol here at all. more carbonation would be good, its heavy without it, but as a slushy it rules with this heft and creaminess. strange as they come, but also fully successful! almost feels like this needs to be spread on a bagel, very cream cheesy, yet somehow not yucky...

edit: this may have changed some from the earlier reviewed batch, its almost electric pink, unnatural looking, definitely not raspberry colored, but also lighter and brighter than it was, a full point lower on the abv, and now made with nondairy cheesecake, not sure if that was always true, this is less outrightly cream cheesy than i remember and than some in this style, which i still cant believe even is a style. this is novelty level beer, but its also quite well executed for what it is, and seems cleaner now than it did. odd but good in small doses. also another version of this might be on its way, not sure i think i read that on their chalkboard, different fruits would also work here no doubt, curious to see what they come out with!

Taster flight at Barbarian. Watermelon colored pour, wispy head. Raspberry aroma with light tartness. Taste is berries, tartness, sweet. Very refreshing