Raspberry Ale
Indian Wells Brewing Company

 

 

Justifying my rating of this beer.

Bottle poured into an Indian Wells Brewing Co pint glass

A: When held up to light it is golden with a pink hue, but against a darker background it is more just a strange pink-ish color, with a white head that disappears almost immediately.

S: There is raspberry there, but it seems more like a fake sugary version you'd find in candy, with a very faint hint of earthy malt behind it. Not offensive, but it doesn't smell like beer. It kinda smells like cough syrup actually.

T: Tart raspberry, but followed by a strange fake raspberry candy like sweetness. No malt or hints of any hops whatsoever. It's more like a soda than it is a beer, but it really wouldn't be a good soda either.

M: Very light body, with moderate carbonation.

O: Not a good beer at all, in fact I'm not sure the word beer should be applied to this wet substance. No hops, no malt, just strange raspberry-ish-ness.

 

 

 

 

 

Review #600! Opposite of thanks to Alex!

A - Pours a peachy orange, thin ring, clear, film of some sort on top.

S - Fake fruit candy, cough drop life saver cherry (or something like that). Not a terrible smell but not all that appealing.

T - Here's where this beer went downhill and off the cliff. Horrible. Rain water, fake fruit, laundry detergent, harsh chemical floral note, fluoride (but less sweet), harsh medicinal finish.

M - Light body, light carbonation, very watery.

O - Horrible, plain and simple. Give to your "friends" if you really want them to suffer. Thanks Alex, for being my "friend". Ugh.

Review #1500. Bottle generously gifted by Bobby (t0rin0). Served in a tasting snifter.

A - A dime of white foam quickly sizzles to a thin collar and a few stray bubbles, leaving no lace. Transparent orange-pink body with a light haze to it.

S - Medicinal cough drops, light chemicals, cooked vegetables. Also smells like cherry instead of raspberries. While some of my fellow reviewers think it is awful, I merely think it's a below-average fruit beer.

T - Taste, on the other hand, is horrible. Mineral-laden stagnant water mingles with medicinal cough drops, steamed vegetables, and flouridated toothpaste. Is there actually barley and hops in this? Tastes like a mix of tonic water and fake fruit - although now the fake fruit flavor tastes like strawberries(?!).

M - Almost no carbonation, weird mouth-coating sliminess. Watery, thin body. At least I can't taste any alcohol.

D - Wow! This actually lives up to the hype. How hard is it to fuck up a raspberry beer? I labored through 4oz to see if it got any better, but unsurprisingly it didn't. Probably the worst beer that is in production year-round. How are these guys still in business?

Indian Wells mix pack provided by Bobby.

A: Pours a rose type color with almost no head, but at least the clarity is good.

S: Jesus. Puke (lots of it), fake raspberries, bad sparkling wine, and cider. There's a bit of cough syrup and some metal to it as well. Pretty typical for an Indian Wells product.

T: At least the flavor is slightly better. Fake and sugary raspberry flavor with a lot of the same cheap wine/champagne thing going on.

M: Light, fizzy, and nothing noteworthy at all.

D: The nose is just too much to get past. And the flavor isn't any better.

11/24/10

Thanks Chris. Poured into a Bruery tulip. Opened by myself at my desk. I decided to break this rarity out for the holidays. What a special occasion.

A: Looks like Martinelli's Sparkling Apple-Cranberry cider with a small bubbly head that quickly dissipates.

S: This smells awful. Smells like a fine raspberry menthol cough syrup and steamed vegetables. Incredibly medicinal and disgusting. I dare say it doesn't get worse than this.

T: With iron resolution I raised the glass to my lips three times, and three times I found myself putting the glass down without imbibing. This is the first time I've ever been afraid to taste a beer. If there were a sixth rating category called Fear, this would score a 5. Wow, it tastes almost like nothing, with well integrated notes of cooked carrots and cabbage coalescing with raspberry cough syrup. Pretty complex, but I think actual cough syrup tastes better. The finish is a flourish of vegetal raspberry and urinal cake (as I imagine it would taste).

M: Thin and watery with upper moderation carbonation.

Overall: Truly one of the worst out there. There's no way this isn't poison. I'll definitely be seeking out more Indian Wells beers in the future.

Poured into a snifter on 11/15/10

Thanks to Nickd717

Pours a soft rose petal pink, golden amber in the glass. One finger of white-with-a-slight-twinge-of-pink foam that doesn't last too long, dropping to a skim & various sized bubbles. Ok lace.

The aroma is artificial raspberry products of the household cleaning variety. Honestly, this smells like Febreeze to me. At times notes of grain, floral hops & musty yeast emerge; they are however, not enough to detract from the solventy raspberry.

The taste is similarly steeped in foul raspberry detritus. The plus side is that it doesn't come across quite as chemical-laden as the nose; the downside being a similarity to low-grade soda syrup. It's fizzy, causing the "raspberry' to dart about the tongue. Toasted grain sits in back. Finishes with a dry bitterness that is pretty unpleasant.

At first it had the same watery feel of Orange Blossom Amber. Over time, it fills out some, but is always rather thin. Carbonation is ample enough without being too vigorous; instead it's more like focused prickliness. The aforementioned bitterness lingers with a raspberry Lysol twinge.

This, my second Indian Wells beer, is as dismal as the first. I don't care for it at all. I didn't drain pour it; no, I drank the whole flippin' bottle.

Served on tap from the brewery in a pilsner glass. The beer was comical in its appearance; it looked like someone dumped red food coloring into a glass of champagne. Inch to inch-and-a-half head of thick foam. The smell was very strong and overpowering raspberry, to the point of smelling like a flavor-syrup additive. The taste of the beer was very weak, which was surprising with the strong bouquet. Not only was there little to no raspberry flavor, but the beer itself was non-descript. It tasted as if raspberry syrup was dumped into their Death Valley Pale Ale in mid-pour. In my mouth, the beer had the feel of a Lambic, minus any of the flavor, combined with over-carbonation. Not a pleasant experience at all.

I would certainly not seek this beer out again, nor would I recommend it to others.

Bottle. Pours a rose colored clear with a pink head. The smell is of sweet raspberries and other fruits. Quotes like: "Smells like a snow cone" and F'ing terrible" were murmured as several of us tried this. No lacing at all. Taste like a raspberry Zima. This is terrible. I wouldn't suggest ever trying this beer. Epic fail of a beer. There are much better offerings in the Fruit Beer category in my opinion. Undrinkable IMO.
Can't wait to open the one I have in the cellar, maybe it will get better with age, god knows it ain't going to get any worse.

Review #900

Huge thanks to largadeer for sending this Wale out. I have been wanting to try this one for a while now!

Poured into CCB Snifter.

Pours 1/4 finger of white head that fades to a thin layer. No lace left. Color is a clear peach pinkish color. Reminds me of some kind of wine color that is flat.

Aroma: Smells like a snow-cone. A raspberry flavored snow-cone to be specific. It is this beer? Smells a bit like cough syrup and medicine flavors.

Taste: Light flavored kool-aid. Zema awkwardness. Rasberry fizz candy. Seriously, a masterpiece in itself.

Mouthfeel: Fizzy and sweet. Light bodied with a higher amount of carbonation. Ends very dry and fruity.

Overall, this beer is a classic. Doesn't really tastes like beer at all. So weird. Do yourself a favor and get yourself some of this. Your drain will appreciate it.

Thanks Chris for this beast!

Appearance - Why oh why did I buy this? I know Indian Wells blows but the fact it said "Raspberry" made me take a second look since that is my favorite fruit. "Sigh" I guess my judgment was clouded...the irony is that I had two top ten beers later that night and another top 100 beer also. Yet I bought this. Ug. Anyway, pours a sickly pinkish color with half a finger of head that dissipates immediately leaving zero lacing. Yummy.

Smell - To put it simply, smells like Sam Adams Cherry Wheat but substitute the cherry robitussin smell with raspberry. I feel this is not going to taste good...

Taste - Holy junk. It tastes like cheap raspberry seltzer water. That is it. There is literally nothing else going on here. Oh my good lord. This is probably going to actually be my lowest rated beer...I can feel it.

Mouthfeel - Nonexistent. Tastes like seltzer water.

Drinkability - None. Going to drain pour this. Disgusting. Such a dumb, expensive decision on my part to get a SIX PACK of this. Ug.

I've been waiting for this moment for a long long time. Chris has raved about how awesome these beers are, and I finally get a chance to try it. Thanks, dogg!

Pouring a light pink with great clarity and a dense, pinkish white head with good retention, this is a beer that clearly displays Indian Wells' ability to filter and carbonate a beer. The nose is just heavenly, a blend of canned berries, medicinal cough syrup and some cooked cabbage. I wonder if they used fruit puree in this, the lack of tannins is surprising. Malt is non-existent, replaced wholly by a sugary sweetness. Having grown up eating a lot of Wrigleys products, I'd swear they used some Juicy Fruit in the mash.

For a beer that smells this good, it certainly tastes better. Bland, watery and just strange, this has everything going for it. Chris seems to taste urinal cake in this beer, and that's not a flavor I'm familiar with, given that I'm not known to service strange men in bathrooms at metal shows. It does, however, have some massively awful fruit character with a bad bitterness on the finish. Thankfully, the raspberry is toned down, leaving nothing redeeming for the palate. Strangely bitter on the finish, this beer is light in body and highly carbonated. Hints of cough syrup rise as it warms, this beer is quite the masterpiece.

I know we are supposed to be constructive on this site, but this has to be the worst beer I ever had I my life. This is pretty much sparkling raspberry water with alcohol. There is nothing about this that ever comes close to being a beer, let alone a decent beer. If it was higher in alcohol content that would at least be something, but at 5.0 abv, this isn't doing it. It's disappointing because I've had a few other beers by this same brewery, and they've been pretty good. Try again Indian Wells.