Scratch Beer 42 - 2011 (Razz-ma-dizzle)
Tröegs Brewing Company

 

 

12oz bottle to tulip. $4.00 for the single. Sampled 4/4/12.

A: Pours with a meager half finger high head, if that. Off-white in color and quick to disappear. The body is a murky burgundy brown, with next to no transparency, and very little movement or anything else noteworthy to report. Razz-ma-dizzle is rather-ma-dormant looking.

S: Big, sweet, juicy raspberry...concentrate. The sweet, artificial berry aromas take over the nose leaving only some caramelize sugars left in the background. Does not resemble a dubbel at all.

T: Straight fruit juice. And mildly tart. Even though the flavor is tasty, there is just something very wrong and very unnatural about a raspberry spiked dubbel. Even though the flavors *do* technically compliment each other, I can't get on board with this.

M: Medium light body - way too thin for the style. Carbonation is adequate, however, and provides a tingling sensation across the tip of the tongue. Slick texture from midpalate on.

O: I wasn't a big fan of this beer when it was first released on draft and my experience with this bottle was even less enjoyable. Bottom line: This beer isn't going to get any better so, if you have any left, best to drink them now.

 

 

 

 

I can only assume this is the right spot to review this since Troegs website claims the "Belgian Brown" was Scratch #36, but mysteriously leaves out #34. Either way the bottle says "Bottling No. Belgian Brown." Thanks to stakem.

Pours a medium reddish brown with moderate off-white head. Smells like chocolate-covered cherry cordials, cherry coke and mahogany

Palate is drying and lacquer-ilke. Cherry skins, figs, dates and toasted nuts. A weird and complex oddity for sure. Don't think I like it at all.

Notes: Smells too good to be true and is. Wha-wun.

(Edit: Upon revisiting the aroma, I think this is infected, but I can't tell with what.)

EDIT: I moved this review per Stakem's suggestion. My notes make more sense considering the ingredients. Still don't think it was a good beer.

Thanks to Adam H for this one.

This pours burnt orange-brown with a small but frothy eggshell head with decent lace. On the nose there is a gigantic hit of raspberries, perhaps a bit of leather. In the mouth the raspberries just don't seem like they have a whole lot backing them up. It's not bad, just lacking balance a bit. The body is medium or medium light, very wet, with the long finish of raspberry and slight leather.

Overall, this is a decent diversionary beer, but nothing I would seek out continually.

Originally posted under Scratch Beer 34. Thanks to stakem for clearing it up.

 

On tap at the Armsby Abbey during their Stone night.

A - Poured into a snifter a ruby garnet pour with a half finger head that fades to leave nice side lacing.

S - This is a dubbel?! No way....All I smell is cherry/raspberry jam. Not over the top sweet, but wow, this is crazy.

T - What is this!? Cherry/strawberry/raspberry jam flavors with a very light chocolate. Wow. Weird but delicious.

M - Smooth, lower carb. The ABV isnt too too noticeable.

O - Overall, wowzers. While this isnt that good of a dubbel, this is a spectacular fruit beer. Sweet jams and chocolate, I wish i had a bottle of this to try and age.

Tap at Armsby Abbey

Fluffy creamy lighter head fades at a med pace with lacing, hazy rosy maroon color.

Nose had fruit, raspberry and light cherry, sweet reddish berry fruit, hint of choc covered raspberry, light Belgian malts, light syrup and hint of candi sugar.

Taste comes with malts, caramel, toffee, hint of chocolate a raspberry choc, then light fruit with raspberry and light cherry, hint of vanilla, light Belgian malts and hunt of syrup, a bit of those choc covered cherry candies, hint of booze. Finishes a bit sweet but drier, sticky, lingering malts, caramel, fruit and hint of booze.

Mouth is a bit heavier bodied, decent carb.

Overall pretty good nice malts and fruit combo, nice mouth, a but boozy for only 7%.

Seriously beautiful crystal clear deep ruby color like wine. Faint cherry smell to start but but in this snifter more will likely develop. Very strong fruit flavor here. Partly dried cherries balanced by a subtle malt balance. Great body and consistancy but the carbonation is just a bit too prickly to go unnoticed. A slightly softer mouthfeel would really put this beer over the top but I suppose tats a good thing in a way. It acts as a governor of sorts to keep me from chugging this. It's a shame this is not bottled.

Pours a hazed chesnut color with some stronger red highlights against the light, frothy head. Mild muted scent, raspberries and cheap sugary milk chocolate with touched of musty grain. Taste follows schent, berry taste is pleasent but there is a chocolate taste thats akin to a cheap peice of foil wrapped holiday milk chocolate. Medium bodied, uber frothy. Nice try, but didnt quite come together all the way.

Enjoying a warm Friday afternoon off from work, figured I'd have me a brew to relax. This one comes from number1bum. Cheers Josh!

Appearance: A rough pour into my Poperings Hommel Bier glass, there beer is a murky, light brown color. Surprisingly there's not much head, only a thin ring around the glass. The moderate lacing is soapy with only a little schtick.

Smell: Malty with some light, sweet fruit. Very surprised at how sweet the nose it, it almost reminds me of fruit juice.

Taste: Lots of raspberry coming through, along with some other light fruity notes. Not at all what I expected at all. It's a nice refreshing brew to drink on a warm afternoon.

Mouthfeel: Light to medium body, good carbonation.

Overall (Drinkability): Not a bad brew. It's a little simplistic, lacking some complexity which I enjoy in a good Belgian Dubbel, but overall it's not bad. I would certainly drink this one again.

It was the scratch beer festival night! i had spent a good deal of time collecting these and finally tracked down the last of what i needed and put them all down in a massive tasting. Split with my brother in law and his buddy on 5/6, these were all split into 6 ounce samplers.

Very nice, light pour with a medium pinkish soft haze to it. Nice finger high head of off white comes up and over the top, settling down gently with soft bubbles around the edges and rich carbonation throughout. Nice aroma, fruit very front on this one for sure, but still nicely balanced with light bready notes, hints of cloves and light grain all coming together nicely. Soft banana and a hit of spice. This carries over well into the flavor which has that nice fruit favor, berries and a nice peppery kick to it. Again mellow with everything being very well rounded and smooth. Great start Belgian here as it gives you a good sense of the complexity without being terribly overwhelming. Very nicely done. Smooth even flavor gives rise to a wonderful dry finish that really just begs to be session able.

Grabbed this on tap from Churchkey in DC. The waiter warned against it, and I should have listened. Served in a snifter.

First thing you notice is that this beer is quite red in appearance, not just your standard hue, but a full tint of red - not sure if this relates to the raspberry infusion. Head lingers nicely, with strong lacing. Nose is a little heavy alcohol, and has some cherry/berry type scent.

Taste is pretty weak, it doesnt have any of the strong belgian sugars of a dubble, or even fruitiness - its more of a light berry, without any balance. Mouthfeel is fine, but basically average for a dubble, with light carbonation. Overall not a good dubbel, but a decent dessert drink, if you like this sort of thing.

Reviewed from notes:

appearance: dark brown, with a 1 finger off white head

smell: sweet, dark fruits,

taste: dark fruits, sweet, chocolate,

mouthfeel: mild carbonation, medium body,

overall: not a bad dubbel at all easy to drink and glad I got to try it.

Cheers,
The CPJ

Poured into an imperial pint glass. Glass of cold water on the side to sip from periodically.

Appearance: As poured the beer is a clear, rich chestnut brown with a light tan head that soon recedes to a small ring and a large patch of foam that partially covers the surface and leaves no lacing on the sides of the glass. Sipping leaves some scattered speckles of lacing and a sheet of foam that slides back down to the liquid.

Smell: Upon being opened the raspberry aroma is noticeable as it spreads into the room. In the background there is a bit of brown sugar and a touch of vanilla.

Taste: The initial dominant flavor is raspberry followed up by a touch of brown sugar and a tinge of bitterness from the hops. There is some nice cocoa flavor and filling things out there is some light spciciness along with the tartness from the raspberry.

Mouthfeel: The mouth feel is on the light side of medium bodied and the carbonation creates a light, prickly feeling. The finish is medium length, begins in the raspberry/brown sugar sweetness but the tapers off to a tart fruit dryness at the end.

Drinkability and Overall Impression: I find the drinkability is a bit mixed here in that while I think this is an interesting beer, I’m not saying to myself that I wish I’d bought another six pack while we were at the brewery. So, effectively, I’m fine with having tried it but wouldn’t really go out of my way to have more of it. My overall impression is that this was an attempt to explore what Mad Elf would be like if made with raspberries rather than cherries. For me it doesn’t quite come together in the way Mad Elf does, so I’ll happily wait for my next case of Mad Elf in preference to this beer.

A: Pours light brown iced tea color. A good amount of carbonation with about a half of a finger of off white head.

S:Some Raspberry and black cherry in the nose. A bit of a musty smell and a touch of dark fruits.
In the background there's the slightest amount of chocolate and coffee and a tiny amount of smokiness.

T: WTF is this. I'm having trouble decifering just what i'm tasting. Theres some fruit and theres some water. Not very appetizing or appealing at all.

M: Watery, not much carbonation. Not much anything

Overall: Not good. This beer should not have been released.