Ringberry Ale
Granite Brewery & Restaurant

March 16 2023

 

Appearance: Granite Brewery’s Ringberry Ale pours a clear golden body. The head is short lived, gone within a minute leaving behind very little lace.

Smell: When brought up to the nose there is a pleasant raspberry and strawberry aroma followed by malt grain. Hiding behind them are notes of honeysuckle, fruit candy and possibly a hint of bubble-gum but everything is masked by the berry and the malt.

Taste: Fruity. Now this is no Früli which is good. While there is definitely a large hit of raspberry, Granite does a good job of not letting it overpower the drink. Biscuit and bread follows the raspberry slap accompanied with just a slight peck mint. The finish is dry, only raspberry and maltiness here but it dissipates quickly.

Mouthfeel: Light and crisp with medium carbonation.

Drinkability: It’s not bad. As to be expected with a fruit beer it isn't complex nor is it meant to be. Very straight forward and it's nice that you can still taste the beer behind the raspberry. Ringberry is definitely the lightest beer that they have at this establishment so if you’re looking for something refreshing give it a go.

I recommend pairing this with salads, light pastries and fruit. Anything else would drown the flavor of the beer.

 

According to Bob behind the bar, this is indeed Granite's Ringwood Ale, infused with raspberry extract.

This beer appears a hazy apricot hue, with a finger or so of creamy white head, which leaves solid lace around the glass. It smells of vegetal raspberries, and white cracker grain. The taste is tart raspberry purree, and graham cracker crust - it's a watery version of my mom's raspberry cream pie! The carbonation is average, the body is light and fairly smooth, and it finishes dry, and slightly mealy and fruity.

This seems to me to be a tamer version Alley Kat's raspberry ale from last summer. Still fairly tasty, in an understated manner.

Appearance: It has golden color body that has a little bit of a pink tint. The head is an odd orange color.

Smell: It reeks of berries and malt.

Taste: It has more of a fake berry taste than a beer taste. It is very sweet but bland.

Mouthfeel: medium bodied with average carbonation.

Drinkability: Average.

As far as I know this is just their Ringwood ale with fruit.

Pours a slightly hazy yellow, thick white head forms, drops out quick, no lacing, no retention. Smell is sweet raspberry juice, fresh fruits, honey, some floral, grains, sugary sweet. Taste is raspberries, sugar, wheat, bready raspberry finish, quite dry. Mouthfeel is light bodied with low carbonation. Decent fruit beer, certainly quenching in hot weather.

Sampled at the Toronto Brewpub. I'd classify it as a fruit beer (and I'm reviewing it as such).

A: Clear gold, slight pink hue, white head; very little retention/lace.

S: Raspberry fruit, slight breadyness.

T: Raspberry fruit (readily apparant, but not overpowering), bready, slightly sweet.

M: Moderate body, lightly carbonated.

D: Alright for a fruit beer.

This beer's a deep gold with chill haze. The head is very shortlived and leaves a minute amount of lace. The aroma is strongly fruity with strawberry yoghurt, raspberries and some tartness noticeable. Malts are apparent in a grainy form and theres no hops in the nose.

The taste is dominated by raspberry extract, other field berries and some residual sweetness. Thankfully theres some beer flavor. Malts hide behind the fruit with a weak bready character. Hops are herbal and very subdued. The mouthfeel is syupy with fruit extract and has quite low carbonation. The finish is very fruity and malty with a chemical tinge to the fruit.

Overall this is an OK fruit beer, the berry flavor is a too dominant. Luckily, unlike a lot of fruit beers, you can taste beer and it taste good. Just tone down the fruit juice a bit.

Note: Judging by the mouthfeel and taste Im sure this is fruit juice, or even fruit syrup.

I've quite enjoyed most Granite products, but this one is a bust. Looks anemic and smells way, way too perfumy. Don't get me wrong - I'm quite capable of enjoying a good fruit beer - it's just that this one ain't it. It seems to be a tough thing to do and it the effort either comes across as really, really right or really, really wrong. This is the latter I'm afraid.

Artificial fruit aroma and flavour, chemical undertones. The base beer for this one is something of a lightweight to start and it's just overwhelmed in this concoction. Sorry guys, one of those rare brews I could not finish. Give it a pass.