River City Raspberry Wheat Ale
Brewsters Brewing Company & Restaurant - Eleventh Avenue

A- Nice super clear looking ale with a bubbly, aggressively fizzy white head, that settles quickly into a thick-ish layer over the liquid. The coloration of the beer itself is golden with just a faint hue of pink. The carbonation appears to be somewhat subdued, which I honestly was not expecting upon looking at it, but this is fine, and the lacing is also mild, with a initial nice coating of foam around the inside of my glass, fading back into the brew in quick fashion. Overall a decent looking fruited ale!

S- This has a mild aroma overall, with muted raspberry tartness, some golden malt richness, bread yeast, raspberry torte, maybe some subdued graininess and a finish that is of very mild hop leafiness......again, there isn't much to the smell.

T- This is pretty tasty! The raspberry flavor really stands out and is much sweeter than the aroma would have let on to me, and I would like to see it just a notch less in the sugary department. Other than this, there is some golden malt caramel richness, some yeasty qualities, slight cracker/dry biscuit and a dessert like finish of raspberry jam that lingers on the palate for sometime after, but requiring me to reach for another taste!

M/O- Light in body and the carbonation, while fizzy on the palate, it isn't super aggressive either, which I appreciate, as it allows the flavors to be seen/heard/tasted. I think this would be very nice on tap at Brewsters especially during a hot summer day, and find it decent.....I will seek this one out again at some point.

I'm not huge on fruit beers but this one is really nice. Actually tastes like fresh raspberries but not in an intrusive way. Great summer beer.

355ml can poured into tulip. Another beer I've been drinking for years that I have inexplicably failed to review.

Pours a medium gold with perhaps a slight pink blush, with one finger of pinkish-white head that leaves some scattered blotches of lace as it recedes.

Smells of raspberry jam spread over fresh bread, some cereal grains and a ghostly whiff of leafy hops.

Tastes of bready pale malt, raspberry ice cream, a bit of spicy yeast and more grassy hops.

Feels light and fizzy. Light bodied with prickly carbonation. Finishes off dry with some sour berries.

Verdict: Recommended. Not the most sophisticated beer around but it's tasty and thirst-quenching.

 

 

 

 

I would not go out of my way to purchase or order this type of beer, but it appeared in my mixer pack. Overall, this is a reasonable beer. The fruit is pretty subtle, but the final product is thin and less than convincing. I will stick to other, better fruit beers if I ever decide to buy more of them...

Pulled from a Brewster's "Brewers Dozen" mixed twelve-pack, which has already offered up a few disappointing entries. Given that I generally have a good time AT Brewster's, I wonder if there's something to be said about a difference between their in-restaurant offerings and the stuff they bottle. Because I have *not* been impressed.

Anyway, the good news here is that the raspberry flavour here is actually fairly subtle (definitely more in the nose than the taste), not too synthetic-tasting, and actually has a bit of tartness to it.

The bad news is that the raspberry flavour is really just *tarting* up (haha, get it?) a very mediocre base beer--gold, fizzy, not much head, slightly yeasty, wheaty, and a bit sour. Leaves a very dry, flaked-wheat sort of after-taste. Faintly bile-ish.

Meh. As far as local options go, I'll go Wild Rose if I actually want a raspberry beer (which I generally don't).

 

 

 

This is the beer to get at Brewsters if you're still timid about all their options and want something simple, of if you're just looking to get smashed.

Don't let me fool you though, this is a really good raspberry beer. Granville Island wishes that this was their raspberry beer. It's very pale with some raspberries floating in it with a gentle sweetness that serves more to complement the beer rather than cover up the grainy goodness.

Give it a go.

Have had this on a few occasions on tap over the years, decided on a home bottle to do a proper review
A - clear bubbly light golden, two fingers of head retained well with an endless stream of rising carbonation
S - seems to be dominated by an adjunct and slightly sour smell, some mild raspberry tartness
T - bread malt and light leafy crisp hops, sweetness & tartness of raspberry is gentle and well blended, not as prominent as I would like but still well integrated
M - light and effervescent, crisp and lightly sweet, slightly bready finish
O - I like my fruit beers to be a little more in your face but this is a nicely balanced effort with malt, hop, and fruit flavours in harmony, definitely an easy drinker

 

500ml bottle poured into tulip 9/12/11

A golden yellow with the slightest pink shade in the foam that's a solid two fingers that retains well leaving a thick ring of lace as it falls

S reminds be of a creamy raspberry ice cream, and some wheat and honey

T not quite as nice as the nose with the raspberries not tasting as nice as they smelled, still decent but there's some sweet macro like grains trying too peek through

M a little foamy but a few swirls of the glass take out the excess bubbles, sweet raspberry lingers faintly

O decant beer even on a chilly day, not overly complex but its a simple fruit beer after all

Brewsters has done a good job of making simple yet solid fruit ales and this one's no different. straight forward but with the 3L for 20$ Brewsters stuff always has value in my eyes

20oz pint at Edmonton Oliver Square. This has always been the offering that the ladies get when they go to Brewsters - sexist, yes, but true in my experience. So, on a warm late summer night, I thought I'd join them and get my fruit on.

This beer appears a clear, pale pink-tinged golden yellow hue, which may or may not be from the octet of frozen raspberries floating at the top of the glass, above rising streams of small bubbles, and one finger of wispy, soapy off-white head, which leaves a small ebbing ring of lace around the glass as things quickly sink away.

It smells of vegetal (in a good way) raspberries, a hint of floral honey, and a softly wheaty pale graininess. The taste is more meek, somewhat underripe raspberries, semi-sweet wheat malt, a bit of green garden dryness (think pea pods), and a very mild earthy, weedy hoppiness.

The carbonation is moderate in its trilling frothiness, the body on the far side of medium-light weight, and somewhat mealy in its plain as the day is long smoothness. It finishes surprisingly dry, with some mild berry fruitiness and green vegetal essences hanging on.

A decent, and approachable fruit ale, to be sure - I do appreciate that they've kept the raspberry component understated in the sweetness department. Easy, anytime summer patio sipping, this one is, for good boyz and gurlz alike!

Served a clear golden colour with a hint of pink. Small frozen raspberries floating in the beer. Bready malt aroma, light tartness from the fruit. Light malt flavour, a bit grainy, the raspberries really do hide in the background, mild tart finish. Crisp, medium bodied mouthfeel. A decent patio beer, the fruit is mellow, and this seems to have a bit more backbone than the blueberry wheat ale.

Hm. A great beer from Brewster's. It poured witha beautiful creamy long-lasting head that clings to the glass. The beer underneath was a pale gold with some coppery highlights.

The nose was dominated with fresh raspberry. The flavour was a mixture of all the nice flavour from their usual wheat ale (toast and bread, wheaty malt, and other nice stuff) plus a fresh but mild raspberry hint.

This is a very nice raspberry ale.