Friday, November 18, 2011

Six Rivers Brewery - Raspberry Lambic-Style Ale

Tonight we roll off the beaten path, out of my comfort zone, and into raspberry lambic-ville.  This Raspberry Lambic Ale is from Six Rivers Brewery, a small microbrewery in McKinleyville, CA.  I've never seen a Six Rivers brew in MN before, but based on what I'm seeing on their website, I'm happy to see their beer on our shelves.  Chili Pepper Spicy Ale?  Brewed with assorted chilies blended in a wheat ale?  Wow, sounds insane.  I like the brewery already.

I wasn't able to find much information on this beer, but the label on the bottle includes a little tidbit of information, "NEW BREWMASTER SERIES Special brews once only available on tap at our fabulous brew pub now in 22oz bombers!  Special belgian yeast and almost 500 lbs of real raspberries in every batch make this unique malt beverage with raspberry added, a house favorite.  Its brilliant red color, raspberry aroma and patented pink frothy head will turn even the most discriminate beer lover into a lambilicious hop-head.  Remember Six Rivers Brewery...'the brew with a view!!'".  7.2% alcohol.

No bottle date to be found on the label.  The beer pours a bubbly, fizzy mess.  Tons of dark pink bubble-foam forms and pops away almost immediately, kind of like the fizz that bubbles up when you fill a glass with coke from a soft-drink dispenser.  The color is dark cherry red, clear and almost bloody.  The aroma is thick with raspberries...burnt dark chocolate-covered raspberries.  Also very sweet and sugary, like hard candy.  The flavor is a fizzy, sugary, candy-raspberry club soda.  Heavy, tart fruit juice flavor during the first half, then it washes down and gets a little watery through the second half.  Finish is dry and quickly drops off the palate, reminds me of olive juice.  Where's the belgian yeast?!

Overall Rating:  This is a raspberry soda-pop!  Nothing in there to remind me that I'm drinking an ale....and I was really hoping the belgian yeast would make things more exciting.  This Lambic is a straight path through the raspberry fields.  Alcohol is well hidden though.  But generally, I'm not a fan of this drink.  D

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