keep your grip

Be Hoppy has a great variety of super looking beers, unfortunately a bit more expensive than many other craft beers.  I have to watch my pocket in the summer.  In times of plenty, I really ought to come down more.  I found a sort of middle point in Haand Bryggeriet's Raspberry Export Stout, as it's a different sort of beer than I often find but not too expensive for me these days.  Several other stouts were tempting, but in the end the raspberries convinced me.  Love my stouts and love me some raspberries too.  I'll be drinking raspberry Fanta soon enough, but I digress.

Ghost fingers?

There's a mild tangy raspberry smell that wafts off the glass, out of a light beige and fairly thick head.  The beer is dark chocolate in color more than black.  Still good and opaque, though.  The taste is a bit bitter, but light and goes down easy.  I was expecting a stronger sweetness, but there really isn't much, it's mostly bitter and earthy with a ping of sour in the aftertaste.  It feels oddly dusty in the mouth, but still refreshing.  Eventually a bit of chocolate incorporates itself into the middle of the flavor, adding that touch of sweetness to balance out the sour.  It comes out in an after-aftertaste too.  A good quarter of the glass down I start to get a little woodiness as well, not drowning out anything else, but adding a different note to the overall taste.  The song goes from low bitter to middle chocolate and high sour, ending with a descending chocolate fade.  The bitterness actually diminishes with time, leaving a fruitier beer, although still kind of fluffy.  It feels almost weightless, especially for a stout.  A fine choice for summer, offering the grounding of the dark beer with that airiness that fruity beers might aspire to.

Supplier: Be Hoppy
Price: €5.25