a present

As much as I love dark beers, I also love raspberry flavored things.  True, there are raspberry beers, but so many of them are...weird.  Too syrupy, too sour, that sort of thing.  Sagra did make a nice one a few years ago.  But, those who are really known for fruit beers are the Belgians, and I could not resist snapping up Bacchus Raspberry Beer from Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck.  It was the last one on the shelf too, so there's the added attraction of something about to disappear.  It comes nicely wrapped in paper and the naked bottle has a wine-ish look to it, or at least something a little less common than a simple beer.

All wrapped up

It's a weirdly dark reddish brown, with a sort of cream head.  There is raspberry in the scent, light and tickly, nothing too strong.  While the fruit is the first thing you notice when sipping, there's a kind of bitter-sour floor to it, giving balance to a beer that sometimes is a little too strong on the fruity syrup.  The flavor remains constant, not gaining in sourness or sweetness, and it's quite a light feeling beer to boot.  While it might be cozy for some wintry valentine, it has the fluttery easy feel that thirst quenching summer beers benefit from.

Strangely naked

Supplier: Heneket
Price: €4.20