5 Seasons Wild Turkey Barrel Aged Raspberry TruffAle

Brewed by 5 Seasons Brewing Company
Style: Fruit Beer
Atlanta, Georgia USA

Comes out of the tap a dark, opaque chocolaty brown with a thick, tan, fluffy head. Malty aroma has a good undertone of chocolate and just a hint of raspberry. Flavor is rich and malty with a nice alcohol zing like a barley wine and touches of unsweet chocolate and raspberry. Finish is pleasingly smooth and fizzy. I am glad that I managed to catch this one!

On tap at Prado. Poured cloudy brown with a tan head Aroma of fruit, sweet raspberries, vanilla oak bourbon, sweet malt. Taste is really nice. A well balanced mix of raspberries, smooth chocolate, vanilla oak bourbon, and light booze. The taste is really close to the balance you would get from a chocolate trufflle, which is pretty amazing. Mouth is smooth & sticky. Carbonation is mild. Overall, a very nice brew.

On tap at the brewpub. Pours deep, deep mahogany with a small tan head that dissipates almost immediately and leaves no lacing. The aroma is hugely sweet with tons of raspberries, brown sugar and vanilla. The bourbon really mixes well with the sweetness in the aroma and is not overpowering at all. There are hints of dark chocolate in the nose but fairly subtle. Taste is more of the same with the sugary sweet raspberries dominating up front with the chocolate and malts forming a solid backbone underneath. The bourbon makes its presence felt in the finish with a lasting burn going down. The mouthfeel is sugary sweet on the palate and almost sticky with raspberries and brown sugar. The carbonation is low but present and just coats the palate altogether. This is an excellent beer and really surprised me. I didn’t get a chance to try the original but I liked how the bourbon balanced the massive sweetness of the raspberries. Very tasty.

Pours as opaque brown color with a brown head. Aroma is sweet raspberries, chocolate, bourbon, vanilla, a hint of roast, and maybe a touch if coffee. Flavor is raspberries, bitter chocolate, caramel, bourbon, vanilla, cocoa, oak, and a sweet bourbon alcohol finish.

For once a beer that was mediocre at best, does improve a great deal by being barrel aged. Gives a bit of a vinous texture to the already substantial fruit flavors, adding a hint of vanilla to top the chocolate. All the flavors come together nicely.

Name: BA Raspberry TruffALE
Date: May 03, 2009
Mode: Draft
Source: Brewpub
Appearance: opaque dark brown, creamy beige head, heavy patterned lace
Aroma: sweet bourbon and chocolate aroma, light fruityness, bourbon and vanilla bloom as it warms, caramel comes in to add a candy character
Body: creamy body
Flavor: rich chocolate flavor, touch of bourbon, sweetness is offset by a rich raspberry tartness, bitter dark chocolate, touch of oak upon warming, flavors meld together really well
Overall: chocolate and raspberries with a bourbon center
Aroma: 8/10; Appearance: 9/10; Flavor: 8/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 17/20
Rating: 4.2/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: ***+/4

on tap at Prado. Oh boy, I really wasn’t looking forward to this one. 150 lbs. of raspberrries? Bourbon Barrel aging? I was expecting sweet raspberry syrup with vanilla. We shared this one at the behest of the others in my party and y’know, it was not bad at all and definitely not what I was braced for. It’s a near black beer with just a small head. The aroma is tart and musty, not really sweet. The barrel aging is apparent mostly in a woody way, not a lot of tannins or vanilla sweetness. The flavor is much of the same. No sweet vanilla, no heavy fruity sugar. This is tart and musty with hints at oak, basement, and tart berries. The chocolate comes into play in the finish, making this bittersweet. What a pleasant surprise!