Big Boss Big Operator Belgian Black Raspberry

Brewed by Big Boss Brewing Company
Style: Belgian Ale
Raleigh, North Carolina USA

A burnt coffee aroma from a deep brown almost black pour with a creamy tan head and lace. Raspberry with hard coffee. A full bodied beer. I’ll be honest I knocked .2 off because I rated this as a stout at first.

Bottle shared by paul. Pours a dark brown body with an off white head. Lots of berry and hints of raz, licorice and a cherry like grainy wheat. A bit vegetative, eh its okay.

Bomber at the brewery, #898 of 1750. Black with a thin brown head. A Belgian ale? Really? Sounds like an identity crisis. This beer smells like a raspberry stout with some Belgian yeast notes. Tastes like it too, chocolaty and light, sweet raspberry. Whatever it is, it was clearly the best beer at Big Boss during my visit.

Sampled at Springslicker’s Fish Fry ’09. Bottle 1265 of 1750. Very dark brown pour with small tan head. Dark roast and raspberry aroma. Flavor isn’t quite as good. Maybe even a little vegetal. But pretty good i think.

How is this beer so well rated? This beer is a mess. Bomber shared by joey, smokepot23, thanks dude! Pours black with a tan ring. Nose has some sweet malt notes and tunafish, yup its tuna fish, messed up. Taste is slightly razzy, with more tunafish. blech!

Black, with no head. Nice whiff of raspberry and coffee and some red wine notes. Flavor is some raspberry mixed with coffee, plus some smokey note and some chocolate, as well. Like a good stout with a just a touch of fruit. Sampled at Springslicker’s Fish Fry.

Bottle from ROBORB. Thanks! Pours dark and almost black with a creamy short lived light tan head. Smell is chocolate, tobacco, graham crackers and raspberries. Nice looking beer and unique smell. Taste is dry, and tart with a bit of roasty char, and dark fruity raspberry. More like an ashy stout with dry fruit flavor than a belgian ale, I thought, but I definitely prefer it that way. Really unique flavor and a light tobacco and ashy bitterness to it as well. Medium to full body and a smooth mouthfeel overall. Really enjoyable stuff!

22 from Whole Foods Chapel Hill. Pours a very nice very dark black with a two finger creamy chestnut head. I gotta say, this is an auspicious pour. The aroma is a tad grainy, has a dubbel feel to it, risty, mild sweetness, a hint of raspberry comes through in the aroma, mild alcohol with warmth. The flavor is very interesting in that it is very progressive and has definitive stages. Begins with a nice upfront raspberry flavor (real raspberries!) and then gives way to dark roasty malts and some coffee character and finishes with a warming alcohol bite and bitter chocolate. Palate is bitter and roasty and it finishes warm and fruity. Interesting.