El Toro Black Raspberry Ale

Brewed by El Toro Brewing Co.
Style: Fruit Beer
Morgan Hill, California USA

A- Pours a light golden hue with a large, white, 2 finger head. S- LOTS of raspberry with slight wheaty notes. T- Much more balanced than their Raspberry wheat. Starts off with large raspberry notes which are balanced by caramel and roasted malt notes and finishes with a nice hop bitterness. M- Medium body and carbonation. D- El Toro seems to have a lot of fruit beer and for my money this is by far their best.

Draft @ Jacks Canery, SF. Pours a dark golden color with a small off-white head. Has a sweetish fruity raspberry aroma. Sweetish waek malty fruity raspberry flavor. Has a sweetish raspberry finish.

Dark brown with purple undertones. Aroma is blackberry to the face. Flavor is not so much. More subtle fruit. Flavor is roasted malt with some coffee bitterness with pleasant berry undertones. An interesting fruit beer.

On tap at Jack’s Cannery, San Francisco. Stopped and had a couple of pints before biking over the Golden Gate bridge. Dark amber-brown, thin almond coloured head. Sweet raspeberry-candy aroma dominates, with some subtle caramel in the distance. The palate delivers much the same-- mostly raspberry candy, moderate mouthfeel and rounded sweetness from the caramel malt, slightly tart finish. Very refreshing, but the rspberries come across as a little too artificial.

On tap at Jack’s in SF. Aroma is dark raspberries, appearance is a dark, plum-like clearness with decent carbonation and conditioning. Mouthfeel was a bit harsh, like drinking seltzer water. Flavor was lightly fruited, malty, clean and smooth. A very enjoyable beer.

Draught. Clear amber color with white head that didn’t leave any lace. Prominent, but not cloying, raspberry aroma and flavor accented by malty caramel.