Marin Raspberry Trail Ale

Brewed by Marin Brewing Company
Style: Fruit Beer
Larkspur, California USA

Bomber from BevMo. Hazy golden color with small white head. Bright raspberry and cherry notes...much like a lambic.The taste is much lighter than the nose...in fact it’s as if all the raspberry and cherry is only in the nose. Pretty light and effervescent. Okay, but not great.

Hazed light golden color with a big bubbly slightly off-white head. Sour raspberry/cherry aroma. Hints of mild spice as well. Quite acidic and lightly sour. I don’t know if it was intended to be like this, But it does make it very dry and quenching. Only a light raspberry essence with a mild slightly sour wheat part. Lots of eff in this one. A hot summer day picnic brew. I like it, but I’m not sure I’m drinking this the way it was made.

22oz bomber poured into a pint glass. Pours like a lager, looks strange for what to expect. Pours yellow with a 1 finger bright white head. Nose has a very little bit of raspberry in it. The taste is wheaty and tart with a bit of raspberry. Not much of a fruit beer or a beer, but not awful.

From a 22 oz bottle this poured a golden color with red highlights, Also a fat white head, and good lacing. Nose of raspberry with wheat. Mouthfeel was thin. Favor was wheat, citrus, and the raspberry. Drinkable but not close to being a great fruit beer.

Pours a very light, straw blonde color. It is quite hazy and is topped by a frothy, initially one-finger thick, pale, off-white colored head. The aroma is dominated by raspberry notes, with maybe a hint of thin beery-character underneath this, but only just maybe.

The taste is quite dry and up front tastes like a clean, slightly yeasty American version of a wheat beer (not necessarily the wheat character, but definitely the bland vaguely grain like flavor). Towards the middle and the end it starts to pick up the raspberry flavor. It is never as dominating as it is in the nose, but does become quite distinctive by the time one gets to the lingering finish. I can’t believe I am saying this, but I think it could actually use more raspberry flavor. This beer is very light, almost refreshing, and is certainly appropriate for a hot day in the sun. As it is, this is a boring beer (a hint of grain, perhaps a kiss of hops), with a somewhat interesting, if not quite distinctive enough, flavoring of raspberry. There is certainly nothing wrong with this beer, it is just not my cup of tea.

22oz Bomber
A light golden color with lots of head. This brew had way too much carboniation. This was so full of foam that it was hard to pour. Finally I got to drink the beer and it was a nice frut beer. Not the best but had some subtle flavors. I liked the finish as it was a tad tart. Good pasta brew.

The most raspberry raspberry ale aroma I can recall. Smells like fresh berries. Hazy ripe peach golden color. The head was ferocious, but declined, leaving shreds of lace. Full mouthfeel. Starts with raspberry, which develops into a riper flavor. The ale thins towards the finish, which has a somewhat bitter aspect much like chewing a berry seed. Not a truly dry finish, but not overly sweet. Light and refreshing it is. Probably goes well with pastry. Some pastry. Think I’d like to try it with lox and capers. Just a thought...

Aroma of fresh raspberries. Beer pours a yellowish unfiltered color; it pretty much looks like an American Wheat. Flavor is less subdued than what you would expect from the aroma, as there is a slight sweet tartness on the backend from the raspberries. The dominant flavor here is more from the wheat. It’s okay, but I like their peach and blueberry beers better.