Otter Creek Raspberry Brown Winter Ale

Brewed by Otter Creek Brewing
Style: Fruit Beer
Middlebury, Vermont USA

Draft. What else is there to say its like a sweet sugar raspberry beer, just what you’d expect from the name. Refreshing and simple and good as a sample and nothing more, or for your girlfriend on a juice diet.

Bottle released a small amount of the aroma of fresh red raspberries, followed by a middle of the road fruity brown ale with malt notes. This beer does not match the deep ruby in color and rich flavors of a New Belguim Frambozen.

Pours a deeper dark brown having a fizzy off white head. Aromas of raspberries, chocolate, and hops. Flavors don’t match up with the aromas. Complex but light on the chocolate, raspberry and hops. Sour, bitter, and slightly sweet. Has sort of a smooth/creamy feel. Overall the flavors don’t come together well.

From a 12 fl. oz. bottle marked 11/26/08 LOT2404. It’s an eye pleasing opaque ruby red and deep brown pour but its aroma is more like spicy and rottng fruit and less like raspberry or beer. Adequate mouthfeel. The taste was bitter and fruity, which was to be expected I just don’t get much of a sensatioin of raspberry. But it isn’t all bad. It just doesn’t live up to its style.

Bottle. Deep brown pour with off-tan head. Nose is malt, mild berry, some earthy, hops, and nuts. Palet is medium, and the complexity lacks, giving next to no raspberry flavors, and malty, mildly hoppy, and some finishing nutty notes. Never again.

Fortuitous 100th rating for this brew, schlepped back from State Line. Hard malt and chocolate nose, strong earthy toffee and lesser raspberry. Caramel/chestnut brown pour with a tanned head. Big malty taste, sort of a sticky, viscous slurry. Light hops on crystal malt with some chocolate and caramel in the bg, raspberries are there as highlights instead of foundation (which is usually better approach, assuming the malt base is good enough). Some good rough, dry notes here, almost roasty and definitely earthy with light astringency and booze. Fullish body, metallic after. Can’t exactly bring the pain, but I’m certainly not planning to have this again.

12 oz. Clear chocolate brown with a creamy and lasting half-inch head. Aroma of raspberry and light chocolate cake. Flavor is pretty much all raspberry, with some chocolate and nut trying to peak through. Creamy lace left behind on the pint. Medium body is sessionably watery, lightly carbonated and acidic-dry. OK fruit beer, but would be better with more brown ale.

Nutty roasted malts and pleasant raspberry tartness and aromas. Nice feel and good lingering persistence of roast and a tingle of hops. Good session beer if it were lower abv. Sixer from Buffalo, thanks to Pops!