Wittekerke Rosé / Rosarda

Brewed by Bavik-De Brabandere
Style: Fruit Beer
Harelbeke, Belgium

Bottle. Aroma of damp raspberry, strawberry and yeast (??). The colour is like a misshaped grapefruit, with a funny-looking foam. Unfortunately the taste is pure evil! Aspartame, aspartame, aspartame. In total the exprerience is like a red bull light mixed with grenadine and raspberry juice. Don’t try it if you don’t like red bull light mixed with grenadine and raspberry juice. One point for the nice bottle.

I ran into the beer cooler at The Party Source one day a few weeks back to grab some beer and a small hot pink can at the bottom of one of the import singles racks caught my eye. At first I thought that it had to be a misplaced can of energy drink or something, but to my surprise it was actually a can of beer. More specifically, the can proclaimed that is contained a "Belgian white beer with raspberries - The fruity pink." In addition to the expected water, malt, wheat, hops, and raspberry juice (10%), it also contains fructose, aspartame, and artificial raspberry flavor! Upon finding this interesting cal of beer, I immediately thought of my wife and decided to get it for her. She isn’t a really a beer aficionado, but likes likes sweet, fruity, and low alcohol beers in small servings, so this one could prove to be the perfect for her...

3/17/2007: Wittekerke Rosé is a cloudy peach color with a white frothy head and subsequent crown. My wife descibed the color as being similar to the color of grapefruit flesh. There is ample visible carbonation that seems to shoot from the bottom of the glass to the surface in extremely fast blasts. The aroma is a refreshingly tart blend of raspberry and cherry that is quite alluring. The flavor is tart raspberries and very reminiscent of a lambic (similar sourness and yeasty characteristics). The flavor is sweet, sour, and tart all at once. It is quite good and refreshing. The body is medium-light and it doesn’t feel overly carbonated in the mouth despite the flurry of visible carbonation bubbles. Overall my wife really liked this beer and asked me to get more (if I can even find it again!). To my surprise I actually liked this beverage as well, but you won’t catch me drinking it regularly or in public!

25 cl (8.4 oz) can, $1.55 from The Party Source. 4.3% ABV. Codes from the bottom of the can: 07-11-2006/L2 52001-16:51.

250ml bottle. A hazy orange/pink body with a pink head. Aroma and flavor is just synthetic raspberry drops. I can’t really find anything else here. It’s just a sticky liquid.

Pink grapefruit juice colour with billowy stark white head. Tart raspberry nose. Sweet raspberry taste with lingering sweet syrupy finish.

The taste has nothing to do with beer. It has so much sugar in it.

(25cl bottle) Purchased at 6-Mile Liquor for $3.25. I’m ever amazed at how varied the stock of independent stores are in British Columbia - yet few could be considered really good. Pours a brownish ruby body with a quick dissipating white head. Nose is of sweet and tart raspberries, not the usual jammy stuff. The flavour was a tad seeded, very nice and refreshing and there was the wheat base that makes an appearance. i think this beer has been balanced beautifuly - its not too sweet, not too tart, not too jammy, not too carbonated. Very impressed.

Had this on tap at the Sharp Edge Creekhouse in Pittsburgh, this place got to be one of the best places in the states to taste beers. Thanks to mtoast for making this so enjoyable. I was looking forward to tasting this because I find regular Wittekirk so pleasant. The pour is light pink and slightly hazy. Has a big light pink head that fades to a thin film after a few moments. Really nice lacing is present on the side of the glass. The aroma is exceptional and sweet, like slightly sour cherries, not like dark sweet bing cherries, this is more like the lighter red tart cherries. The first taste you get an odd fruity flavor that wants to be slightly bitter but never really gets there. Does not have too many similarities to regular Wittekirk. I really cannot find the nifty wheatness that I enjoy with regular Wittekerk. The fruitiness is again like the aroma, tart light cherry. Fruity, yes, but I’m not too sure if the fruitiness really helps this brew. However, it is something different with its own personality and must be tasted to really appreciate the differences that are present in this brew. Very enjoyable as an alternative but not as good as I would have expected from Wittekirk. Not syrupy sweet. Finish is not bitter whatsoever and this drink is overall pretty good. Nice, but perhaps there is a small amount of artificial character that I detect. I heard thru the grapevine that they put a small amount of artificial sweetener in there. I think I can detect it. This is a repeatable session brew. One of the best fruit beers I’ve ever tasted.

Hazy pink grapefruit colour,small white head.Tart raspberry nose.Syrupy sweet raspberry taste. Small bead.