7 March 2015

Raspberry Wheat Beer (Waitrose) [By @SpectreUK]


Brewed by the Meantime Brewery in London this Raspberry Wheat Beer caused some consternation when I first saw it in the supermarket. The first chocolate beer I tasted was brewed by Meantime and I worried before I opened that too. That beer has become a regular on my shelf, especially around Christmas and my birthday in the summertime (not for the warming quality to fight off the damp summer, but just for a treat). This Raspberry Wheat Beer could be described as a Spring beer, and an early Spring it seems to be outside today. It's warm and sunny, which makes a big change. However, my consternation with this beer was that whenever I taste a fruit beer it has a habit of tasting like a children's pop drink without the beer. Described as tart and sweet the label stated that this pale wheat beer had been lightly hopped and raspberry purée added during maturation. Meantime haven't let me down before though, so how could they let me down now, right? So I opened the bottle...

The look and smell of this Raspberry Wheat beer immediately reminded me of the Belgian Lambic fruit flavoured beer that I'd enjoyed in the past. The beer had a lively fizziness, although it lost its head almost straight away and was deep cloudy orange in colour. I couldn't smell a heaviness of raspberries in the odour, which gave me hope. On taste this definitely wasn't a child's drink. There was a brief initial sweetness, which was quickly replaced by a hoppy fruity sourness. This beer has a sour almost snakebite quality to it that made my face twist, at first tantalising my tastebuds and then giving them an almighty thwack! The deceptive bottle gives it an almost young professional 80's Yuppie Wine Bar look, but don't be mistaken as this is a tough beer for the Rockers and Bikers with long messy hair and "Eat my Dust!" written in Yuppie blood on the back of their jackets. Handle with care, once you're in you'll wish you had a bigger bottle! Make mine a crate...

Information on the bottle;
330ml at 5% volume. Contains barley and wheat with gluten. Recommends to wash down goat's cheese, rich pâté, or anything chocolatey (after smashing the empty bottle over a Yuppie's Filofax).
By Spectre

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