Hipster Brewfus: #24 Berkshire Raspberry Barleywine Style Ale

OR....Raspberry Strong Ale, as I see it's now referred to.

Greetings! This is my first post from my blog overhaul, which includes MY VERY OWN URL! I'm pumped!

Today's review was a gift from my buddy over at The Enlightened Pint. It was given to me as a going away gift at my Rare Beer Party. What a nice dude! And here is my shameless plug: Go and check out his blog, because he really knows what he's talking about.

Today's beer is from Berkshire Brewing, based out of South Deerfield, Massachusetts.I have had a good number of their beers, and they have all been top notch, especially considering their $5 price tag for a bomber. Going forth, there are a couple tings you need to know. The first being, I'm just not a barleywine fan (but I'm trying). The second thing is raspberry beers tend to fall flat for me.

Boo, damaged labels!

It poured a beautiful, deep mahogany color, with a maroon tint. Not much of a head, maybe a finger. There was a nice, soft white lacing around the edges. The nose is all raspberry jelly. That's not really a bad thing. I love jelly. Raspberry is pretty much all I taste when I sip it. It makes me forget what style I'm actually drinking. It's very crisp, and very alcoholy, but none of it really stays with you for too long. It finishes pretty clean, not leaving behind much of an after taste. The only negative thing I will note, is that the raspberry does taste a bit artificial. But not in the strong chemical kind of way.I was surprised to find I enjoyed this beer. Not because of the beer itself, I have all the faith in the world in Berkshire, but more because of my prejudice to the barleywine style. Just another review that ends up being more positive than I initially thought it would!