Some of you may have been wondering why I haven’t reviewed Dark Horse’s Raspberry Ale before now. After all, it’s a Midwestern fruit beer, and that’s my kind of style. So what gives?

Well, I’ve had this beer three times, trying to give it a chance, but every time I’ve ended up saying, “Where’s the fruit?”

This beer poured hazy and had a nice amber color that’s got some red in it. The scent was a bit sweet, with some sourness to it at the same time. So far, it seemed like it’d be a good beer.

Unfortunately, that’s when hope died. I took a swig and got a flavor that was a bit sour, but it didn’t taste like raspberries, and if there was honey in it, as advertised, it certainly didn’t smooth out the flavor at all.

I kept trying to taste the fruit and wasn’t having any success. Then Baby-Boy, sick of me complaining about not having fruit in my beer, took a sip. Then he took another and held it in his mouth a second before swallowing. Then he told me how to get the raspberry flavor out of the beer: Take a sip, hold it in your mouth and inhale through your nose.

I tried that method, and sure enough, I tasted a little bit of raspberry. That, my friends, was too much fucking work to enjoy a beer. It’s as if Dark Horse brewed this one on a frequency for dogs: You know how dogs hear sounds out of human hearing range? This beer’s in a frequency only dogs can taste.

As the beer warmed up a bit, it had a more floral nose and got smoother as the honey took effect. A miniscule bit of raspberry taste came through, but that was too little too late for any real enjoyment.

Reviewed by Jill Jaracz on May 20, 2008.

Agree with this review?