This is the second of the BBF 12 Stouts of Christmas case I bought this year. I’m a day behind now, so I should do two today. Let’s see. Anyway, next up is their Raspberry Stout. After the Saltaire Raspberry Blonde I reviewed earlier, I’m a bit hesitant with this, but it does explain how they used real raspberries, so maybe it won’t have that sacharriney effect that the Saltaire beer did. The label says, “strong, black, tart and fruity” and “flavours of raspberry, chocolate & dark fruits”. It also advises to drink from a brandy snifter, but I always try and do my reviews in my ALLBEER FlavourMax glass, it makes it kind of fair. The Belgians would kill me!
Raspberry Stout (7.7%) opens with a loud hiss and pours brown-black with a brown, dense head. This quickly recedes, lacing its way to a few mm with bald spots in the middle.
Aroma-wise, we get dark coffee and acidic, sharp, tart raspberry notes. The raspberry smells ripe and fruity – this beer is made with Belgian yeast so there may be some harmonies there.
The mouthfeel is medium-full, with an interesting flavour. We have rich, black chocolate and christmas pudding flavours, the raspberry is definitely in there but its more mixed in amongst the other dark flavours, as mentioned like a boozy Christmas pudding. The aftertaste is warming which might have something to do with it being the best part of 8% ABV, in a 500mL bottle that’s not to be sniffed at. The further I get down the glass, the more the raspberry jumps out, but I can say in contrast to the Saltaire Raspberry Blonde it does feel more like real raspberries. I hate to keep making the contrast but I think the composition of the beer helps it — the rest of this beer is dark, fruity and dense, whereas with the Blonde, the other flavours are very light and delicate and the raspberry swamps it.
I’m not liking it as much as their Chilli Choc stout if I’m honest, but it’s not a bad drink. I think it would be better paired with some 85% Lindt dark chocolate, I think my pancreas would implode. If I had to distil this flavour down into something simple, it would be cracked black high% cocoa chocolate melted into a double boiler, with a handful of very ripe raspberries smushed into them, allowed to set and then melt in the mouth. If that’s a nice image for you, then you’ll probably love this beer… as long as it stays cold.
As the beer warms, the raspberries come more to the front, which is a testament to how tricky it must be to get exactly the right amount of them into the beer. I suspect they did a few trial runs on this one! They start to edge towards becoming a little too brash on the nose, maybe just a little too much on the palate as well. Definitely a beer best tasted cold (not chilled), but not overly warm either. I think, I know, how un-British of me! that it would be better sold in a 330mL format rather than a 500 too, but again, that might just be me. By the time I’d got to the last mouthful, it wasn’t pleasant.
Rating: 3/5 (…this is a good beer, don’t get me wrong. Definitely better executed than the Saltaire RB, but I’ve had the BBF Chilli Choc Stout so I know they can do much better. If you see it, pick one up and prove me wrong!)