New Glarus Raspberry Tart

Brewed By: New Glarus Brewing Company in New Glarus, Wisconsin

Purchased: 750ml bottle bought at Woodman's in Kenosha, WI; 2013

Style/ABV: Fruit Beer, 4.0% 

Reported IBUs: ?

Oh, the places I have gone, and the things I have done. Yes, I am back from my vacation. And if tonight's beer is any indication, my vacation was in cheese land. I went to the land where the New Glarus poureth freely and liberally. What a sweet land that place be. About New Glarus:

New Glarus is the rare, gorgeous "Midwest" brewery, founded in 1993 by Deborah Carey, the first woman to found and operate a brewery in the United States. She raised the capital for the start-up as a gift to her husband, Dan Carey, who is New Glarus' brewmaster and co-owner. Dan Carey has a long history working in the brewing industry, including an apprenticeship at a brewery near Munich, Germany and a job as the Production Supervisor for Anheuser-Busch. The brewery began as an abandoned warehouse using old brewpub equipment. In 1997, Dan Carey purchased coper kettles from a brewery in Germany. In May 2006, New Glarus opened their new (current) facility on a hilltop in the village of New Glarus. The facility looks like a Bavarian village, and is gorgeous. The expansion has allowed the brewery to continue to increase their production, and expand their operations. For more information, check out their brewery page or Wikipedia. 

The Raspberry Tart is fantastic, and I say that with the confidence of someone who consumed several of these bottles during my stay in Wisconsin. This framboise-style beer is brewed with Oregon raspberries that are fermented spontaneously in large oak vats. This beer also features Wisconsin farmed wheat, and year old Hallertau hops to help round things out.

New Glarus Raspberry Tart

The beer pours into a hazy, dark red body, with a finger of dark, off-white head. In lower light, the body of this beer is dark red with mahogany tones. In bright light, the body picks up some orange tones; the head also takes on an orange tint in bright light. There's a lot of carbonation streaming upwards in this, and the beer is super effervescent.

On the aroma: raspberries. Like, straight legit raspberries off the vine. You also get some raspberry currants, and tea-like raspberry aromas. There is also some sugary malt sweetness on the nose, almost hinting at caramel. There are tons of tart raspberries, and maybe a hint of mild, floral hops.

The taste reminds me of one of my favorite beers, the evil and hated Lindemans' Framboise. I would love to do a blind tasting comparing the Raspberry Tart to the Lindemans' Framboise, and in fact, maybe I will do just that in the future. The taste here is pretty simple, but it is so elegant and spot on that you can't complain. You get hit up with super fresh, bright raspberry. The raspberry is slightly tart/acidic, with a hint of raspberry currants and hops, and a hint of malt sweetness and "oak sweetness" to round things out. The oak and sour in this are super mild. However, this beer is plenty tart, and features vibrant raspberry juice in the taste.

At around 4.0%, this beer is super drinkable. It's also easy-going, like a framboise should be. It's a fruity beer that accomplishes everything it sets out to accomplish, while keeping the complexity on par for the style. Palate depth is off the charts, as this beer explodes in your mouth with a medium-full body that drinks way lighter thanks to the fact that the main flavor is tart raspberry, and there's tons of carbonation. You get tart raspberry and raspberry currants up front; that rolls into tart and juicy raspberry, with more raspberry tea; the finish rolls out some malt sweetness which packages things up nicely. 

Rating: Above-Average (4.5/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Above-Average on this. I'm hesitant to elevate this to top-tier, divine brew status. While this beer is fucking amazing like magnets and unicorn blood, it also suffers from a few of the fatal flaws that the Lindemans' Framboise suffers from. Namely, it's a bit one-dimensional and sweet. Maybe a bit more sour, funk, or oak would elevate this, but who am I to complain. I have a feeling the folks at New Glarus could change this beer, but they aren't because they like it. And I say cheers to that. I'll echo the food pairings on New Glarus' website. I think this beer would go great with fresh berries, cheesecake, chicken, duck, strong cheeses, and anything that benefits from the addition of some raspberry. I'd recommend this, especially since the 750s are only like 10 bucks. 

Random Thought: Some thoughts on my delay...two words: food poisoning. I got it on the last day of my trip, and I've been recovering ever since. I'm actually still in the recovery process, so we will see how tonight's beer goes.