Deschutes St. Nicholas

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Sampled on tap at the First Annual Stone Sour Fest, July 2007
At first this beer smells quite pronouncedly fruity, but in a non-descript sort of way, but then a definite raspberry character starts to come through. The raspberry does not get obnoxious like I find in many a raspberry flavored brew. The beer is a hazy, amber / brown color with a minuscule, ring-like and a few sparse islands of amber froth of a head. Underneath the tartness & fruit aromatics is a real, meaty, malt character; you really have to dig for this, but when you do it is quite noticeable with substantial notes of caramel and malt. There is an interesting herbal note here that is reminiscent of caraway and/or celery seed & savory. This really might just be the raspberry seed / skin notes (assuming whole fruit was used). The beer also has a lightly sweet aromatic bent to it.

The taste is somewhat sweet, but is still amazingly drinkable (once again thank the tartness for making this beer quaffable). This is fairly malty, though not as distinctively accented as the aroma was. Flavors of generic berries, definite raspberries and a light lactic acid character are noticeable. The raspberry flavors are certainly the dominant character in the flavor, though again it is not in an overwhelming manner. This is quite a bit more enjoyable than I expected.