Fruit tone

Two beers from Colorado fixture Ska Brewing today, both on a fruity theme.

The Raspberry Blonde is quite self-explanatory, being a blonde ale with raspberry. As the name implies, it is indeed a coppery shade in the glass, and very slightly misty too. The base beer has been comprehensively covered by the fruit addition, and it tastes very raspberry-flavoured rather than of real raspberry: think ice cream sauce or lollipops. At a very medium 5% ABV this is a broadly enjoyable beer but doesn't offer anything above the basics. Some may find it a little too sweet -- it does veer somewhat into the almost metallic tang of concentrated sweetness -- but it was within my tolerance levels. That they've somewhat skimped on the malt helps it here. I don't see myself rushing back for another can, however.

The next one promised something more interesting. It's stronger for one thing, at 6.5% ABV, and is an IPA with added Guava. They've called it Mesa Guava. It's a bright golden colour, with possibly a greenish tint to it. The aroma says "IPA" more than "novelty beer": there's a solid kick of zesty hops and a little tropicality, but nothing artificial that wouldn't belong in standard modern IPA. There is in the flavour, though. It's still a proper IPA at heart: there's a decent malt weight and a slightly spicy bitterness. The guava gunk is there too, but restrained, adding to the hops' fruitiness with its own ripe sweetness, though not dominating proceedings like the naughty raspberries above. It does taste a little bit Lilt-y, but in a fun and charming way. I don't think I've had many beers with added guava, but it seems like it might be a good choice when deciding to make this sort of thing.

A glance in my fridge suggests that fruit beer season is very much upon us. Expect more in this general line before the evenings start drawing in again.