New Glarus: Raspberry Tart (USA: Fruit Beer: 4% ABV)

Visual: A very clear dark cherry red, bubbled head but no lasting elements. On the second and third pour the head becomes more evident in a robust oaken brown.

Nose: Raspberries, very sweet and slightly milkshakeesque, or more correctly yogurt. Only tiny acidic touches.

Body: Massive raspberries, fizzes on the tongue, almost evaporating. Cheesecake and blackcherry. Mild fruit acidity that you feel around the teeth.

Finish: More raspberry, some pips like flavour. Apple and a cider touch. Blackcherry and yoghurt. Lemon yet sweet. Apple juice, slight sourness.

Conclusion: If you told me this beer was made exactly the same as the Wisconsin Belgium Red except, of course, using raspberry – well I would happily believe you. The same massive fruit, yogurt and cheesecake elements that defined that beer and made it so wondrous are once again here in all their glory along with the long, just slightly acidic finish.

It really is like seeing an old beloved friend, yet surprising you anew with a talent that you had never before seen. If anything is notably different it is most likely that the beer is polarised just a touch more between the sweetness and the acidity, with the acidity being just that touch more evident in this one and the sweetness smoother. I distinctly like these new tricks and their showy ways.

It really does feel like a cheeseboard and fruit combination, with a sweet wine aside – an entire after meal event in itself. To many this will be barely recognisable as beer, but it’s so well done you find you don’t really care.