Raspberry Black Butte Porter - Deschutes Brewery

Deschutes has turned their iconic Black Butte Porter into a dessert beer with the addition of raspberry puree, and I must say, it sure does embody the diversity and variance available in the world of porters (and stouts).

I don’t typically seek out a lot of fruity beers. Sometimes they can be overdone and almost end up like a sour beer filled with rotten fruit, which is not what I want in my porter or stout, or anything that is not, in fact, a sour beer.

Black Butte porter weighs in at 6.8% ABV, and its malt bill contains 2-row, wheat, unmalted wheat, flaked oats (for smoothness), and C75 Baird's Chocolate, all balanced with Cascade and Tettnang hops and raspberry puree (Beeradvocate.com).

Deschutes did not overshoot their mark with this Raspberry porter. In fact, they even boosted the silkiness of their original Black Butte Porter to help balance the tart and sweet raspberry flavor. And, of course, I expect nothing less from such a great brewery. Where many just choose to toss in the raspberry flavor willy-nilly, they adjusted their iconic recipe to give this beer breath and life of its own. That’s why they’re at the top of the industry.

Enough fawning, here are our First Impressions:

• On the Eyes--Opaque black with a little head formation.

• On the Nose--Raspberry and chocolate are right up front, as expected. It reminds me of a summer wheat beer, like Shiner’s Weisse’n’easy, likely because of the wheat malt as well as the berry additions. It is light like a dainty dessert, but it smells of a porter.

• On the Palate--Raspberry comes with a tart hit first, and the sweetness of it lingers long afterward like its own palate cleanser, which is quite pleasant when compared to the sometimes mouth-numbing effect of similar strong beers. A chocolatey dryness comes at the end, just like you’d expect from a dessert style Porter. Raspberry Black Butte porter is really silky and smooth and the malt bill is certainly ramped up to balance the tartness of the raspberry.

If you want to venture into the world of dessert beers, this is a great one to start with. It’s not so dense or sweet that it becomes cloying like some dessert beers, but is tangy and sweet, and balanced beautifully with a silky smooth malt bill. It is a well thought out porter, and I’m pleased that I grabbed it after waffling over it.

Cheers!

Mr. Brew

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