Bad Beer, Good Music

Beer #158 Honey Raspberry Ale / Spanish Peaks Brewing Company, Parts Unknown

Busy day that ended up with a happy hour.  Every day should end with a happy hour, if you ask my opinion.

Today's beer is the Honey Raspberry Ale from Spanish Peaks.  Or, possibly from Black Dog Ales, but more on that in a second.  In the glass, this beer pours a chestnut brown with a thin head.  The aroma gives you notes of raspberry, but an artificial raspberry.  The flavor is.... yeah, not great.  Thin, with notes of soap and something that's supposed to be honey, but isn't.  And someone dumped a barrel of "Raspberry Flavor" in this one somewhere along the way, but not in a good way.  I had such high hopes for this beer, as it features a dog on the label.  Bad dog, I suppose.

The bottle says Spanish Peaks Brewing Company, which was founded in Bozeman, Montana in 1991.  The website says Spanish Peaks, but all of the branding (including the URL) is Black Dog Ales.  The website cites their headquarters as Polson, MT and Denver, CO.  There's a copyright mark on the site for Stamford, CT.  On the bottle, the beer is brewed in Sarasota Springs, NY.  I read a review elsewhere that had a bottled brewed in Wisconsin.  And elsewhere on the web, you find California as the home base.  Seriously, this is some Dora the Explorer type shit right here.  I'm sure if I spent enough time, I can figure out the story behind this brewery - for example, maybe it's in the Witness Protection Program.  Anyway, the beer wasn't great so I really don't care.

At least it looks nice.....

The dog on the label belonged to the brewer, and passed away back in 2005 at the age of 14.  This brewery actively supports the American Humane Society, so, now I sort of feel bad that I trashed this beer.  I'm sure they're very good people.  Crud.

Thing to Think About Today:
In honor of a brewery that seems to be from, well, everywhere all at once, let's have Johnny Cash take us home with his version of I've Been Everywhere.  I'm actually surprised it took this long to get The Man in Black to make an appearance, but here we are:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iayM2YfQiCA

"Of travel I've had my share, man/ I've been everywhere."

Beer 158: Spanish Peaks Honey Raspberry Ale

After moments earlier declaring that raspberry is the worst fruit flavor on earth, I crack open a Spanish Peaks Honey Raspberry Ale.

Spanish Peaks was founded in Bozeman (MO) and is now operated out of California but is brewed at Olde Saratoga Brewing in Saratoga Springs (NY), which is owned by Mendocino Brewing that may or may not be in Saratoga Springs. Umm. Yeah.




For all that effort, I wish I was getting a better beer. In my raspberry bashing defense, I will go on record to say that I tend to like fruit beers because they aren't overly fruit-flavored.

This one poured a hazy chestnut color with a tan head. Lots of bubbles and it definitely smells of raspberry and honey...lots of honey. The flavor isn't good. Kind of soapy, finishes with an off-putting bitterness. It's gross.

Maybe it's the use of all-natural raspberry extract. Would actual berries have been better? Who knows. I'm not sticking around to find out.

Cheers!