A little out of focus but it is *thick*
This beer is the epitome of a good idea on paper. There’s a great big aroma of raspberry jam that promises dark richness. It tastes big and bold initially with great berry flavor. Then there’s a weird, totally out of place roasty barley flavor fulfilling the porter portion of the beer. And finally the finish has slight tartness that is again reminiscent of raspberries. Individually each flavor is fine. But they just do not fit together correctly. I think the base porter is too flavorful for the blend. The style would be better with either a strong dose of fruit on a more neutral beer or a lighter fruit addition into a strong beer. The mouthfeel is notably different with the added fruit adding slight syrupy effect. I don’t see any real color impact – just dark without any red or purple.
To make this blend, we waited for primary fermentation to finish on the robust porter and racked roughly half of it (2 to 2.5 gallons) onto three pounds of raspberry puree in a clean fermenter. This was carefully aged… until an open keg was available and free time permitted another transfer. The basic process worked fine. Flavor and aroma from the raspberries came through without an excess sweetness. The fruit and the beer just don’t match.