Ragnar Raspberry

A good friend of mine from Oop North was round a while back in the holidays for a trip round the locality and some decent hostelries, long overdue, but he brought with him a few things that he'd picked up when he was having some time off in Gloucester, because why not. One of them I was very excited to see given the reception it had garnered over on the Twitter-sphere. Being a proper beer-bore I pay attention to these things. Naturally I waited for a day when it wasn't so warm and ventured into the garden.

It is, of course, Ragnar Rsaspberry Wheat Beer from Eden River Brewing Company, much championed by some people I know. And it has been a lovely day for lazing around the garden after taking a tiny child for a long wander. Would you like to know more?


This pours fresh and surprisingly clear into the glass with a bit of a massive head. Given it's been in the fridge since before I went to visit my mother up in Carlisle that was something I wasn't expecting. I say surprisingly clearly, but then every wheat beer I've had has been like this so perhaps surprise is the wrong word or I am easily surprised. I suspect the latter. Anyway, it is what it is, and there was a distinct aroma of raspberry hanging over quite a floral wheat malt. As my garden has sadly stopped producing raspberries (well, I can't complain) it must have been the ale that was doing it. The colour caught the weak sun coming through the thin cloud cover and looked almost honeyed. The head did take a while to settle and that, I think, is my one criticism of the pour.

The taste was a little like the feeling that the summer is ending as telegraphed by the state of the garden in the background of the image above. That is, there was a slight sheen of wheat on the opening, all warm and sunshine, followed by a sharp tang of raspberry that faded into the kind of summer fruits cordial taste that one associates with fruited wheat ales. A good thin sweat of fuit remained down the sides of the mouth as the texture of warm wheat filled the middle and then washed to the back of the throat where it teetered for a moment on the cusp of the aftertaste. Straw pricked at the legs and the grass left a waft of air that was neither mown nor dried and blasted. The closeness of the air and the pressure meant that it hung around in the ears a little longer than one would have thought possible, which is no bad thing.

A wander down to the waterfront with a second sip and there were raspberry vines hanging by the side of the path, not enough to be fully ripe nor block the passage to the arable farmland beyond. A smattering of meadow flowers and daisies, a hint of thunder in the humidity, and then it was gone, pausing briefly once more in the back of the throat to offer up some swirl of malt and yeast, an impression of more, a quenching of thirst like a welcome break on a long journey. A feeling of wanting to get on and try it again. A quaffer rather than a sipper, methinks, and not a trace of irony in the use of the word in the context of the ale that is being tried. You might have guessed that I like this. At 5.7% ABV this was very much a stronger ale than it tasted, you'd be hard-pressed to be over-powered by the alcohol in the taste and that is rather dangerous!

My final point is to rejoice over the use of local talent for the artwork. Yes, good show!

Enjoy this best on a long walk round a canal, in a field with the recent leavings of a herd of cows lowing in the distance, obviously not near the place you choose to rest your rear end. Take a seat atop some form of old blanket, get the tupperware out for the sandwiches, sausage rolls and melon (yes, melon is a good picnic food) and pour yourself a can. Look out over the Solway Firth whilst you drink this generally quickly, but not knocking it back, multiple sips rather than one big slug, for extra points!