Thank heaven for growler shops. They’re a great thing indeed, allowing one to enjoy fresh draft beer in the comfort of your own home. Oh, you can of course set up your own draft system, but with those you don’t get the variety of beers you can from growlers. I was thinking of this while drinking a glass of Three Taverns Rapturous Raspberry, a variation on release number two in their Asylum Sour series (and initially called Rhapsody in Red).

All of the eleven releases in the series have been draft only, although Three Taverns is now canning their Rapturous Raspberry. Sour Asylum #2 was their Cranberry Sauced release, with spices and cranberry juice added for the Thanksgiving Season.

Here’s what the brewery says about Rapturous Raspberry:

Raspberry Sour Asylum, Rhapsody in Red, is a fruit variation on Sour Asylum #2, the second in our series of lacto-fermented sour ales. Matured on fresh raspberry puree and balanced by a pleasing acidity from the lactobacillus strain added to the kettle, this tart and fruit forward sour is one of our brewers' favorites.

And about their Asylum Sour beers:

Inspired by the traditional German method of souring beers, we add a strain of Lactobacillus bacteria to the kettle to sour the wort during the brewing process. Our Sour Asylum Series allows us to experiment with different ingredients to balance the tart flavors in these beers.

Three Taverns Rapturous Raspberry has an alcohol content of 5% by volume and I paid $16 for a 64-ounce growler at Stout’s.

Three Taverns Rapturous Raspberry pours to a soft ruby red color with a medium head of very creamy pink foam and a slightly tart raspberry fruit nose. Taking a sip, the beer is tart and wheaty up front followed by a medium (but not puckering) sourness. Tart ripe raspberry fruit permeates and the beer becomes its most sour and hence quite refreshing in the finish.

I love the acidic tartness and the smooth creaminess from the raspberries here. I enjoyed half of my growler on a hot Sunday afternoon in late July, and it was a perfect refresher beer for the very hot summer we’re having here in Georgia. I’ll definitely be on the lookout for this one in cans.

And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.

*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.

(B)=Bottled

(D)=Draft



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