The sublime aroma of raspberries is one of my nose’s faves. Mouthwatering and incredibly evanescent, ripe raspberries are a treat when you can find them. They also work fantastically in beer. Over the years, I’ve combined raspberries into a lot of batches; mostly the resulting beers fall into one of two categories. One way to go with the fruit is to pair it with flavors it compliments, for example in a stout or porter that highlights roasty, chocolate-like notes. Cacao-infused stouts seem to work especially well in this regard. The second way – which we chose here – is to push the raspberries to the fore in a simpler base beer and let the fruit carry the day.

With So it Goes, we kettle-soured the wort to a medium sourness to give the beer some sharpness, and fermented it with abundant raspberries to layer fruity notes on those pointy edges. There’s no perceivable bitterness and the beer clocks in at a mid-range 5.2% ABV. We used quite a bit of fruit and left it unfiltered, so the beer has a hazy, almost pastel pink-purple appearance and the lively carbonation raises a light pink head on the beer. It’s a little reminder of sunny summer days as we head into the cooler, darker months of the year.