December is not normally a warm weather month, but this year and last we’ve had our share of 60s and 70s in the last month of the year. So why not a warm weather beer? Southern Tier Raspberry White Wheat Beer seemed to fit that bill for me, and hey, Southern Tier was the featured brewery of the month at Taco Mac. Even better.

Actually, although I found this to be a perfect warm weather beer, Southern Tier disagrees with me. They say Southern Tier Raspberry White Wheat Beer is a winter seasonal released in January. They also say that it was introduced in 2017, although I tried it at taco Mac in December. Fancy that.

From the website:

We’ve long brewed a “locals only” beer dubbed Raspberry Wheat. Since our first batch, it has rarely been available outside the surrounding area of our brewery in Western NY State. We’ve heard fan after fan clamor for wider distribution. The time is now. Over the years, we’ve fine-tuned our house brew into a beautifully crisp & slightly sweet wheat beer brewed with malted barley, unmalted wheat & raspberry puree.

Southern Tier Raspberry White Wheat Beer has an alcohol content of 4.6% by volume with 18 IBUs. I paid $6 for a 20-ounce mug at Taco Mac and it runs $10.99 a six-pack at Total Wine, about a dollar or two more than it should go for in my opinion.

My mug of Southern Tier Raspberry White Wheat Beer  arrived a golden color with a slight reddish tinge, a medium sized head of fluffy foam and plenty of robust juicy raspberry in the nose. Taking a sip, that fruit carries on into the crackery wheat palate and it all finishes with a tart wheaty finish.

Southern Tier Raspberry White Wheat Beer has excellent fruit flavor without being cloying. I’m not sure what the “White” moniker is about, as the beer wasn’t really whitish like German Weissbier or Belgian Wit and does not have the flavor profile of those beers either. That said I’d buy it again, although maybe not as much at $11 a six-pack.

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