This year's Stumptown Tart gathers 15-pounds of Oregon marionberries, raspberries and strawberries from local growers at Willamette Valley Fruit Company for each barrel of this tasty warm weather favorite. To give a different twist to the base beer, Brewmaster Jeff Edgerton used a new malt from Great Western Malt called "Superior Pilsen". The team is also using wheat malt for some mouthfeel, a slight permanent haze and a lighter color that should serve to accentuate any pinks and reds extracted from the berries. In addition, one-third of the base beer will be fermented with "Ardennes" Belgian yeast to give a light Belgian character and add to the complexity of the profile.
Fizzy, light, and refreshing... I like this much more than last year's strawberry version! The raspberry flavor comes out the strongest of the three berries, and I'm A-OK with that -- we had several raspberry bushes in our garden growing up, so I'm pretty darn fond of them. The malts and yeast sound fancy from the above description, but I honestly wasn't paying close enough attention while drinking this beer to provide further comment on them. All I can really tell you is that this year's Stumptown Tart is quite nicely balanced, quite nuanced, and I quite enjoyed it. Cheers!
This entry is an archived review; see alternate updated labels and tasting notes: