Bell's Brewery Sparkleberry

Sparkleberry

 

Bell's Brewery in Galesburg, Michigan, United States 🇺🇸

  Fruit Beer Rotating
Score
6.73
ABV: 9.0% IBU: 38 Ticks: 25
Belgian-Style Tripel Ale Brewed with Raspberries

Sparkleberry is an American interpretation of a Belgian Tripel brewed with raspberries.

Slightly tart, dry and spicy, it was originally brewed for release at Kalamazoo Pride in 2013, the same year it won a Bronze Medal at the Great American Beer Festival.

It has returned every year since drawing incredible praise at other Pride events, beer festivals and at our Pub.

Sparkleberry is a celebration of diversity and first debuted in cans for wider distribution in June, 2018. Sparkle on.
 

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4/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 3 Flavor 3 Texture 6 Overall 3
Sampled from a can this beer poured a dark ruby red color with a large foamy pink head that lingered and left decent lacing. The aroma was yeasty and phenolic with a bit of berry. The flavor was boozy with notes of rubbing alcohol, phenol and artificial berry. tasted like some cheap berry malt liquor. Awful
Tried from Can on 30 Jun 2018 at 22:58

7.2/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 7
16oz can. Pretty interesting fruit beer. 9%, but you can hardly tell with all that’s going on. Enjoyed jt
Tried from Can on 23 Jun 2018 at 14:11

8/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 8 Texture 8 Overall 8
16 ounce can into chalice, canned on 5/18/2018. Pours slightly hazy/cloudy ruby red/orange color with a 1 finger fairly dense and fluffy light pink head with good retention, that reduces to a thin cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Aromas of big juicy/tart/tangy raspberries, fruit skin/seeds, lemon, peach, plum, pear, melon, red apple, red grape, peppercorn, clove, light banana, cracker, candi sugar, biscuit, herbal, floral, grass, and yeast earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of raspberries, fruity/spicy yeast, sugar/pale malt, and light-moderate earthy hop notes; with great strength. Taste of big juicy/tart/tangy raspberries, fruit skin/seeds, lemon, peach, plum, pear, melon, red apple, red grape, peppercorn, clove, light banana, cracker, candi sugar, biscuit, herbal, floral, grass, and yeast earthiness. Light-moderate peppery yeast spiciness, herbal/grassy bitterness, and fruit tang/tartness on the finish. Lingering notes of juicy/tart/tangy raspberries, fruit skin/seeds, lemon, peach, plum, pear, melon, red apple, red grape, peppercorn, clove, light banana, cracker, candi sugar, biscuit, herbal, floral, grass, and yeast earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Great complexity, robustness, and balance of raspberries, fruity/spicy yeast, sugar/pale malt, and light-moderate earthy hop flavors; with a great malt/bitter/spiciness and fruit tartness balance; with zero puckering/astringent flavors after the finish. Light-moderate increasing dryness from bitter/spiciness and tart/tangy fruit. Medium-high carbonation and medium body; with a very smooth, moderately crisp, and bready/grainy/tangy/tannic balanced mouthfeel that is great. Minimal warming alcohol for 9%. Overall this is an excellent fruited tripel style. All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of raspberries, fruity/spicy yeast, sugar/pale malt, and light-moderate earthy hop flavors; very smooth, crisp, and easy to drink, with the modestly bitter/spicy/carbonated/drying finish. Great balance of authentic jammy berry flavors, with a spot on Belgian Tripel profile of yeast/malts. Very well attenuated and not overly sweet/heavy for the ABV. A very enjoyable and well made offering as expected.
Tried from Can on 13 Jun 2018 at 01:32

6.8/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 6 Overall 7
Sparkly and berry, kind of like a sparkly desert. Pours strawberry red with ok head and lacing. Finish with sweetness and tang. Tap at Snally.
Tried from Draft on 28 Sep 2017 at 13:36

5.8/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 7 Flavor 5 Texture 4 Overall 5
Sample at Craft Brewed. Pours a clearish ruby with carnation foam. Big raspberry forward nose with some faint grain in the background. Sweet on the palate and pretty boozy. Like a boozy rubaeus. Too sweet and boozy for my palate.
Tried on 09 Sep 2017 at 15:38

6/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 6 Flavor 5 Texture 6 Overall 7
Tap at Maduro, Madison. Red color. Aroma has berry and wheat, typical Bells yeast. Lightly sweet, more berry and a finish with wheat. Ok, could be sweeter snd have more fruit.
Tried from Draft on 11 Aug 2017 at 18:52

7.1/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 6 Overall 7.5
From tap. Pours cloudy amber with a small off white head. Aroma is miæd berry fruity, citric. Medium dry intially. Slight fruity sweetness appearing later with a mild sulphorish deep raspberry note. Dry, deep fruity and slight sulphorish finish.
Tried from Draft on 11 Jul 2017 at 14:18

6/10
Clear red bod small foam wht head. Fruity anf earthy arma. Fruity and earty flav, dry wheat. Med bod mod carb. 6/3/6/3/11 2.9
Tried from Draft on 22 Jun 2017 at 19:41

6.8/10 Appearance 10 Aroma 6 Flavor 6 Texture 6 Overall 7
Dark light pinkish red, clear. difficult to get an aroma for this. Christmasy with spice and herbs. fruity taste, wine, lemonade. very crisp mouthfeel. good mouthfeel with a sweet tart finish.
Tried on 18 Aug 2015 at 19:47

6.8/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 6 Overall 7
Draft. Clear amber color. Aroma of berries. Taste has more berries. Easy drinking.
Tried from Draft on 16 Aug 2015 at 12:31