United Nations of Beer

Royal Raspberry Wheat

by Chris Perrin
(Beer Delegate, MO, USA)

Royal Raspberry Wheat
75th Street Brewery, MO, USA

Sometimes it’s okay to violate man law. But not very often. A recent beer commercial passed a law stating that no man should put fruit in his beer fearing the very realistic addition of kumquats to Coronas.

However, there is one beer that occupies a gray enough area that I am going to give it a pass. That beer is the awe-inspiring 75th Street Brewery Royal Raspberry Wheat.

For those who have not partied in the United States’ breadbasket, the 75th Street Brewery is a microbrew that started in Waldo, Missouri, a suburb of Kansas City.

It is an excellent brewpub, producing quality brews which can give the big boys a run for their money and inspires the kind of good times that have left me singing "You Lost That Lovin’ Feeling" to more than one (not so) lucky lady (as well as an unhealthy amount of Lou Bega.)

No one I know who has tried their Royal Raspberry beer has disliked the it. That goes for the hardcore Nattie Light lover, the beer connoisseur, the casual drinker, and my wife, who drinks alcohol when the ball drops and when we go to the 75th Street Brewery.

Without the raspberries, this beer would be incredibly good as it is crisp and clean and can be drunk in large quantities without making the drinker feel full. It’s also light on the carbonation and rarely produces severe belching, which is always a plus on first dates.

However, with the raspberries, the beer has a sweet aftertaste that blends perfectly with crispness of the beer without being cloyingly sweet.

The only tragedy of this ale is that the 75th Street Brewery produces at least six other beers, sometimes more depending on the season, but I am too busy drinking the Royal Raspberry to try them.