"Fruit in beer is not for me!"

We hear that occaisionally, and it saddens us, even though we completely understand the intent behind such a comment.

The comment is usually made by a male, and as he made the eventual ascent to craft beers, he feels like this would be a back-slide. Not so, misguided patron.

There's a time and place for every beer that's brewed (though we can't think of one for actually cracking open a macro.) Consider that many micros brew delicious beers that include citrus, banana, raspberry, blueberry, cherry and apricot, just to name a few.

Let's reveiw some examples of fruit in beer. Blue Moon, a Belgian-style wheat, is often garnished with a slice of orange.

Weissbiers, including hefeweizen and dukelweizen are traditionally served with oranges or lemons, depending on the beer's style.

It's rare to see a Corona without a lime squeezed into it's neck. In fact, in Mexico, it's even consumed with ice and lemon juice. Of course, anything you can do to actually put flavor in Corona is probably a good thing!

Beer is like any alcoholic beverage. Is it OK to add ginger ale to your Jim Beam? Is it wrong to add cola and a lime to your Bacardi a la Cuba Libra? Does it ruin wine to add a basket of fruits to it to make sangria?

There's a time and place for everything after all. We happen to add raspberries to wheat once in a while, and it's delicious. So what's the time and place to drink Barley's Raspberry Wheat?

When it's on tap, and at Barley's, of course!

Barley's Raspberry Wheat

Style Guidelines: A little stronger than our regular wheat ale, we add pure raspberries during fermentation to make an ale that is refreshingly fruity, yet not too sweet.

Rotation Schedule: usually in spring--when we brew it in the colder months (late fall), we call it Barley's Raspberry Winter Ale.

Food Pairings: our famous ale-washed onion strings; turkey nut burger, calamari or white truffle mac 'n cheese

Body: medium

Color: hazy golden rose

Grain: British lager and pale malts

Bittering Hops: German Hallertau

Finishing Hops: German Hallertau

Adjuncts: pure Oregon state raspberries

Original Gravity: 1.052

IBUs: 2.75 (really!)

Alcohol By Volume: 5.2%

First Tapped: February 1994

Barley's Smokehouse & Brewpub Ale House No. 1xx 467 North High Street Columbus OH 43215

Barley's Smokehouse & Brewpub Ale House No. 2 1130 Dublin Road Columbus OH 43215