Berry Hopper

And so we come to the third and last in DB Breweries’ unholy trinity of ’Hopper’ fruit beers, now thankfully consigned to the dustbin of history. I’d love to think the copy-writer had his/her tongue firmly in cheek when writing the delightfully ambiguous marketing pitch on the bottle: "If you can’t quite believe the taste, flavour and sheer schmaltz of this berry hopper, don’t worry - nor can we". But I fear not. This comes in a 330ml bottle wrapped from tip to toe in cherry-coloured plastic, which is perhaps why they didn’t add a colouring along with the flavourings and food acid 330. Consequently, it pours a hazy burnt gold colour that gives no clue to its character. No head, no lace, not a hint of life in the murky depths. Raise it to the nose and you may experience a rush of ’sense memories’ of when you were four or five years old and lived on a diet of Ribena and iced lollies. The aroma screams sugar. I could almost feel my teeth disintegrating under the smell: raspberry cordial, lemonade, strawberry bonbons. This bottle is months past its ’best by’ date, which might explain the flat, under-carbonated palate. But looking at the other ratings, perhaps not. As in the other Hoppers, the sweet, fruity flavourings mask any trace of malt or hops. The flavouring is an anonymous berry mix - raspberries, strawberries, cherries, etc, with nothing in particular dominant. If you don’t mind cordials, this is drinkable. However, as the bottle says, "This is not beer as we know it". Amen to that. (BTW, anyone who enjoys quality writing should read SilkTork’s review of this - it’s a classic.) (330ml bottle, Amatos, bb 21/2/05)

This is awful, omg what did they do to the beer? My flatmate got given heaps for free and had so much trouble trying to get through it all.

Not much to be said for this one. The berry taste is "nice"...then again I have virtually no experience of fruit beers. A strength of 5% ABV is usually my minimum requirement so this one passes that particular test. I, if offered one or left with no other decent choice, would have another.

Bottled raspberry ice lolly with alcohol.
My name is SilkTork; I'm a kitchen designer living in Kent - and I'm addicted to fruit beers. I'll drink anything that's a combination of fruit and beer. I started with the standard krieks, moved quickly onto the Chapeau range of pear, apricot and apple flavoured beers, and was soon mainlining on Floris Gaardenbeers. It wasn't long before I was waiting for my man. I was jeered, abused, spat on - but I had to get my fix. He was always late. But then he would turn up and thrust a St Louis Peche in my hand and I had to do it right there. No self-control. No shame. No idea of the mess I was getting into. I would sit on the park benches with the meths drinkers. They'd gather round sympathetically. "What you got in the brown bag?" they'd ask. "Floris Chocolat," I'd reply. And they'd all move away from me on the bench. I thought I couldn't sink any lower. But then, in a dark Soho alley, late at night when all respectable people were in bed dreaming of decent, hearty stouts and the manly power of a high alcohol IPA, I scored a bottle of Berry Hopper from a slimy pimp in pink jodpers. The bottle was covered in indecent shades of scarlet. I couldn't help myself! "This is not beer as we know!" screamed the label. "Drink me! Drink me now you bad boy!" it urged. I couldn't help myself. Believe me. Cheap, stale beer enfused with Food Acid Flavouring 330 - how could I resist! There is no lower than this. I have truly consumed the world's worse fruit beer and enjoyed it! Mother of God, is this the end of SilkTork?

close your eyes and it's raspberry cordial. look at the glass and it's a lager. i wish they'd put some red food colouring in it so I wouldn't get so confused. definitely the worst framboise i've ever had.