Have A Drink With Ink volume 50 March 31, 2020

Muskoka Brewery & Kawartha Dairy: Black Raspberry Thunder Milkshake IPA From Bracebridge, Ontario, Canada

Good Evening and welcome to the Fiftieth volume of Have a Drink with Ink. Tonight’s selection is a unique Dessert IPA from Bracebridge Ontario. That’s right, the Muskoka Brewery is at it again, creating another exclusive beer in conjunction with the Kawartha Dairy Company. Because what better way is there to celebrate a milestone than by reviewing a limited edition beer?

After reading the name Black Raspberry Thunder Milkshake IPA, I originally assumed that it was a blackberry / raspberry mix; nope, it’s just black raspberries. This particular variety of raspberry rarely finds its way into the regular supply chain around here, so I think the last time I saw black raspberries was during my childhood. We used to have wild raspberry canes growing along the fence that grew plenty of red and black raspberries.

So, what exactly sets a black raspberry apart from your typical red raspberry? Apparently the black raspberries are a little sweeter and less tart than their cousins. In addition to having several aliases that include: “the wild black raspberry, black caps, black cap raspberry, thimbleberry and scotch cap”(Wikipedia 2,3,4)

Okay, to be honest, when I think about milkshake ingredients, beer is the last thing on my mind. If I were to really stretch my imagination, maybe a Root Beer milkshake… No, not a Root Beer float, that’s something entirely different! If you are interested in checking out an easy Root Beer milkshake recipe, Leigh Anne Wilkes, founder of Your Homebased Mom cooking and baking blog has you covered. I will provide the link to her recipe in the works cited section.

Considering IPAs characteristically market themselves on their bitterness, it doesn’t seem like they would be the best choice for a sweet flavour. Some beer styles are more suited for this task, for example Wit beers and Sweet / Milk stout based recipes make for some really excellent Dessert beers. Wits with their light malts allow the dessert flavours to really shine. While stouts use heavier caramel, chocolate, coffee and toffee malts, giving them a naturally darker, fuller dessert flavour. Both Wits and Stouts also pair well with lactose sugars, which gives beer a unique silky / velvety finish. Sometimes you will find the odd Dessert ale or porter in the mix.

I’ve excluded a majority of the fruit beers I have covered from my Dessert beer classification, as I feel like they belong in a category of their own, specifically the ‘Fruit and Field’ subcategory. Obviously that doesn’t mean a Dessert beer cannot have fruit in it, but there must be distinct dessert related traits present in the recipe for it to qualify. My Dessert beer list is going to be quite extensive, so I will post the volume links at the end of this article. As of today they make up just a little over one fifth of my work so far.

Presentation

Colouration: Burgundy 100% Opaque

Aroma: Strong raspberry Lactose sugar Vanilla

Flavour: Sweet, slightly tart with touches of vanilla ice cream and black raspberries

Body: Light and smooth with a little lactose silkiness and a wet finish

Carbonation: A frothy 1-1½” head Some small static bubbles

Aftertaste: Lactose and mild black raspberry

Ingredients: Hops: Citra, Simcoe

Malts: 2 Row Malt, Wheat, Carahell, Flaked Oats

Spices: Black raspberry, lactose, and vanilla

Additional notes: Some small to medium sized sediment particles

Beer Stats (100)

Alcohol volume 6% Bitter 0 Body 30-35 Carbonation 35-40 IBU 18 Liquid volume 473 ml Sour 0 SRM Not Listed Sweet 20-25 Tart 3-5

Score

8-8.5/10

Final Thoughts

I wish that the Black Raspberry Thunder Milkshake IPA were one of the Muskoka Brewery’s flagship beers. Unfortunately, as I mentioned at the start of this article, it’s a limited edition collaboration with Kawartha Dairy. Hopefully, we will see another joint project between these popular Cottage Country Cornerstones in the future! (Always appreciated alliteration)

Presumably, there will be some skeptical readers wondering how a milkshake IPA could possibly exist, let alone taste good. To you, I say ‘Oh ye of little faith!’ While Citra hops typically give off a strong citrus flavour / aroma and Simcoe hops a slight bitterness, their primary characteristics are greatly muted in this velvety concoction. I believe it has something to do with the Kawartha Dairy’s contribution to the ingredients list. Unfortunately, like most brewers, the Muskoka Brewery leaves out certain parts of their recipe from the ingredients list. So, I can only guess whether or not any milk-based ingredients were used in the brewing process. Calcium could potentially curb part of the acidity of the hops, diminishing their overall affect. What I can tell for certain is that lactose sugars were used, since there is the telltale silkiness in the texture.

Just to be clear, this is still a beer; so don’t expect it to replicate the true essence of a milkshake. No, but it does pay homage to the classic dessert by mimicking its flavours, creaminess and sweetness, while still remaining a beer.

Bob claims that there is sorcery or witchcraft involved, which I’m starting to suspect myself…

Thanks for reading the article! I hope that you enjoyed it. If you have any suggestions or requests, feel free to leave me a note down in the comments section.

And as always, please remember to drink responsibly.

Cheers! Ink Previous Dessert Beer Articles

* Some of the titles on the website are truncated or slightly different than those listed below, due to character length limitations.

Have a drink with Ink vol 4 Fuggles & Warlock The last Strawberry Wit

Have a Drink with Ink vol 8 Double trouble Pecan Pie Porter

Have a Drink with Ink vol 11 Sons of Kent - Space Heater

Have a Drink with Ink vol 12 Upper Thames : Dusk to Dawn White Stout

Have a Drink with Ink vol 18 Flying Monkeys: The Chocolate Manifesto Triple Chocolate Milk Stout

Have a Drink With Ink vol 19 Greene king Festive Pudding Ale

Have a Drink with Ink vol 21 Muskoka Brewery : Winter Beard - Double Chocolate Cranberry Stout

Have a Drink with Ink vol 23 Wells & Eagle Brewery : Banana Bread Beer Ale

Have A Drink With Ink Vol 28 Black Swan Raspberry Cheese Cake Berliner Weiss

Have a Drink with Ink vol 33 Whitewater Brewing Company : Peanut Butter Shake (Peanut Butter Stout)

Have a Drink with Ink vol 44 Waterloo Salted Caramel Porter

Have A Drink With Ink vol 47 Sawdust City Maple Butter Tart Ale

Works Citied

https://muskokabrewery.com/beer/raspberry-thunder/

Leigh Anne Wilkes Root Beer milkshake recipe https://www.yourhomebasedmom.com/root-beer-freeze-whirl/#wprm- recipe-container-51810

Wikipedia references 2-4

2 "Rubus occidentalis". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 2 January 2018.

3 Michigan Bee Plants: Rubus occidentalis

4 Britton, N.L.; Brown, A. 1897. An illustrated flora of the Northern United States, Canada and the British possessions from Newfoundland to the parallel of the Southern boundary of Virginia, and from the Atlantic Ocean westward to the 102d meridian. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York.

Mister Sillers. Have a drink with Ink vol 4 Fuggles & Warlock The last Strawberry Wit. https://www.furaffinity.net/view/33822485/

Mister Sillers. Have a Drink with Ink vol 8 Double trouble Pecan Pie Porter. https://www.furaffinity.net/view/33860158/

Mister Sillers. Have a Drink with Ink vol 11 Sons of Kent - Space Heater. https://www.furaffinity.net/view/34066731/

Mister Sillers. Have a Drink with Ink vol 12 Upper Thames : Dusk to Dawn White Stout. https://www.furaffinity.net/view/34077311/

Mister Sillers. Have a Drink with Ink vol 18 Flying Monkeys: The Chocolate Manifesto Triple Chocolate Milk Stout. https://www.furaffinity.net/view/34346864/

Mister Sillers. Have a Drink With Ink vol 19 Greene king Festive Pudding Ale. https://www.furaffinity.net/view/34359762/

Mister Sillers. Have a Drink with Ink vol 21 Muskoka Brewery : Winter Beard - Double Chocolate Cranberry Stout. https://www.furaffinity.net/view/34400308/

Mister Sillers. Have a Drink with Ink vol 23 Wells & Eagle Brewery : Banana Bread Beer Ale. https://www.furaffinity.net/view/34466730/

Mister Sillers. Have A Drink With Ink Vol 28 Black Swan Raspberry Cheese Cake Berliner Weiss. https://www.furaffinity.net/view/34565053/

Mister Sillers. Have a Drink with Ink vol 33 Whitewater Brewing Company : Peanut Butter Shake (Peanut Butter Stout). https://www.furaffinity.net/view/34818121/

Mister Sillers. Have a Drink with Ink vol 44 Waterloo Salted Caramel Porter. https://www.furaffinity.net/view/35209428/

Mister Sillers. Have A Drink With Ink vol 47 Sawdust City Maple Butter Tart Ale. https://www.furaffinity.net/view/35522239/