Expressive sweet ‘n sour blueberry theme picks up raw-honeyed tartness over light wheat cracker spine. Blueberry pie, blueberry jam and blueberry puree lacquer carbolic lemon seltzer twist but saccharinic acridity almost dooms its juicy fruited finish. On tap, tart blueberry lacquering subsumes honeyed Graham Cracker spine of increasingly popular fruit ale.
“Surreptitiously clean” light-bodied wheat ale (2013) tastes like blueberry pie. Sweet ‘n sour blueberry tartness rides above wispy honeyed wheat base. Tertiary white peach, boysenberry and cranberry snips flutter by. On tap at Backyard Ale House – Scranton, tarter blueberry essence of 2024 version slipped into brisk lemon drift as phenol spicing fizzled.
Sweet and sour blueberry lacquering affects candi-sugared Belgian-like yeast influence to white wheat backdrop. Minty herbal freshness sneaks inside blueberry pancake-like dessert option.
Brazenly engaging purple-browned ‘malt beverage’ christened as a porter/ Scotch ale hybrid never gets bombastic despite saturated mocha fruiting. Initially, creamy coffee-roasted black chocolate richness and ashen pine-tarred charcoal astringency overwhelm advertised sweet ‘n sour blueberry blot. Bourbon whiskey esplanade reaches sharp cola nuttiness, chafing blueberry pie tartness as well as tertiary blackberry, raspberry, boysenberry and acai pureeing. Confectionery blueberry-jammed blueberry muffin underside, slim bruised cherry wisp, and teensy hazelnut drift likewise affect rich mocha-molasses malting. Imagine a liquid German Black Forest Cake with blueberry syrup.
Taking its gloomy moniker and blueberry-horned label from free Jazz legend Miles Davis’ highly regarded Kinda Blue album, this fruited ale’s just not worthy of the exalted stature pertained to. Muted blueberry tartness stays subdued while the honeyed wheat spine gets frail, making an inappropriate impression for the moderate straw-hazed dry body. Mild grassy-hopped citrus subsidy mellows to lemon-limed juniper bittering as cake-like cereal-grained pale malting undone by fizzy carbolic astringency. A bland summery session beer for unenlightened lawn mowers.
Exacting blueberry-flavored soda-fizzed clear-yellowed fruit ale bottled for nearby Ellicottville Brewery by praiseworthy Southern Tier. Pronounced sweet-sour blueberry theme lacquers corn-breaded wheat-cracked backbone. Minor soapiness seeps into sugared malt slip.
On tap, overwhelmingly slick sour ale lacquers blueberry pancake theme with cloying blueberry syrup stickiness. Sun-dried oaken cherry and cranberry tartness reaches solvent pomegranate acridity countering pasty saccharine-like sucrose slackness and cake-battered fruited malts.
Here’s a surefire way to piss off fruit ale drinkers. Have Anheuser-Busch change Blue Dog Brewing’s winning recipe for despicably cloy alco-pop sold under similar ‘Blue Dawg’ banner. Slick reformulated magenta-hued malt beverage brings glutinous cough-syrupy corn-sugared soda-like appeal to styptic blueberry theme underscored by solvent-like raspberry-cranberry tartness. Boo to corporate scum.
Luxuriously perfumed blueberry waft inundates pearly-headed golden straw-bodied fruit ale that’s arguably better than New England’s berry-flavored competitors from Bar Harbor, Sea Dog, or Coddington’s. Sweet candied blueberry essence captured above gently hop-fizzed caramelized cereal malts, biscuit-y wheat, and cornbread. Seltzer-watered blackberry-strawberry nuance teases dry finish.
Sour blueberry essence sharpens bitter hop bite for green apple-soured orange rind follow-up of burnt amber-clouded moderation. But honeyed wheat factor gets lost in eye-squinting tartness and dry acidic mist. Strangely, ’06 tasting proved sweeter, with overripe blueberry essence enlivening slick malting and perfumed floral tangent. Blue labeled 2024 canned re-tasting had sweeter blueberry bubblegum aspect. Tartly sugared blueberry syruping picked up phenol lemon spritz above mild honeyed wheat base.
Overwhelming blueberry sweetness invades the senses, coating the tongue so deeply its minor wheat base is barely felt. On follow-up swigs, modestly tart blackberry-raspberry rasp peaks through ester-y finish, receding to diacetyl flicker.
Despite brisk hop-frisked pep and easygoing white breaded lightness, wild blueberries get concealed in murky malt doldrums. Needs to push the fruitiness to the forefront.