This edition of the Session is sponsored by Beer, Beats & Bites. The topic:
Fruit beer.
Ah, fruit beer, not my favorite variety of beer, by far. You can read my previous thoughts about fruit in beer here, or here, but really, don’t bother, because I’m pretty much just going to say the same thing again, this time with a tale of blueberries.
Earlier this year, my neighbor brought me back a Blueberry Wheat beer from Ellicottville Brewing Company in western New York state. I’ve been to EBC twice before, both times with a great experience. I really enjoyed drinking in their beer garden; the food was wonderful and the beer was excellent. However, I didn’t even consider having a fruit beer at the time.
Since this was a gift, I had to try it so I could report back how good it was. So, with much reluctance, I sampled this blueberry wheat beer and I was actually quite surprised. This tasted like beer, not a wine cooler. The hop and malt character was more significant than the blueberry flavor, but you could definitely also taste the blueberries. What worked so well with this beer is what I find so extremely rare in fruit beers and that is when the fruit compliments the beer, not overwhelms it. In this case, the blueberry flavor complimented the hop bitterness. I enjoyed this beer, but I still remain a skeptic to all fruit beers.
For this session, I decided to do some non-scientific experimentation. I grabbed some Blue Point Blueberry Ale to try and figure out if it was the flavor of blueberries that worked so well complimenting the hops, or, if it was the quality of the beer itself that made the EBC so good.
The Blue Point poured a medium-dark amber color with a purple hue. The head of the beer fizzed out very quickly. The aroma of blueberries was strong. Long story short, it tasted like a wine cooler; just a malt beverage, which is technically what a wine cooler is… beer. Thus, I conclude that blueberries are not a beer’s perfect fruit mate; rather, the quality is in the brewer’s hands. Am I surprised? Not at all.
I decided to take my experiment a step further. Recently, I have been reading about mixing beers (beyond the black and tan) introducing a whole new world of styles. A Guinness, however, did sound like something that might help this beer. (plus I happened to have a bunch in the refrigerator)
I didn’t try for the black & tan approach, I just mixed the two. The Guinness definitely improved the palatability of the Blue Point, however, I question if I created a better beer or ruined a perfectly good Guinness. I still have some Blue Points left and if I get a chance to make some more mixes, I will report back.
For the record, I like Blue Point Brewery a lot, so don’t think I’m bashing them. I’m a big fan of their Hoptical Illusion. The blueberry from Ellicottville is the exception to the rule. There always is an exception; I also tend to like pumpkin beers. Fruit beers will never be my first choice, but once in a while I may get lucky.
Updated: Read the Session #6 Round-up
