Fruit Beer

I debated whether or not to include this as one of this year's Jingle Beers because there isn't anything terribly festive about an Oatmeal Stout that's been spiked with blueberries. Since Buffalo Bill's Brewery only releases this during the winter months I figured I'd go ahead and include it anyways. Oatmeal Stouts are great, hearty beers with thick textures and dark flavors... so I'm not sure exactly how the addition of tart blueberries would work here. When I was pouring this beer I just about forgot that what was so special about it. This beer looks like a plain stout, it's black with a thin off-white head. When I went in closer I could smell those blueberries rolling out of the pint glass.

O'Fallon took a decidedly different direction with their Christmas seasonal. Cherries and chocolate don't really scream Christmas to me... but they're two flavors I enjoy just the same. I had a few of these beers last year and I remember enjoying them. They weren't my favorite holiday beers by any means, but they were good. When I poured this year's Cherry Chocolate and took a whiff of it, I remembered why I liked it so much. The aroma is just like that of a chocolate covered cherry. This beer was off to a great start, but would it all go like I remember? Will I like this beer as much as I did last year?

New Belgium's Frambozen is quite a bit different than I'd expected. I've drank enough fruit flavored beer that I've come to expect certain things from them. Namely, fruitiness... now, of course you'd expect a peach beer to taste a bit peachy right? Sure. What ends up happening more of time is it'll be more peachy and less like beer. There seems to be very fine line between balance and overbearing when it comes to fruit beers. New Belgium managed to get this beer just right. It's a Raspberry Brown Ale that isn't overly fruity or too mellow.

Dogfish Head's Festina Pêche sounds like it'd be a one trick fruit beer. Judging by the name and this beer's label you'd expect it to be something like Pyramid's Apricot Weizen. That isn't necessarily meant as a dig to either beer, I like Pyramid's Apricot quite a bit. Like many fruit beers though, it's just that... a beer with some fruit in it, nothing terribly special. The Festina Pêche is a bit different than other fruit beers because it is based off of the Berliner Weissbier style that is quite unique. A stock Berliner Weisse is very tart like a hard cider. Dogfish Head took the Berliner Weissbier and added their peaches to that to create an even more unique beer.

I'm still a little unclear as to why I was so excited about Samuel Smith's new organic fruit ale series. I'm not particularly crazy about fruit beers, though there are a few that I've really enjoyed. Also, of all the fruits to choose from, I'm not confident that apple, strawberry or cherry are particularly good flavors for beer. That certainly doesn't mean an apple or cherry beer couldn't be exceptionally well done, but it just seems like the deck is stacked against them. So for some reason, despite all of my reservations, I did pick up a bottle of the Organic Strawberry Ale a few weeks back. I thought now might be a good time to finally open it up since it's now mid-August and strawberries aren't something I'll be eager to drink after Halloween when the temperature drops into the twenties. Here's what I thought about this beer...

This was quite a rare beer for me. I've had beers that have been brewed with fruit flavors before, but most of those were essentially wheat or lighter beers. The Ebulum however, it's basically a stout... so this beer began life as a malty and roasted dark beer. Generally, when I drink a stout or dark beer I don't think to myself, "You know what this beer needs? Some fruit extract..." but I then I'm not Scottish. So here we have the Ebulumn Elderberry Black Ale from Scottland, a pitch black beer that smells like a coffee stout and promises an experience reminiscent of red wine. At least that's what the marketing on the bottle says, which to me is reminiscent of a load of bull... After drinking a pint of this beer I can say the comparison between this black ale and a glass of red wine is tangential at best. If you're not familiar with elderberries, the taste is tart and tannic. The elderberry tannens don't make it through the brewing process in any remarkable amount, I took me the petty part of a pint to pick up on them.

Southern Tier's Cherry Saison sounded good at first. I mean, who doesn't like a Saison? On top of that, who doesn't like Cherries? Then again, cherries in a beer... maybe that doesn't sound so good after all. If there is one style of beer that could pull it off though, it'd probably be the Saison (or a wheat). After few small pieces of homemade Pizza Margherita I decide to pour a glass of the Cherry Saison. I was pleasantly surprised. This beer ended up being far more well balanced than I'd thought. Not only is this a Saison brewed with cherries but it's been aged with French oak. And that oakiness is pretty apparent when you take your first sip...

Wells' Banana Bread Beer isn't as unique as it sounds. The beer smells and tastes like a Wit at first. There is quite a bit more banana flavor than a Wit but the similarities are unmistakable. This beer isn't labeled as a banana flavored ale, it's marketed as a "Banana Bread Beer" and it does fall short there. Unlike the fruit beers I've had before, this beer doesn't start with a wheat base. It's more of a farmhouse style malty beer with a bit more body then a wheat. Perhaps this is what they meant by banana bread... but for me, banana bread shouldn't taste like banana taffy. That doesn't mean this isn't a good beer - far from it. Wells has a good product here. They managed to take a beer, brew it with bananas and create something that isn't a Wit. If the beer tasted the same but weren't brewed with actual bananas (ie the flavor came from the yeast) I might appreciate it more as a new take on the Belgian classic... But this beer isn't that, it's a banana fruit beer plain and simple. Is that a bad thing? Not if you like bananas. Personally, they aren't my favorite, but I can appreciate what Wells did here.

I first had a Wheach about a year ago, back when they were still using the annoying sticker labels. This time around the Wheach comes with a proper label... but the label doesn't have any bearing on the taste, so never mind. The Wheach isn't a complex beer... It is what it is, which is a wheat beer with a bit of peach. Actually, it has quite a bit of peach flavor. If you don't like peaches then you might not enjoy the Wheach. There isn't much more to this beer than that. Peaches... that being said, I happen to like peaches. But peaches in your beer? Really? It isn't much different than having a lemon slice with your wheat beer if you think about it, and it's a hell of a lot better than having lime with your Bud Light...

I first had a bottle of Pete's Wicked Strawberry Blonde last winter when I randomly picked one up when I was putting together a mix and match six pack at the liquor store. Being winter, I was mostly drinking darker winter warmer type beers, so the Strawberry Blonde was a quite a change of pace. I wanted to drink the Strawberry Blonde while it was "in season" so I could properly enjoy it. I picked up a six pack of this a few weeks ago and I've finally gotten around of giving it a bit of attention... I remember enjoying this beer quite a bit in the winter and I think now that it had quite a bit to do with being different than the other beers I was drinking at the time.