Americas Blueberry Beer

Brewed by Americas Brewpub
Style: Fruit Beer
Aurora, Illinois USA

At the brewpub this is served with a dripping dollop of organic blueberries tossed into the glass afore the beer is poured, enabling the lively carbonation to have its way bubbling around the fruit. Now, I warned brewmaster Mike Rybinski what most folk who know me know - - I don’t like blueberries! But I must say, this was perhaps the most visually entertaining beer that I’ve ever had. The body was a hazy amber capped by a solid white head. The amusement came from the blueberries. While some remained glued to the glass’s bottom and a few floated lazily on top, most of the berries and berry bits rose, then sank, then rose, then sank, then rose... I think you get the picture. What was neat was that each berry and particle chose its own rate of movement, so that the brew was continually active. But, back to the beer - It smelled of fresh blueberries. The flavor had a sweet caramelly underbody, but tasted strongly of the fruit, followed by a mild bitterness. I had the opportunity to separately taste the base beer, a cream ale, and it had a candy corn (not in a bad way, but caramelly with a hit of sugar) sweetness rounded out by a mild earthy/herbal bitterness. This is what blended well with the blueberry mix to prevent it from cloying or overbearing with blueberries. I saw lots of folk drinking this, so it has to be good for the blueberry crowd.