Bagel Beer Blueberry Ale

Formerly brewed at Coast Range Brewing Co.
Style: Fruit Beer
Gilroy, California USA

Date: 10/07/2003
Mode: Bottle

hazy dark yellow, sweet aroma - blueberry, malt, corn, yeasty bread - mild sweet flavor, good dose of blueberry without being too sweet, essence of doughy bagel,

Aroma: 5/10; Appearance: 5/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 5/10; Overall: 13/20
Rating: 3/5.0
Score: **+/4
-------- /> The score was calculated based upon the notes and an old scoring system.

Last remnant of the BIF 13 from hell package from BeerAdvocate drewbage, this one was a 22 oz. bomber promising extra pain. Blueberry Bagels are not my favorite anyway, and making a beer with that flavor seems like a particularly horrid idea. When poured into a pint glass, this one looked average, with a pale macro yellow color and fizzy carbonation feeding a foamy small head. Lacing was much better than macro swill. The aroma was totally nonexistent. No hops, malt, blueberries, nothing at all. Only smell was a bit of grainy alcohol and water. The taste was not objectionable, but that’s about it. It had a macro like sweetness with a hint of blueberries. The beer felt thin and unsubstantial on the palette. I understand the need for micro brewer’s to experiment a bit, but making a Bagel Beer line was not a good idea. No wonder they closed down.

Brewtopia’04. Figured I’d go ahead and sample their beer since they were good enought to sponsor the tasting glasses - I’m usually not into gimicky such beers. Smelled and tasted bready and doughy, some blueberry. I guess they hit their mark, although it’s not a very appealing beer to me.

Tasted in NYC. Tasted at Brewtopia 04. Aroma is of bread and yeast. Very little blueberry present in the scent. Appearance is thin and clear with alight straw yellow colour with a small white head. Taste has a very strong bread flavour with an ending that is subtle blueberry.

Light gold, sticky white head. Nose is less than promising. Bit of blueberry, but has an unpleasant skunkiness, off and a bit sour. Starts sweet, then comes the blueberry. To steal a line from BierBauch's rating, it tastes quite a bit like a blueberry Pop Tart, definite fruit but tastes pretty artificial. Brewed with blueberry bagels, and I can't imagine who thought that sort of thing would be a good idea. Does improve somewhat as it warms, artificial sweetness fades away and develops at least a decent malty character.

A vigorous pour resulted in only a modest white head that shrank considerably in a short time. Color is a clear medium gold. The aroma was light at first but soon after it had warmed, I could begin to smell the blueberry in what otherwise seemed like a pale ale to me. Funny, I kept smelling the blueberry as if it had some rosemary in there too. Weird. The blueberry was actually a bit like the aroma of a blueberry poptart also. Anyway, the texture of this beer was almost like a cream ale. Quite smooth and creamy. The overall flavor was interesting yet kind of uneventful. Like a pale ale with the blueberry in the background somewhere. I really like the Pumpernickel Porter from this brewery, but this one misses the mark a bit. Not a bad ale, just not a great one.

Wow!This was a good brew.Poured a golden color and was very fruity on the nose.Had a strong blueberry taste with very little after taste.The finish was clean.I reccomend this to others.

Sort of a gassy, wort-like aroma - bit of a fruity undertone to it though - not unpleasant. Little to no head - light golden, cloudy appearance. Sweet, somewhat artificial flavor - not a bad mouthfeel though - slightly velvety. Would be very refeshing outdoors on a hot day. Stays strong throughout the whole 22 oz bottle. Not a bad effort for a novelty beer - 3rd of the "Bagel" beers that I have had and all in all they are not bad.