Buffalo Bills Blueberry Stout

Brewed by Buffalo Bills Brewery
Style: Fruit Beer
Hayward, California USA

12oz bottle: I’ve always thought that blueberries and oatmeal stout would be a great combo, so I had to pick up a single of this when it came in. I only bought one bottle, but I think the sixers were only like $5.50, surprising for a 7.5% ABV brew.

I admit I was a bit skeptical going in though, as the only other beer I have had from them was the orange creme and I thought that was pretty horrible. But I am trying this with an open mind.

Deep brown pour with a pitch black core. A healthy tan head initially forms, but soon settles into a thin ring. A strong punch of blueberries, both natural and medicinal, hit my nose on first whiff. Wow, I was assuming this was brewed with only fruit, but a quick glimpse at the bottle reveals "natural flavorings" are used in addition to berries. Oh well, after the beer breaths for a bit, the winey-notes settle down and it sorta evens out. Some roast and chocolate come out as well, but the fruit and flavoring still overpower. The body is a medium build, slightly chewy, with a nice balance of roast and fruit. I get a lot less of the fake, medicinal blueberry here and more of the real thing. If they backed off the artificial juice and increased the oats and roasted barley, this could be something. As is, it is a decent stab at a combo that I’ve been wanting to try at home for some time.

Big blueberry aromas. Flavor is initially roasted malt which gives way to chocolate covered blueberries. Very decent.

Pours dark brown with hardly any of the tan head. Aroma is blueberry, flavor of course, blueberry, chocolate, nice mix of dark roasted malt and blueberry flavor. Body somewhat light, minimal hopping. Pretty good, I didn’t think it would work.

I’m a huge Blueberry fan in general and this did not disappoint. Bursting with blueberry and oatmeal flavor. Very dark, not overly sweet.

Bottle. Pours pretty dark with ruby hints and a very thin head. There is a significant amount of roasted coffee and dark chocolate in the aroma which I liked quite a bit. I was hoping these guys could pull off what Dark Horse does. The blueberry is very prominent in the aroma, but can’t overpower the stout scents. The palate is medium. More of that roast and chocolate is in the flavor and the blueberries are in full effect making for a rather rich beer. I was off to a really good start on this bottle when about halfway through the fruity sweetness started to become pretty heavy. I finished the whole thing and still liked the experience, though I couldn’t see myself opening a second bottle if I had it. They have a good thing going here. I’d just like less sweetness to make for more pleasant long term drinking situation.

Black body with ruby at the edges. There is a dense, yet thin light brown sugar colored head. It’s like smelling a breakfast of blueberry pancakes and medium roasted coffee. The taste is fairly strong with coffee and cola up front. After you get past that initial bitter shock, there is some pleasing blueberry. There is also some fairly noticeable alcohol. Overall, a decent brew, but while the nose is very fruity, it is overall a nicely roasted stout.

12oz bottle: Appearance is black with tan head, aroma of roasted malt with hints of chocolate and blueberries, flavor without the blueberries it would be a very simple stout but berries add a nice bit of complexity to the beer. Not a bad beer at 4.95 a 6 pack.

Bottle... Poured black with a thick, beige head. Aroma of fresh blueberries and roasted sweets. Thick palate with a light sizzle on the tongue. Toasted malts with blueberries and earthy, leafy notes and subtle dark chocolate. Smooth finish. Pretty tasty.