Jack Russell Blackberry Abbey Ale

Brewed by Jack Russell Brewing Company
Style: Fruit Beer
Camino, California USA

Bottle. Poured a dark brown, almost the color of molasses. Head was barely existant, with pathetic lacing. Smells fruity and sweet with tangy smell. The blackberry taste is barely noticable. Medium bodied, with some interesting off flavors. Really, this is not what I expected for whats advertised.

Dark roasted malt aroma with no more than a hint of fruit. Hazy darkish amber color with a white head that barely existed. Medium in body with a fizzy, nearly chewy, carbonation. The flavor has a fruit component, but the main part is really heavily roasted, though not toasted, malt. Even so the fruit aspect seems to battle the malt. The finish turns rather dry with some fruit/herb aspect. It’s a malty drink. After several mouthfulls it is possible to imagine actual blackberry. Overall it is more of a Belgian dubbel ( which is what the label says) than a fruit beer. The fruit may be taking the place of spice for this style.

On first impressions, I wondered..where’s the blackberries? I got a sweet fruity extract nose, but not much else. Pour is a hazy brownish/purple color. Mouthfeel was thin, minerally and astringent. Flavors were weak and I got some sweetness that tasted a bit like blackberries but it was slight sour too, but it had this spritzer type flavor, like drinking blackberry mineral beer if that makes sense. Not an abomination, but nothing I’d revisit.

Aromas of swet malt and blueberries.Pours brown with some hints of red.Large tannish head.Get some sweet malts and light fruits in the flavor.Medium mouthfeel with a sweet finish.

Thanks to Stoutlover72 for sending this to me. The aroma is yeasty with some malt and blackberries of course. Medium brown color with a large, frothy tan head. Highly carbonated with a medium mouthfeel. Taste is yeasty with a hint of blackberries. The alka seltzer mouthfeel ruins the flavor.

Dark reddish amber with an off-white head. Some pepper and aniseed in aroma. Weak abbey ale with peppery notes, coriander, and fruity esters. Watery and short in mouth. On tap at brewery, August 2005.

Poured a reddish brown from the bottle. Thin cream colored head that didn’t last with good lacing. Aroma is sweet (blackberries) malty and yeasty. Taste is a wash of flavors all over the tongue - sour, watery sweet fruit, bitterness and a very dry finish. Very crisp carbonation with a fruity aftertaste. This is one of the few fruit beers I’ve tasted that I actually like!

Reddish brown color. Small head. Aroma is fruity (blackberries) and malty. A medium bodied Abby dubbel that according to the bottle is brewed in the English tradition. First off, this is a very hard beer to describe. It’s possibly a cross between a blackberry lambic and an abbey double. It has the sweetness and fruitiness of a sweet lambic, a nice malt backbone and the tartness/sourness of a kreik. There is the definite fruit beer sweetness/tartness of the blackberries, and it has a nice malt backbone behind all that lambic/kriek thing as well. It’s a little confusing taste wise, but I’m starting to roll with it. Very smooth taste, perhaps a little thin in the mouthfeel department. An interesting beer, definitely worth trying. Mouthfeel is full. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly bitter.