Samuel Adams Blackberry Witbier

Brewed by Boston Beer Company
Style: Fruit Beer
Boston, Massachusetts USA

Amber to gold color, small head. Aromas of berry and citrus. Taste is slightly sweet, with flavors of (imagine that) blackberry. Pretty well-balanced; I was afraid it would be sweet or syrupy, but the sweetness and flavor is reserved and genuine, not candylike. Malt character is reasonable and on-style; overall not bad, though not brilliant either. Might get a bottle or two of this again, but it’s not a must-have.

Bottle. Pours a slightly hazy orange golden with a small creamy off-white head that makes a thin film over the beer and clings to the edge of the glass, not very beerlike but pleasant. Aroma is very tart and sugary, berryish. Flavor is more mild than the aroma with a bit of a dry nitterness and light berry flavor. A bit medicinal in the finish. Medium to light bodied.

12oz bottle. Pours a bright darkish yellow golden color with a big foamy white head. Nose is syrupy fruit, light berries, some sweet malt notes. Palate is medium bodied and fizzy. Flavor is berries and some light sugary ntes but finishes with a dryness.

The aroma of this brew is much more pleasing than the actual flavor. I like the fruity hints in the nose of this beer, but the flavor is much different. The blackberries just seem out of place. I’m not much of a fruit beer fan to begin with, and that may explain why I don’t enjoy this beer as much as most of the other offerings from Boston Beer.

This is one of those beers that you may hate as a beer, but as a drink it’s decent. Makes for a good summer brew with heavy blackberry on the aroma and taste. Some wheat and citrus touches, and a dry finish that seems out of place, much like the cherry wheat. I’ll give it to the ladies and find myself a badass stout.

Nice blackberry aroma reminiscent of berry soda or candy. There are other hints, like wheat, but I was cooking and my senses got fatigued. Blackberry is subtle in the flavor, but if you breathe deeply to mix the aroma and flavor it can be quite nice. I’d have rated this higher, but there is something about the finish that bugs me. It’s a bit dry, bitter, cloying, or something.

12oz bottle. Pours a hazy slightly-orangey gold with a medium white head that leaves numerous thin fingers of lace on the glass, tiny carbonation bubbles endlessly fluttering from the bottom of the glass. The aroma is a pleasant mix of bready/crackery malts, a light touch of wheat, and boysenberry jam. The flavor starts crisp and surprisingly dry with a delicate crackery malt character and some blackberry and currant notes that lend a soft but pleasant acidity. At mid-palate, there is an earthy mix of soft hop bitterness and berry acidity that is overall rather like white wine. There is also a low level of residual sweetness combined with a good bit of wheat flavor and subtle citrus notes (more reminiscent of lemon peel than orange). The finish is dry and delicate with some berry notes and soft, balancing bitterness and some coriander. The mouthfeel is crisp and vibrantly carbonated with a medium body. Overall, this is a fairly tasty, drinkable, balanced fruit beer. It falls a bit short of the Witbier mark, but is rather true to style if you label the base beer as an American Wheat.

Very faint aroma of berries and malt. Appearance is like that of any other Witbier, with a medium amber color and a smallish head. The flavor is surprisingly good--one of the better fruit beers. Not too sweet, but not overpoweringly fruity either. Lighter than the Cherry Wheat, this beer is better for hotter months.