Sea Dog Blue Paw Wild Blueberry Wheat Ale

Brewed by Sea Dog Brewing (Shipyard Brewing Co.)
Style: Fruit Beer
Topsham, Maine USA

Lots of blueberry danish aromas coming off this pale golden ale. Smalish head. Flavors were more blueberry up front with a middle and finish that were watery, but non-offensive. Not bad, but not great.

blueberry aroma was a little over powering the wheat notes where totally hidden. A better mix in the flavor blueberry flavor was present but a nice yeasty back drop helped the beer. in the end it was just okay.

There is definitely a pretty strong presence of something "artificial". The blueberry aroma distinctly reminded me of those frozen blueberry eggo waffles that I would eat as a child. I would best describe this beer as "fun". Not a whole lot of substance outside of the overbearing blueberry....ness, but I didn’t mind drinking it.

On the flip side from the Summer Ale from Sea Dog, this Blueberry Ale is far and away the best blueberry beer we’ve had (and that includes the Boston Beer Works version). The nose on this one bursts with blueberry aroma, coming off like a fresh blueberry muffin. It pours a light yellow color with a small, fizzy white head. Virtually no lacing to accompany a fully-diminishing head. The only aroma is blueberry, and it is powerful. Initial taste is moderately sweet, mellowing to a light sweet finish with a short duration. Light on the mouth, we’re left slightly dry with some soft carbonation. Hands down the best blueberry beer we’ve found in our travels. Reviewer’s notes: "Blueberry, the whole blueberry, and nothing but the blueberry, mmm...that is good, like Boo-berry cereal, feels like he just ate a blueberry muffin"

[12oz Bottle] A nice deep yellow pour and a decent head. This had some aroma of blueberry but it was very faint. he flavor was more wheat and a tad fruit this was nott he best I have ever had for fruit beers. Moreflavor and time needed and care for this beer.

Update: 10/2/07. Now my local Trader Joe’s has both the Sea Dog and the Kennebunkport label versions of this same beer on its shelves. Don’t know, it doesn’t taste a bit different that I recall. If they’d ferment on blueberries instead of using "Natural Flavor Added," they might have something different. Or it might just become too dry and sour. Bottle, "Best before" 05/07. Yeep! You know those four dispensers of fruitish syrup on every table at IHOP? You know the bluebrry one? That’s exactly what this one smells like when I open it. It’s worrisome that the label reads "Wheat beer with natural flavor added," making it an adulterated regular beer instead using blueberry juice in the ferment. At least its color is okay, not like the pinkish abominations some fruit beers become, but a light amber instead, under a nearly nonexistent head. Can’t pick up too much of the beer base, but instead some fruit tartness from the blueeberry flavors. Then at least a little solid malts are felt. I like the comparison from other raters to a Berliner Weisse with blueberry syrup. But this needs a little more character to match it.

Golden colored ale without much head. Flavor didn’t taste like fresh berries, but more like artifical blueberry flavor. thean like fresh blue berries. THis berry reminded me a lot of a berliner wiess. It was worth a try, but not something I’dn try again.

Initialy I thought this to be a promising fruit beer. However I was disappointed. Nice color, zero head retention. Flat. Taste was of blueberry muffins which unfortunatly didn’t last long enough. Very very watery. Almost artificial flavor. This just is not up to par.