Black & Blue
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery

Black & BlueBlack & Blue
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From:
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery
 
Delaware, United States
Style:
Fruit and Field Beer
Ranked #133
ABV:
10%
Score:
83
Ranked #23,796
Avg:
3.68 | pDev: 15.49%
Reviews:
532
Ratings:
1,634
Status:
Active
Rated:
Mar 23, 2023
Added:
Aug 23, 2006
Wants:
  132
Gots:
  297
Black & Blue is a Belgian-style golden ale fermented with blackberries and blueberries. Because we dose Black & Blue with real berries -- rather than artificial flavoring -- the fruit comes through in the flavor, not just the aroma.

The pureed berries are added as the beer leaves the brewhouse. In fermentation, the yeast -- the same one we use in Red & White and Pangaea -- feeds on sugars from the barley and the berries, giving Black & Blue a unique complexity and a high ABV.

25 IBU
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by cdkrenz:
Photo of cdkrenz
Reviewed by cdkrenz from Wisconsin

2.99/5  rDev -18.8%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.5
A - Copper colored body that shows a nice red when held to light. The head is a bright white but quick-lived.

S - The aroma of apricot is prevalent and not all that becoming.

T - I'm a bit disappointed here. I'm a fan of a blueberries, black raspberries and of course beer. Combine the three and I would hope to find a harmonious flavor fit for the gods. The flavor combinations here are interesting but not all that tasty. You have a beginning of mild malt and then a move to a dark bitter middle also hosting a strange, slightly pungent fruitiness. The finish has an uncomfortable
blueberry-plum combination that makes it difficult to keep drinking.

M - The feel of this beer is by far is highest characteristic. The feel of the brew is soft and smooth with a hint of abrassive catchiness allowing each pull to be its own journey. It contradicts the flavor by begging me to keep drinking.

~ Overall I'd say this beer is certainly something you should consider trying. I don't recommend you run out today and try to find a bottle. But, if you come accross one and can find it for a reasonable price (less than $11.99 which is what I paid for the 25.6 ounce bottle I purchsed) then I suggest you add it to your cart. At any rate its an interesting beer, the bottle labeling is artistically considerate and its brewed by a fine brewery.
May 03, 2010
More User Ratings:
Photo of mothman
Reviewed by mothman from Minnesota

3.5/5  rDev -4.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
2013 on tap.

White head. Golden copper color.

Berries and a bourbon like flavor. Very muted flavor in general for the abv. Not tart, not very sweet. Kind of bland/muted.
Jan 17, 2021
 
Rated: 4.04 by Taenim from Maine

Sep 19, 2020
 
Rated: 3.83 by imnodoctorbut from Texas

Jun 11, 2020
 
Rated: 3.75 by brittanylicious from Indiana

Oct 20, 2019
 
Rated: 3.88 by emerge077 from Illinois

Jun 14, 2019
 
Rated: 3.93 by GregSemenza from Connecticut

Feb 03, 2019
 
Rated: 3.79 by TrilliumFan from Massachusetts

Feb 03, 2019
 
Rated: 3.75 by Gkruszewski from New York

Feb 02, 2019
 
Rated: 4.5 by redfox405 from Virginia

Feb 02, 2019
 
Rated: 2.94 by chiefz1 from New York

Sep 30, 2018
 
Rated: 3.77 by HungarianCount from California

May 28, 2018
 
Rated: 2.5 by 1971bernat from Virginia

Dec 30, 2017
 
Rated: 3.28 by buzzedup from Pennsylvania

Nov 11, 2017
 
Rated: 4.25 by Notasoxfan from Illinois

Oct 24, 2017
 
Rated: 3.75 by Matt141 from Texas

Sep 24, 2017
Photo of woodychandler
Reviewed by woodychandler from Pennsylvania

4.06/5  rDev +10.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Transcribed from notes:

I am continuing with my bottle purge and when a friend said that he wanted to come over and say goodbye before heading off to graduate school at U of FL, I decided to break out something that had recently surfaced from the depths of my cellar.

Once the cap had been Pop!ped, I employed a gentle pour so as not to disturb any potential lees. Color was a pinkish-amber with a good bit of floaties in evidence. Nose had a great preserve-like fruitiness. I would have guessed blueberry, but black or red raspberry? I cannot say for sure. My late-paternal grandmother grew red raspberries in her garden, hence my allusion to preserves. I got a skim of pinkish wisps for head. Mouthfeel was medium. Taste was of mixed berries, very fruity, but hard to discern which ones were involved in the production of this beer. Label read 10% ABV, but it was as mellow as all get-out! I recently drank some aged Fort, and despite its age, it was still rather hot. This was very pleasant by comparison. Finish was semi-dry and actually more vinous that beer-like. Wild!
Jul 21, 2017
Photo of Lone_Freighter
Reviewed by Lone_Freighter from Vermont

3.99/5  rDev +8.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Treated as a straight up fruit beer, this was poured into a pint glass. The appearance was a glossy purple to brown color with a slight transparency about it. Floaties bounce off of carbonation rising to fill a one finger white to off white foamy head. It dissipates at a nice pace and leaves a small fairly thick ring of foamy lacing around the glass. The smell starts off with a some blackberries and blueberries (obviously, right!) and blends into a light caramel to biscuity maltiness. The taste was a nice mix between the blackberries and blueberries to a little bit of spiciness from the Belgian yeast. Yields more to the biscuity side than the caramel side in the taste. Its somewhat fruity in the aftertaste yet allows the spice to hit in the finish nicely. On the palate, this one sat about a light to medium in body with a decent sessionability about it. Carbonation feels good as it is and falls in and around my tongue appropriately. Overall, as a fruit beer, it works, with the Belgian spices snapping in and around my tongue, it wants to let you know, "hey, I’m not just any old fruit beer." I’d have this again, nice beer.
Jun 06, 2017
Photo of drdiesel9483
Reviewed by drdiesel9483 from Ohio

3.77/5  rDev +2.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Got this in a flight of 4 aged beers at dogfish head
2009 bottled, drinking 2017
Look - copper and thin
Smell - sour and tart funkiness
Taste - definitely taste the blue and blackberries, pretty funky
Feel - thin syrup almost no carbonation
Overall - interesting. It'll be cool to re check this out at home and see what I say different
May 04, 2017
Black & Blue from Dogfish Head Craft Brewery
Beer rating: 83 out of 100 with 1634 ratings