Huckle Beary
Hopworks Brewery

tough fruit here, huckleberry, its spendy, needs to be foraged i think, and is almost always a syrup or something when it ends up in beer, so it never tastes like the real thing. the fine print on the side of this can also mentions this has blueberry and blackberry in it, not sure what form the fruits take in this, but i immediately think its better than most of the rest of the field trying to do something similar, in part because the beer overall is on the dry side for what it is, no backsweetened berry cheapness, no artificiality due to dosage either, the base beer is as relevant as the fruit additions, drinkable on a hot day, nice low alcohol beer, solid cream ale, a crowd pleaser. a little pinkish purple tone to the pour, light haze, some grain coloring this too, when they get too purple i get skeptical, so i like this not being so color dense. aroma is subtle, again not too sweet, light red and pink florals, as much blackberry as huckleberry to me, some pale barley malt, basic in a good way. the flavor is similar, maybe a little brighter overall but this is somewhat mellow for a fruited light one, which i appreciate. the cream ale base is solid and straightforward, no real hops to speak of, although props for using salmon safe. the fruit is identifiable and relatively honest to me, the best part of this is that its not forced, and the beer drinks dry, on the edge of crisp and almost lager-like, which is most appreciable when its frosty cold and certainly adds to the drinkability. simple beer, not overly well refined, summery anyway, mass appeal, but better than most. not the kind of thing i think about when i think hopworks, but for something a little outside their typical ipa wheelhouse, it does the job admirably.