Honey Blue Blue
Odd Side Ales

 

 

 

Disappointing. No honey or blueberry discerned. Not sweet at all, which is to be expected in a beer whose first name is honey. More sour than anything and rather bitter.

I added a pack of stevia to sweeten it up and then it tasted pretty good! But extremely minimal blueberry flavor--and if you have to add Stevia to taste the honey, wow! There's a huge problem!

 

I picked up a bottle of Odd Side Ales Honey Blue Blue for $2.29 at The Lager Mill. I'm always down to try a new beer from Odd Side's and this one sounds interesting, so lets see how it goes. 2017 Vintage. Poured from a brown 12oz bottle into a imperial pint glass.

A- The label is ok, it's a little cheesy looking, but it goes with the name and it's a little eye catching. It poured a purple and dark red color that took on more of a darker red color when held to the light with a little over a finger and half of slightly fizzy off white slight red head that died down to a thin ring that eventually faded away and it didn't leave much lacing behind. This is a nice looking beer, but I wish the head and lacing were better.

S- The aroma starts off with a lower amount of high sweetness with the blueberries being the first to show up and they seem to stick out the most in the aroma and they impart a nice natural blueberry aroma that is a little jam like and it's followed by the honey which is second most noticeable and aroma and it impart a nice and noticeable wildflower honey like aroma. Towards the end comes the malts which are on the lighter and impart some light bready, pale malts and sweet malt like aromas. This beer has a pretty nice aroma, but I wish the blonde ale base was a little more noticeable.

T- The taste seems to be similar to the aroma, but lighter and watery and it starts off with a slightly higher amount of medium sweetness with the blueberry still being the first to show up and it imparts the same aspects, but it's lighter and it's leads into the honey which also imparts the same aspects, but it's a good amount lighter than it was in the aroma and it's not too noticeable. Towards the end comes the malts which show up a little more than they did in the aroma and they impart all the same aspects with more of a bready aspect this time and it's followed by a watery flavor. On the finish there's hardly any bitterness with some sweetness taking it's place and it has a watery blueberry and malty aftertaste. This beer doesn't too great, it's too watery and the finish isn't that good.

M- Smooth, a little crisp, slightly creamy, watery, on the light side of being medium bodied with a medium amount of carbonation. The mouthfeel is ok, but I wish it wasn't so watery.

Overall I wasn't a big fan of this beer and I thought it wasn't the best example of the style, it wasn't really bad, but it wasn't great either and between the watery flavors and the finish it made it rough around the edges. This beer doesn't have the best drinkability, one is more than enough for me. What I like the most about this beer is the aroma, it's pretty nice and it's the highlight of this beer. What I like the least about this beer is the watery flavors and the finish, they need a good amount of work. I wouldn't buy this beer again and I can't say I would recommend it as a good example of the style. All in all I wasn't too impressed with this beer, it just didn't all come together the way it should and that made it pretty rough around the edges. It's one of my least favorite beers from Odd side's and it's not a great example of the style. Better luck next time guys, this one could use some work.

 

12 ounce bottle into pint glass, bottled on 8/13/2017. Pours lightly hazy red/pink/purple-ish orange color with a 1 finger fairly dense light pink head with good retention, that reduces to a thin cap that lingers. Light spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of big juicy/lightly tart blueberries, fruit skin, honey, vanilla, cream, wheat, cracker, white bread, herbal, grass, light pepper, and yeast earthiness. Very nice aromas with good balance of blueberries, honey, pale malt, and light-moderate earthy hop notes; with great strength. Taste of big juicy/lightly tart blueberries, fruit skin, honey, vanilla, cream, wheat, cracker, white bread, herbal, grass, light pepper, and yeast earthiness. Light herbal, grassy, spicy bitterness and fruit tartness on the finish. Lingering notes of juicy/lightly tart blueberries, fruit skin, honey, vanilla, cream, wheat, cracker, white bread, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast earthiness on the finish for a god bit. Very nice robustness and balance of blueberries, honey, pale malt, and light-moderate earthy hop flavors; with a great malt/bitter/tartness balance, and zero astringency hop/fruit flavors after the finish. Lightly increasing dryness from bitter/tartness. Medium carbonation and body; with a very smooth, creamy/bready/grainy, and lightly silky/sticky/tangy/acidic balanced mouthfeel that is great. Zero warming alcohol as expected of 5.5%. Overall this is a delicious fruited blonde ale. All around nice robustness and balance of blueberries, honey, pale malt, and light-moderate earthy hop flavors; very smooth and refreshing to drink with the mildly tart/bitter/drying finish. I suspect there may be lactose in here as well. It tastes like a vanilla milkshake along with the honey/blueberry flavors; nice pale malt backbone and hop balance. A very enjoyable offering, and spot on style example.