Blueberry Wheat (Harvest Series)
Abita Brewing Co.

 

 

"Best by 11/1/16"; drank 8/11/16 @ the Yarchives.

See-through orange/yellow appearance.

A rough pour yielded a big, noisy white head; nice frothy lace.

Blueberry soda & mild honeyed wheat notes in the nose.

Medium thin mouthfeel.

Sweet blueberry & soft wheat flavors; mild carbonation bite on the finish.

Refreshing but a bit inconsequential; fine on a hot summer day but ultimately forgettable.

 

 

12 oz bottle close to the BB date stamp on the neck.

Pours with a clear, golden body topped by a decent white head. No sediment.
Smooth, medium-light body with medium carbonation.
Aroma features blueberry juice and suggests sweetness but the brew is mildly bitter overall.

Overall: a well done version of the intended style with ample, natural blueberry flavor mixing in good balance with wheat and light hops.

 

 

12 FL. OZ. bottle
Served in a can glass

This beer pours a golden color with a slight haze. It is topped with three inches of off white head that has nice staying power.

The smell is intense blueberry. There is nothing artificial either.

The taste has a big blueberry presence. The underlying wheat beer is still recognizable.

Medium bodied and smooth, pillow-y mouthfeel

I love the smell. The taste is pretty good. I started getting a soapy aftertaste about halfway through.

 

 

 

i have a hard time being too critical here, i mean, sure this isnt some heady wild blueberry lambic, but in its class, which i consider to be almost macro fruit ales, summer drinks, feminine even, sometimes not fully authentic with the fruit and all, this is real solid, better than a lot of others like this i have had from these guys and really pretty darn good overall. the blueberry doesnt color it at all, golden and bubbly like a soda but holding a creamy little head for a couple of minutes. the nose is sweet and even baked blueberry to me, like a pie, intense and a little desserty, but also rather refreshing with the obvious wheat malt. i like the taste too, its only sweet for a second or two and its balanced well by the grain. the blueberry tastes like it isnt whole fruit, but its not syrupy or cheap tasting to me either, and its honest enough to be good. i know this is relatively simple and not particularly heady overall, but it tastes better than most of these do and i plan to drink them until there arent any more in the fridge. flavorful and crisp, bubbly, and summery. real good for what it is.

 

 

 

 

 

Color is a darker shave of canary yellow bordering on gold with a small white cap.

Marvelously rich blueberry scent springs forth as soon as the bottle is uncapped. Can't wait to taste it.

Wow, if only the flavor matched the scent. Taste on entry is a slightly tart wheat brew with a fruity presence riding on a barely discernible grain base. If I were handed this blind and had a stopped up nose I'm not sure I would recognize the fruit as blueberry. The scent alone keeps that alive as the glass is raised but I'm afraid the blueberry taste is more notable for being absent. It is more assertive in the aftertaste lingering like the Ghost of Blueberry past.

Fairly light texture with balancing carbonation.

It's a good thing Abita doesn't have to depend on my trade to stay in business. Oh, their beers aren't bad, or even flawed, just that they're nondescript, simply ok, and there are a lot of other beers better than ok on the craft brew aisle. Brewer says this is a wheat ale with natural flavors so I don't know what form of blueberry is used or at what stage added, but after going to such effort to produce this outstanding scent I don't understand why they didn't also make a better beer to support it.