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The Bluest
de Garde Brewing
Beer Geek Stats
| Print Shelf Talker
- From:
- de Garde Brewing
- Oregon, United States
- Style:
- Wild Ale
Ranked #69 - ABV:
- 7%
- Score:
- 96
Ranked #1,160 - Avg:
- 4.39 | pDev: 6.15%
- Reviews:
- 6
- Ratings:
- Status:
- Active
- Rated:
- Jul 22, 2022
- Added:
- Sep 01, 2016
- Wants:
- 17
- Gots:
- 7
A wild ale, aged in oak with Blueberries.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Rated by hopley from Massachusetts
4.4/5 rDev +0.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
4.4/5 rDev +0.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
2019 batch, 7% ABV, drank April, 2022.
Apr 14, 2022Reviewed by SierraNevallagash from Maine
4.48/5 rDev +2.1%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
4.48/5 rDev +2.1%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
Thank you mintyg8r for this longtime want!
8/18 Vintage - poured into a Chianti stem at 45°F.
Pours a stunning, fully saturated jet-purple colour, topped with a finger of foamy deep pink head with fairly good retention. A few streams of ultra-fast effervescence can be seen rising upwards.
Nose: Unbelievably intense, deep, pungent aromas of blueberry pie filling, blueberry compote, blueberry flesh, blueberry skin, vanilla cream, flaky pastry, goat cheese, jammy petite syrah, musty white oak, barnyard, manure, lemon zest, buttery chardonnay...it's a blueberry pie with a dollop of cream sitting in a stable.
Palate: The Bluest greets the palate dry, with a rustic coarse grain base beneath it. The acidity is so incredibly tame - almost not even sour, just tangy, sweaty, and sharp, but without pucker. A whole field full of concentrated blueberry - not sweet, but fleshy and fruity with a huge tannic akin presence, lending all that berry character. As it opens, a kiss of sweetness emerges. Notes of drying grass, wet hay, damp musty white oak, coolship funk, goat cheese, fruit-on-the-bttom blueberry yogurt before you stir, bitter leafy hops, horsey funk, and musty brett. At this point, it's drinking 100% like lambic. The tartness disappears, emphasising the musty brett, tannic berry skins and seeds, splintery oak, and some spicy, leafy, herbal character. These bitter notes come together through the finish, lingering on while the dry blueberry and oak cast a long shadow.
Mouthfeel/Body: The beer is relatively light-bodied, but there's a lot of presence. Between the fruit, the funk, and the bitter, there's definitely some weight behind it. Effervescence very lively and quite soft - almost fluffy. Some fruity cling holds onto the palate, as does the bitterness and a residual oily coating.
Overall: This is pretty wildly far from what I imagined. I expected this to be a fairly sour, jammy, sweet blueberry wild. No no no... This is one notch away from straight up blueberry lambic. It's almost paradoxical. The nose is intensely sweet, jammy blueberry pie filling, with a big funky blanket over it, but then it opens a up dry, with pure, complex lambic funk, with a big blueberry blanket over it. There's a touch of residual sweetness, and loads and loads of blueberry character, but the name of the game is funk with this one, and it's done almost flawlessly. This is a true gem of a beer. One-of-a-kind.
Feb 12, 20218/18 Vintage - poured into a Chianti stem at 45°F.
Pours a stunning, fully saturated jet-purple colour, topped with a finger of foamy deep pink head with fairly good retention. A few streams of ultra-fast effervescence can be seen rising upwards.
Nose: Unbelievably intense, deep, pungent aromas of blueberry pie filling, blueberry compote, blueberry flesh, blueberry skin, vanilla cream, flaky pastry, goat cheese, jammy petite syrah, musty white oak, barnyard, manure, lemon zest, buttery chardonnay...it's a blueberry pie with a dollop of cream sitting in a stable.
Palate: The Bluest greets the palate dry, with a rustic coarse grain base beneath it. The acidity is so incredibly tame - almost not even sour, just tangy, sweaty, and sharp, but without pucker. A whole field full of concentrated blueberry - not sweet, but fleshy and fruity with a huge tannic akin presence, lending all that berry character. As it opens, a kiss of sweetness emerges. Notes of drying grass, wet hay, damp musty white oak, coolship funk, goat cheese, fruit-on-the-bttom blueberry yogurt before you stir, bitter leafy hops, horsey funk, and musty brett. At this point, it's drinking 100% like lambic. The tartness disappears, emphasising the musty brett, tannic berry skins and seeds, splintery oak, and some spicy, leafy, herbal character. These bitter notes come together through the finish, lingering on while the dry blueberry and oak cast a long shadow.
Mouthfeel/Body: The beer is relatively light-bodied, but there's a lot of presence. Between the fruit, the funk, and the bitter, there's definitely some weight behind it. Effervescence very lively and quite soft - almost fluffy. Some fruity cling holds onto the palate, as does the bitterness and a residual oily coating.
Overall: This is pretty wildly far from what I imagined. I expected this to be a fairly sour, jammy, sweet blueberry wild. No no no... This is one notch away from straight up blueberry lambic. It's almost paradoxical. The nose is intensely sweet, jammy blueberry pie filling, with a big funky blanket over it, but then it opens a up dry, with pure, complex lambic funk, with a big blueberry blanket over it. There's a touch of residual sweetness, and loads and loads of blueberry character, but the name of the game is funk with this one, and it's done almost flawlessly. This is a true gem of a beer. One-of-a-kind.
Reviewed by lucius10 from California
4.42/5 rDev +0.7%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
4.42/5 rDev +0.7%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Sweet and tart, fruity blueberry, and hint of oak barrel nose on this one! Taste follows with some blueberry jamminess upfront and then a tart berry and oak-barrel funky swallow. A little acidic on the finish, but otherwise well-balanced and a joy to drink. This is really good!
Aug 19, 2020Reviewed by StonedTrippin from Colorado
4.75/5 rDev +8.2%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75
4.75/5 rDev +8.2%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75
bottle service at the brewery in tillamook, an absolute stunning. they have a huge bottle list here and we couldnt decide, so i narrowed it down a little and let my wife choose. boy was this a great pick! she reckons its the best beer shes ever had, which is saying something, and i would certainly put it among say my top 25, maybe higher, its incredible, as good as any blueberry beer i have ever known, but just as impressive as a wild beer, which is often the case with these guys. bottle from august 2018, deep violet in color into the branded lambic glasses, a fizzy inch of pink bubbles on the top of each, basically no sediment until the very bottom, gorgeous in the glasses on the table, awesome presentation at the source. the nose is the absolute essence of the blueberry, with some tang from the skins and the sweetness from the flesh, juicy and as real as it gets, from nature, high summer. there is nuance here of vanilla, rich red wine, earthy minerals, and a fully wild fermentation, farmy and only moderately sour, with all kinds of bretty weirdness happening, magically well refined. the flavor is blueberries first and last, their fullest expression, but there is a lot going on here, and we sip slowly as to let this warm, extend the experience, and not miss a thing. i definitely get a little hint of cinnamon and black pepper among all the wood, right at the apex of the flavor, a soft vanilla note too in there but this is never sweet. the density of the natural blueberry is insane, the its so pure, no secondary fruit character like there can sometimes be, its just blueberry, immaculate. the beer is very mature and funky and interesting on the fermentation side, lambic-esque as it warms, truly unique in this regard though, and so dry in the end for all the fruit, not sure i have known this ratio of fruit intensity to finishing dryness ever before, its mind blowing. as good a blueberry beer as there is in the world, maybe as good of a fruited wild ale too. ill remember this one forever!
Jul 07, 2020Reviewed by brentk56 from North Carolina
4.35/5 rDev -0.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
4.35/5 rDev -0.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Appearance: Pours purple with a two finger mauve head that fades while leaving a few squiggles
Smell: The oak is prominent and creates a very rustic overlay to the lactic blueberry tones
Taste: Lactic blueberry forward with a hint of pie crust underneath; the oak builds, in the mid-palate, bringing a very rustic and tannic edge to the finish
Mouthfeel: Medium body with moderate to high carbonation
Overall: Not as fruity as some other blueberry wilds but quite an interesting take
Thanks, mintyg8r, for the opportunity
Jun 24, 2020Smell: The oak is prominent and creates a very rustic overlay to the lactic blueberry tones
Taste: Lactic blueberry forward with a hint of pie crust underneath; the oak builds, in the mid-palate, bringing a very rustic and tannic edge to the finish
Mouthfeel: Medium body with moderate to high carbonation
Overall: Not as fruity as some other blueberry wilds but quite an interesting take
Thanks, mintyg8r, for the opportunity
Reviewed by Sabtos from Ohio
4.3/5 rDev -2.1%
look: 5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
4.3/5 rDev -2.1%
look: 5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
Dark purple, nearing clear ruby under sunlight, with a tall pastel mauve foam head dying to a persistently thick blanket.
The medium body has a big time fluffy frothiness that delivers funky pungent oak and an acid that's not too high for a blueberry sour. A nice sort of buttery pie crust-like character hides behind drying tanniny blueberry, which is distinct of the fruit, instead of just becoming the generic tartness that often is the case in blueberry wilds.
The oak is splintery and almost has a char or even peat undertone to it. This comes out most potently in aroma and there it's a little unusual. But overall the beer is a joy.
Bottled 4/19
Jan 01, 2020The medium body has a big time fluffy frothiness that delivers funky pungent oak and an acid that's not too high for a blueberry sour. A nice sort of buttery pie crust-like character hides behind drying tanniny blueberry, which is distinct of the fruit, instead of just becoming the generic tartness that often is the case in blueberry wilds.
The oak is splintery and almost has a char or even peat undertone to it. This comes out most potently in aroma and there it's a little unusual. But overall the beer is a joy.
Bottled 4/19
The Bluest from de Garde Brewing
Beer rating:
96 out of
100 with
50 ratings
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