Holy Donut - Blueberry Glaze
Lone Pine Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pours hazy, purple in color with minimal head. Taste is blueberry jelly donut, vanilla, and custard. Light body, tart, moderate carbonation. Tasty and unique. Easily the best sour I have had from them.

A: crystal clear; plum colored; 1 finger fizzy lavender head that receded quickly to a very thin collar; no lacing;

S: blueberry muffin;

T: mild to moderate tartness throughout; mild funk for a moment, then blueberry muffin through the finish;

M: light to medium bodied; moderate to high carbonation; moderately dry finish;

O: interesting;

 

16oz can poured into a Jackie O's tulip. Pours a purple/reddish color with some opacity and a very small head. Tart berry sourness is apparent on the nose, followed by a vanilla-like pasty sweetness, with some impressions of lactose cream. More blueberry tartness on the palate with some tingly but not puckering sourness. Impressions of lemon tartness. The vanilla sweetness is there, but is pretty subdued beside the berry component. Its good, but I wouldn't call it great - you call a beer 'Holy Donut-Blueberry Glaze' and I'm going to expect a little more. Just sayin'.

It's not blue, it's a solid purple when visible through a clear Imperial pint mug. Moments earlier, the liquid was languishing inside a pint can. Carbonated, but there's only a minimal rose head. The aroma seems to have some blueberry to it, but there is also a little tartness and even some sweetness included. The body is pleasant, light and yet capable of carrying the flavors and ABV nicely. The taste starts with a mildly tart blueberry, runs toward sweet as the vanilla and lactose kick in, then finishes tart and slightly sour. It doesn't drink exactly like a blueberry donut, but it does run a course that provides changes that are interesting. Possible improvement? Lose some of the lactose. So the body may get a bit lighter, but it would be less sticky in mid-taste and the tart/sour aspect would be more pronounced. But, since the goal is to mimick a blueberry glaze donut, it's understandable why the lactose is there. Addendum 9/30/22: It's better drawn from a tap. The current ratings are accordingly.

 

 

could not get the taste they were trying to achive - drinkable but not much of a beer

 

Poured into a 16 oz Snulip glass not sure when it was canned. Pours a very attractive purple with a finger dark pink head that leaves very little lace with pretty good retention. 4.25

Aroma blueberry, vanilla, graham cracker, blackberry, and plum. 3.75

Taste follows blueberry, vanilla, blackberry, plum, and graham cracker. 3.75

Mouthfeel is average, plenty of life, a tad dry, and at 7.5% loaded with flavor and not really easy to drink. 3.5

Overall this one is a bit much for me personally I could appreciate someone who really likes it, but I was hoping it more be a little more tame. 3.75

I absolutely loved the first Holy Donut collab beer these guys did (a chocolate coconut imperial stout), so I figured it would be a no-brainer to grab a single of their imperial sour brewed with blueberries, vanilla, and lactose, as well as a helping of Blueberry Glaze donuts from HD. The last few Lone Pine sours I've had have been superb, so this definitely felt like a logical purchase.

The pour is an immense dark purple color with a moderate head of pink-ish foam that builds up quickly to a half-finger and bubbles away with immediacy, as is the case with the typical kettle sour. I do love the hue of this beer; it's inviting and gorgeous, but also somehow a little dangerous/intense looking, and the relative clarity of it compared to other dark fruit laden beers I've had is striking and interesting. I won't judge it too hard for its poor head retention due to stylistic considerations, so that's that.

Nose is a little more yogurt-y than some quick-sours I've enjoyed over the years, but perhaps the donut addition + vanilla + lactose could be to blame. Once these kinds of adjuncts start getting involved (especially the "sweeteners" that are very much prevalent in sours these days), the quality of the beer as a whole can really be a dice-roll because a lot of the balance depends on the brewers' ratios and usage of these ingredients. This has a starchy, blueberry/raspberry-like smell after some of the lacto has cleared. I assume the fact that potato donuts were used has something to do with the somewhat odd scent, but it's not bad overall. I hope it improves on the palate, though, because I am not sold here so far. Something about it just seems dull and neutralized.

Much better flavor profile, thankfully! First sip is hefty blueberry with sour lemon candy overtones... hints of sour watermelon candy as well. A little yeasty and surprisingly well-balanced, with good heft to the proceedings that remind you you're drinking a stronger beer. Not as much lactose or vanilla as expected, which means they did a good job balancing this. Honestly, it sorta reminds me of something Definitive would put out, especially considering they're from the same state and also do a very good job with vanilla/lactose fruit beers of various stripes. It's kinda in the middle between puckering/intense and fruit-forward/well-made-on-the-face-of-it, which is a pretty good place to be for stuff like this. In other words, it shows off its ingredients well, feels like a fairly solid collab with a non-brewer, and yet still drinks like a unique beer in and of itself. I am down!