Twisted Stalk Blackberry Helles
Vancouver Island Brewing

 

Look: Clear, red-gold with a touch of purple. Light head that reduced in a couple of minutes to a thin skiff that covered the surface.
Smell: Distinct sweet but light blackberry. Not quite the same as a berry on the vine, but close enough. Some woody notes pop up when the glass is swirled. Blackberry is normally a flavor that gets ruined by heating, so this is surprisingly fresh.
Taste: Does not meet the expectation created by the smell. The malt and bitters are both much stronger than a helles should be. The blackberry flavor has changed to something harsh, that only slightly resembles blackberry. At least the blackberry wasn't burned, which was what I had expected.
Feel: Slowly foams up, but is only slightly thick.
Overall: The flavor is very disappointing after the beautiful blackberry scent. This would be outstanding if the flavor could match the scent. The base is too strong for a helles. Maybe backing off the malt (or cooking) to get closer to a helles would help out the blackberry flavor.

355ml can - this brewery is suddenly all about local island features in their marketing.

This beer pours a clear, medium golden yellow colour, with three zaftig fingers of puffy, finely foamy, and somewhat creamy eggshell white head, which leaves some attractive layered cobweb lace around the glass as it slowly and evenly bleeds away.

It smells of fresh blackberries, black currants, black raspberries, bready and doughy cereal malt, a plain Pez candy chalkiness, and very, very subtle earthy, musty, and floral green hop bitters. The taste is muddled dark berries, gritty and grainy pale malt, more generic Rockets-like candy notes, a hint of lager yeast, and more ephemeral leafy, musty, and floral hoppiness.

The carbonation is adequate in its palate-coddling frothiness, the body a decent middleweight, and generally smooth, with nothing really existing here that might cause any sort of to-do, as such. It finishes off-dry, the fruitiness hanging on with apparently little effort, while the malt struggles in its lingering stance.

Overall - this comes across as a genial enough fruit beer, as the blackberry addition stays present throughout the whole affair, not lagging after blowing its wad in the aroma, which is all too common. Refreshing, and easy to put back, especially on yet another bright, sunny, and hot day over here in Alberta.