“It’s cherry limeade!” – Marcia
“This is like Jonestown” – Tony
“I like my blueberry wine better.” – Mom
“I need to go shave my tongue.” – also Tony
“This beer would corrupt children.” – Ben
“Why must you always kill the happy?” – Alan
*bemused look* – Dad
Basic Info:
Name: Wild Blue Blueberry Lager
Origin: Anheuser-Busch
Style: Blueberry Lager, obviously. Otherwise, Fruit Beer.
ABV: 8.0% (!!!)
IBU: Um, no.
I drank this: at home, split amongst friends and family. My sample went into a tumbler.
Please note: I chose this particular picture because you can sort of see Dad’s reaction to the beer in the background, crinkled eyebrows and everything. It made me laugh.
The reason I decided, upon its recommendation, to go ahead and try this beer was because unlike the flavored Michelob Ultra creations sent from hell by Satan himself, this beer actually resembles something with blueberry in it. Like, color-wise, it’s roughly what I’d expect for something containing blueberry juice. Plus, you know, 8% ABV. And it’s Anheuser-Busch. I HAD TO KNOW.
And now I do. It smells like blueberry and some sort of pale malt, the kind of malt I associate with Pilsners. I’m not personally a fan of this sort of malt, but it’s not a warning sign per se. At first taste, it even tastes like blueberry, or at the very least like some sort of wild not-blue berry. It’s… surprisingly not bad, even for an avowed hater of 92% of all fruit beers on the market.
Here’s the thing, though: NEVER SWALLOW THIS BEER. EVER. The aftertaste is, according to my notes, “mold.” It’s horrid. Horrid. MOLDY HORRID. Make-it-stop-painful-horrid-give-me-more-Sambuca*-please-so-I-can-kill-the-taste-dead horrid.
Overall, it’s not anywhere near as bad as I thought it might be. I could even see where people could like it, assuming their taste buds do different things to the aftertaste than mind did – I don’t see how anyone could survive the aftertaste I experienced and still enjoy the beer. The upshot is that if you like fruit beers and you’re feeling adventurous, try some.
If nothing else, it’s way better than a Sam Adams Cherry Wheat.
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*Sambuca is an Italian after dinner drink with a syrupy texture that tastes like licorice. It’s not my favorite flavor in the world, but it’s magic. To experience the magic, have a snifter of some after a huge meal, while you’re in the middle of that OMG NEVER EATING AGAIN phase. The Sambuca will cure your overstuffed, bloated feeling. It’s MAGIC, seriously. And why we always try to keep Sambuca around.
