Black & Blue
Availability: Rehoboth Beach brewpub only while supplies last!
Release Date: 8/15/06
Black and Blue
A Belgian-y thingy dosed with black and blueberries day after day during primary fermentation. The dark fruit is comlemented by spicy Hallertau & Sterling hops.
Black & Blue is golden Belgian Ale made with over 300 lbs of fresh blackberries and blueberries. With a deep purple full body and a long-lasting lacy pink head, this ale is both attractive and delicious! It is tart and fruity, like our brewers! The subtle bitterness of Hallertau and Saaz hops shines through the fruit forward flavor and sets the palate aglow. (30 IBUs). Weighing in at 12% ABV this tasty brew has smooth but noticeable alcohol warmth. Belgium yeast gives this brew a characteristically dry spicy finish. The beautiful interplay of fruit, spice, and alcohol is complimented by a soft malt profile, and a high level of carbonation.
If you like this one, try the Black & Blue's first cousin (once removed) Red & White!
Due to the very limited availability of the Red & White and Black & Blue, we are sorry to say that we are not able to fill growlers of these beers. Come by and enjoy one in our brewpub!
Beer Ratings and Reviews:
[1] Review by bluesandbarbq from Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA who has tried this beer once. (7/24/2008 8:13:30 AM)
"Pours a murky amber with little head or lacing. No lacing. Aromas of sweet ripe fruits- blueberries, blackberries, and a little citrus - and some toffee and biscuits. Taste is sweet fruity alcohol with a grainy maltness and a sweet finish."
Aroma:
7/10
Appearance:
7/10
Mouthfeel:
6/10
Flavor:
6/10
Overall:
7/10
Final Rating, by Style:
(3.3)
Sampled: Bottle Sample Size: 750ml @ $11.99 Unit Cost: $7.56 per Pint
[2] Review by ante from Stockholm, Sweden who has tried this beer once. (5/28/2008 2:47:37 PM)
"Pours out in a clear reddish amber colour with a frothy off-white foam. Rather stale and dusty aroma of neutral yeast, almonds and mild blueberries. Medium to full-bodied with notes of yeast, mild pepper, blueberry jam and mild grass. Dryish finish of yeast and mild spices with rather dense jammy undertones of blackberries and sweet blueberries. Decent, the berry part felt quite dumbed down.
"
Aroma:
7/10
Appearance:
6/10
Mouthfeel:
6/10
Flavor:
7/10
Overall:
6/10
Final Rating, by Style:
(3.2)
Sampled: Bottle
Value of this beer for its style: Not Sure
[3] Review by Sap from Tucson, AZ, USA who has tried this beer once. (12/29/2007 7:48:49 PM)
"February 2007 Bottle Date, Sampled December 2007
A vigorous pour yields a three finger thick, light tan colored head that sits on top of a dark, reddish-plum colored brew that shows a lightly hazy, pinkish tinged, full red color when held up to the light. The aroma is quite strange, it smells a bit green, perhaps a bit like completely un-ripened berries, with almost a leaf-like note to it. Behind this is some thin, grain-like character that is a bit grassy but with a touch of toast character to it. Quite a surprising aroma, with a bit of time it almost completely smells like thin malt.
The beer is quite full on the tongue, but does have a substantial carbonation which causes the beer to foam up as it crosses my tongue. The carbonation though does not really counteract the thick, viscous feel of this brew. As one might have guessed the beer is quite sweet, it is quite fruity as well but not in the way I would expect. Reminiscent of green grapes, sweet raisins, and a sort of fruity sharpness that seem most likely derived from the blueberries. The sweetness is not entirely fruit based as there is some substantial sweet malt character here; it is clean, like the sweetness from converted, but unfermented pale malt wort and it couples with lightly toasted grain notes and a soft biscuit character. This is quite a clean tasting brew, while the fruit is not more than a non-distinct berry-like character, both it and the malt are very cleanly expressed without much in the way of yeast or fermentation character.
This certainly hides its alcohol content quite well, other than being from Dogfish head, I never would have guessed it was 10% abv. This is really not all that great. I find it interesting how non-descript the fruit flavors in this beer were; I expected this from the blueberries, but figured I would get a good presence from the black raspberries. The aroma is almost completely devoid of fruit, except for an herbal, green grape character that is noticeable from time to time. I could imagine this being fermented by a characterful yeast and actually being quite good, as it is though it is a bit too bland for my taste buds. It is very well brewed / controlled and there is certainly not anything offensive about this beer (as long as you like sweet things).
Purchased: Plaza Liquors, Tucson AZ"
Aroma:
6/10
Appearance:
6/10
Mouthfeel:
6/10
Flavor:
6/10
Overall:
6/10
Final Rating, by Style:
(3)
Sampled: Bottle Sample Size: 750ml @ $0 Unit Cost: $0 per Pint
[4] Review by Phil B from Gatineau, Canada who has tried this beer once. (8/15/2007 2:27:20 PM)
"Bottle courtesy of John_adam2002: Poured a medium brown/reddish color ale with a medium foamy head with average retention and some lacing. Aroma of sweet grain is kind of weird. Taste is dominated by sweet malt with an unrefined grain taste which didn’t really agree with my taste buds. Body is pretty average with some medium carbonation and no alcohol was discernable. I couldn’t really taste much fruit or hops in this beer contrary to what the label advertised. Overall, I thought this was not bad but it wasn’t even close to being as great as what the label lead me to expect."
Aroma:
6/10
Appearance:
6/10
Mouthfeel:
6/10
Flavor:
6/10
Overall:
6/10
Final Rating, by Style:
(3)
Sampled: Bottle
Value of this beer for its style: Not Sure
[5] Review by rainman from Alexandria, VA, USA who has tried this beer once. (7/24/2007 7:50:24 PM)
"WOW! This sure put all those nasty tart sour-a$$ lambics to shame. Why drink those when you can have this? Described as a malt beverage, I'd say more fruit beer but the nice part is while it is definitely fruity, it's not annoying. Cranberry colored with a pink head. Berry notes are prominent. A solid beer all around, and for this category (fruit beers) is done quite nicely."
Aroma:
8/10
Appearance:
9/10
Mouthfeel:
8/10
Flavor:
9/10
Overall:
9/10
Final Rating, by Style:
(4.3)
Sampled: Bottle Sample Size: 25.6oz @ $11.99 Unit Cost: $7.49 per Pint
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(3.3)
