Wild Blue
By Dad on June 10, 2008 @ 5 PM (13 Comments)
I saw this in a local store but waited till I could find it as a single after my experience with AB craft type beers.
Beer temp. 47.6F – 9.4C at 8% ABV. It poured a magenta-purple body with an 1 1/2 inch frothy head that I can only say was the color of a strawberry milkshake that dissipated quickly with fair head lacing. There was little carbonation and the body clarity had a dark, sparkling to normal look. The aromas were blueberry, cream, vanilla and (this one is kind of a stretch) pie (more on this later). The taste were the same all the way through. The initial flavors were moderate sweet and a light tart. The finish flavors were a harsh sweetness and a light tart. I could not find any bitterness from hops so must guess that there was little to none in it or were overpowered by the sweet. The mouthfeel was creamy, finish was short to medium and had a fair body lacing. On our malt to hop scale I gave it a 1 as I couldn’t find any hop bitterness. Repeatable yes, drinkable yes, balance no, harmony so-so, memorable yes (more later) wow factor no, buy again yes.
I must admit I liked it. The lovely Mrs. Beer Love did too. This bad boy needs to be drunk pretty cold though. The sweet part gets a little annoying as it warms. This is more like a wine cooler than a beer which is right up Sister Beer Love’s alley. In the Beer Love family about half of the birthday cakes were blueberry pie with Blue Bell (their motto: “We eat all we can and sell the rest”) vanilla ice cream on top. How many blueberry pies ala mode have an 8% ABV? Huh! I must admit I gave it a bonus point for nostalgia and maybe a half for ABV.
Wild Blue Rating: 5 out of 10 (?)
13 Comments (Add Your Comments)
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Not one for fruity beers but…..this is a great beer. 8%!!!! WWHHOOOOAAA!!!! I will drink more of this stuff in addition to my favorite Sam Adams choices. Glasses Up!!!
I searched and searched to try to figure out whether or not this was really an Anheuser-Busch beer. There’s no mention of it on the bottle or the 6 pack – just a few blurbs that it’s brewed and bottled by Blue Dawg Brewing in Baldwinsville, NY. We all know New York ain’t Missouri, but further investigation led me to find the real story – Blue Dawg Brewing is a group within Anheuser-Busch that is responsible for marketing, selling and advertising Wild Blue.
It’s a fairly smart approach – without doing some serious homework (Rate Beer and Beer Advocate both had it listed as an AB beer), the casual craft beer drinker will look at the bottle, find that it’s not a mass market property and will probably be more inclined to buy it and try it. It’s good branding 101 and a novel way to get us craft beer snobs to try something new. Even the Wild Blue web site (wildbluelager.com) has no mention of AB anywhere on it. It’s a fun beer and AB may be honing in on the formula to hit the craft market full force.
Wild Blue is a great beer. It was a little hard to swallow at first but after the first one, WOW. I love it and will drink a ggod bit of now.
Had it right when you called it a wine cooler. It is a astringent tasting wine cooler sold as a beer. It is a 1 or a 2 on a good day at the right occasion. Good ABV for the price but if you are craving a wine cooler, buy a wine cooler not a beer probably made with those plastic tube icy things.
I love this stuff! No, it’s not traditional beer and if that’s what you are expecting, you won’t like it. It’s somewhat similar to Sam Adams Cherry Wheat. If you don’t like fruity beers, you won’t like this one. It’s made with fruit, so yes, it’s sweet. Think before you buy!
I LOVE this beer! I am not a big beeer drinker so I finally found one that I can enjoy. Others were right, it’s not the usual beer. It is made with fruit so it is sweeter, but if you like blue berries, this is for you!
Last night, I couldn’t find my usual high-alcohol content beer, Golden Monkey, so I went for something new: Wild Blue. I was skeptical when I heard “blueberry beer,” because I’m really not into fruity drinks/beers, but at 8% alcohol I thought I’d give it a try. It took me about half an hour of complete taste-confusion to realize it was goddamn awesome. Yeah, it was sweet, and it’s nothing close to what I typically like in a beer (I’m a fan of porters and other beers that are so thick and bitter you could cut them with a knife).
Keeping an open mind, I ended up deciding Wild Blue is pretty damn acceptable stuff. The sweetness of the blueberry flavor was shocking at first, but it didn’t stick with me forever like the awfulness that is Mike’s Hard anything. I’d taste it, then the lager-y flavor kicked in and the sweet went away. I wasn’t haunted by blueberry all night. It also didn’t have that I’m-totally-gonna-kick-your-ass-and-we-both-know-it taste that a lot of high-alcohol content beers have, so it seems to have a tendency to sneak up on ya — but in a very good way. So yeah, Wild Blue. I totally get why it got terrible reviews, but I think it’s surprisingly decent. You just can’t drink it expecting it to be, well, beer.
If I ever have a friend over who claims to not like beer, Wild Blue might be a good gateway drink. And damn, you would NEVER know it’s 8% alcohol if it didn’t say so on the bottle, and then proceed to knock you flat on your ass. Never in a million years.
I like this beer – reminds me of some old style brew house that used whatever was around to make beer – in this day they had an abundance of blueberries. Sweet – and as previously observed – made to be consumed cold. As soon as it hits the shelves it is gone (at least from my favorite stores). So hopefully it will progress to being a somewhat mainstream brew that way I don’t have the fear of a good one getting away.
i love this beer and its applicable to all events, even when women come through. enough said!!
I love this beer!! Having a gluten sensitivity, I’ve had to look for other things to drink. I miss beer and I’ve tried other cidars beers that are just too sweet or have a funky after taste. I came across Wild Blue tonight and its great. It is sweet but still has Lager taste to me and no funky after taste. I wish more beer companies would offer gluten free products, as 1 in 133 people have it. So, thanks anheiser for giving me some options!!
Best beer i have ever tasted ! I am not kidding either . I have always been a huge fan of all beers,foreign and domestic . This one just blew my mind. Did not expect the flavor or the buzz to just kick through so cleanly. Somewhere out there is a genius who dreamt this beer up . I say to that person GOD bless you !
I really can’t see how anyone can stomach this stuff. I bought a 6 pack a while back. Took a couple of sips and was completely turned off.
Tasted artificial and cough syrupy.
Then tried gulping it…I spit it out almost immediately and dumped the rest of it down the drain.
Seriously the worst beer experience I’ve ever had. Do NOT buy.
I had this beer this past weekend and i must say i loved it.. and i had 4 beers and i was totally drunk.. i want more.. i bought it at walmart for a 6 pack it was $7.50. I will buy this beer again any day! AWESOME