Wild Beer Co: Beavertown: Blubus Maximus (England: Sour Ale: 5.5% ABV)
Visual: Hazy red. Cherry hued large bubbled head.
Nose: Malt vinegar. Cream cheese and chives. Beef burger. Coriander. Fresh wholemeal bread. Peppermint.
Body: Lightly dry and acidic. Cumin. Dry blueberry. White wine. Bready. Crushed leaves. Blackcurrant.
Finish: Minty. Barkley husks. Leaves. Blackcurrant cordial. Carrot and coriander. Mixed nuts.
Conclusion: You know, I spent my first run through a glass of this trying to put my finger on that odd spice note that wrapped itself around the beer. It was intruding into every nook and cranny. Then I looked at the bottle and noticed it was made with bay leaves. In retrospect it should have been obvious.
That still doesn’t explain where the grilled beef burger notes came from, but I guess some mysteries must go unanswered. By the way, I am not kidding, pretty much my first though on encountering the aroma was “Who is grilling burgers?” It has that slightly fatty oily meat smell. But nice.
Anyway, all that description seems to lack is one big expected element. Blueberries. It is my way of saying a think they could have gone a tad lighter on the spice – this could pretty much be called Herbus Maximus instead of Blubus Maximus – it is that dominant.
Now, the blueberry, or at least dark fruit flavours, are there. Not heavily though – the main body is comparable to a not too sharp lambic. It has a similar wine like character and the fruitiness comes across subtly over that. In fact the base seems very impressive indeed – the problem is that it is hard to tell under the herbs and spices. It doesn’t make it a bad beer, but very different from the expectations give by the bottle and that does make it a weaker show than I thought it would be.
This becomes less of an issue, but still an issue, as it warms. The blueberries become bigger and sweeter as it warms and that is much needed – it is a much more robust beer near room temperature, by which I of course, mean non heat wave room temperature. We don’t want it boiling. With a lighter hand with the bay leaves then this could have been a very good beer – as is it is interesting, but flawed.
Background: Another fruit based collaboration after Rubus Maximus – this one with spell, blueberries, buckwheat and bay leaves. In the bottle it says “a **** ton of blueberries” So four ton I presume, that is the only thing that could mean. Drunk as the rain hammered down outside, temporarily breaking the heat wave for a while. I am not made for heat. Just saying. Grabbed from Independent Spirit. Of course.
