Sea Dog Blueberry Wheat

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david_42

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I'm not a fan of fruit beers, nor wheats; but I AM a big fan of all things blueberry, so when I ran across Sea Dog Blueberry Wheat (Pugsley Brewing Portland Maine) at Trader Joe's today I had to buy a six. I would say this is a good fruit beer. The blueberry is more an aroma than a flavor, which is exactly how I like it. Not at all sweet or upfront. The blueberry is also there as an aftertaste.

I'll have another after dinner. I went through the first bottle rather quickly.
 
I'm pretty sure a recipe for this was in 'The Replicator' column of BYO several issues ago.
 
Actually, I suspect most people who like fruit wheats won't like this for exactly the reasons I like it.
 
I don't think I've ever tried Sea Dog, but I don't like wheat beers, or fruit beers, as a rule. I think fruited wheat beers would be even worse.

If it tastes like beer with a hint of blueberry aroma, that might be good. I got a blueberry beer (can't remember if it was a wheat beer or not) at the Shipyard in Ft. Lauderdale. It was blueberry juice with beer flavoring, with many blueberries floating in it. My daughter took a sip and loved it (she was about 15 at the time- don't turn me in) and I couldn't get it down. Since then, I've stayed away from fruit beers. I should probably try this one, since it sounds like it's not like my previous blueberry beers. I'm so tight with my money, though, I couldn't buy a six pack of something I don't know I'd like. I'll have to bum it off my friends.

Lorena
 
It's not that bad for what it is. Meaning, as David describes, the flavors and aromas seem to be where they should be in the beer. I liked it. Probably wouldn't buy it, but then again I might. I guess if the mood struck me. 'Course we don't get it here, at least that I know of. Probably in one of the bars like Zeno's, but I haven't seen it in any bottle shops etc. You know I was listening to that podcast on pairing food and beer. They talked about a peach beer float. This would be a tremendous candidate for a beer float, with perhaps a really rich vanilla ice cream (haagen daaz would work, but I'd just make some for it) or even a blueberry ice cream if you wanted it really intense.
 
david_42 said:
I'm not a fan of fruit beers, nor wheats; but I AM a big fan of all things blueberry, so when I ran across Sea Dog Blueberry Wheat (Pugsley Brewing Portland Maine) at Trader Joe's today I had to buy a six. I would say this is a good fruit beer. The blueberry is more an aroma than a flavor, which is exactly how I like it. Not at all sweet or upfront. The blueberry is also there as an aftertaste.

I'll have another after dinner. I went through the first bottle rather quickly.

I'll have to try it. I have a similar philosophy about flavored coffees. Should be a rumor of berry/hazelnut/etc flavor.

The best adjuncts are the ones that leave you guessing... wow that was good what the heck was it?
 
olllllo said:
The best adjuncts are the ones that leave you guessing... wow that was good what the heck was it?

Same thing with food, I have found. Something hits your palate and you have to think about it, I like that. The frugal hand!
 
Last year, when I was out in Western Massachusetts my wife and I went to a little bar our in Amherst. At the time they were serving this blueberry microbrew that actually had blueberrys floating in it. It was marvelous. The wife doesn't usually like beer, but she ended up tanking down two like a champ.
 
I finally got around to having this and d_42 is right on about it.
I can only add that my enjoyment of this beer stems from the fact that the blueberry sweetness is a very deep sweetness (read matches well with the malt) and does not have the tartness that other berries have.
 
Seadog in generally is a great brewery. Very tasty IPA they have.
 
I bought a sixer of their apricot wheat a few weeks ago, just cuz I was in the mood....tasted like fruit extract flavoring...guess the blueberry is better.
 
I did not expect to like the Sea Dog Blueberry...but I bought it in a mixed 6-pack of different beers to try..

I figured it would be to sweet or overpowering on the blueberry.....however I am PLEASANTLY surprised....it is a smooth beer with just a hint of blueberry smell and flavor....very very good. I would love to be able to replicate this in a home brew!

My search for a recipe continues......
 
All those Seadog fruit/wheat beers are the same base beer with some extract/flavoring added after fermentation. I generally am not a fruit beer person either but the Blueberry is not bad (never tried the others).
 
All those Seadog fruit/wheat beers are the same base beer with some extract/flavoring added after fermentation.

Yep. Has to make it easy on the brewers...just make a ridiculous amount of the wheat beer base and create raspberry, blueberry, apricot beers from it.
 
Just an update that I've recently brewed the replicator clone of this (posted a few responses up). I haven't done a side by side, but from memory, the base beer (prior to adding any flavoring) tasted spot on. Sea Dog is on the higher side of carbonation and the blueberry isn't overwhelming. After mail ordering away for some fancy blueberry extract and not being happy after taste testing in a pint, I simply picked up the "cheap stuff" at the LHBS. Might be Carlson - I can double check if needed. Anyway, I added about a 1/3 of a bottle (or a hair more) into the keg and then went away for a week. I think the level of blueberry is just right. I have it at about 2.8 volumes and I think it needs to go a little higher to mimic the commercial version. Since I did the set it and forget it carbonation method, I'm going to wait another week before upping it though just in case it's not fully equalized out yet. Overall, I'm really happy with the results. I'll look to do a side by side in the coming month or so (if it lasts!). :)
 
Just an update. Tasting side by side with the clone recipe, I find the original to be a good bit sweeter, darker, and the blueberry flavoring to be more deep / complex. The sweet and dark I think can be addressed, the flavoring would need to found via another type of extract or possibly using fresh blueberries (although I doubt that's what Sea Dog uses).
 
So how would you go about addressing the sweet and darkness? I love this beer and i definitely want to clone it soon.
 
So how would you go about addressing the sweet and darkness? I love this beer and i definitely want to clone it soon.

Below is a pic of the two beers. The Sea Dog is on the right. For darkness you can always add another little pinch of chocolate to get it darker. For the sweetness I'd suggest adding a little deeper / rich sweetness like a little higher crystal, possibly like an 80. The amounts will be trial and error. I'd suggest something making the chocolate about 1% of the total grain bill (ie. 1.5oz or so) and the C80 about 7-8% (~1 lb) as a start.

Good luck!

20110902-WP_000665.jpg
 
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