Looking for advice for Wild Blue clone...

Hello all... been trying to get the SWMBO to fully appreciate homebrewing and have been unable to do so up until this point. She's a big fan of Sam Adam's Summer Ale, but her favorite beer is Wild Blue. This is a blueberry lager made by AB. Although this beer does not have very good ratings on Beer Advisor, I really don't mind it much and the SWMBO LOVES it.

Here's my question... it is a slightly higher ABV lager than normal. Does anyone have a good, clean lager recipe that may go well with a blueberry flavoring? I'm just looking for a nice base recipe in order to build this blueberry beer from.

Also, I've been going through "Designing Great Beers" and in particular their fruit beer section. It's funny, there is absolutely no mention of using blueberries in beer. Through searching on HBT, I haven't really found a good method of extracting the best flavors from blueberries. What do you guys recommend? I was thinking about a few pounds of blueberries and then possibly adding some extract for more flavor. Any thoughts on this?

It's 8% ABV, which is pretty big. It's also really heavy on the blueberry (I thought it tasted almost as much like punch as beer).

I can't give you a recipe or anything, other than to say that mixing blueberry extract w/ fresh blueberries is a good idea. I think Randy Mosher recommends it in Radical Brewing if you cannot afford tons of blueberries (though I'd bet A-B doesn't use any actual blueberries).

You could possibly do this with an ale base, possibly using Nottingham or something. I don't recall the beer having much flavor coming through beside the fruit.

Tasted like some kind of blueberry cider or something to me, straight up terrible. I would check out that blueberry pie filling that comes in a can. I second the thought that AB doesn't use any real blueberries.

Thanks for the advice guys... I think I may try that, double-up with both fresh fruits and extract. You're right clemson, it does kinda taste like a blueberry cider or even a punch! I'm personally not a huge fan, but I'd love to see the SWMBO go to the kegerator and pour a pint of anything I make. This will be the best shot at getting her to do so.

rsmith179 said:

Thanks for the advice guys... I think I may try that, double-up with both fresh fruits and extract. You're right clemson, it does kinda taste like a blueberry cider or even a punch! I'm personally not a huge fan, but I'd love to see the SWMBO go to the kegerator and pour a pint of anything I make. This will be the best shot at getting her to do so.

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So I know it has been a while on this thread; kind of like reviving the dead. But I have the same issue; I got to get SWMBO a brew!

How did this work?

Can I get a detailed recipe for us not as advanced as others?