Beer Review: Sea Dog Apricot Wheat

Serving Type: Bottle

ABV: 4.6 percent

Appearance: Sea Dog Apricot Wheat pours a dark copper, somewhat reminiscent of a glass of apple juice upon the initial gaze. There is a minuscule white head that is there for just a few seconds before it disappears. There isn't much visible carbonation. The beer looks sort of flat, weak and you can see almost anything through it. Take a look and you can read "Guinness" on the other side of the pint glass.

Smell: Fruits come to the forefront in this beer's aroma. Apricot is the heaviest scent, followed by a slight peachiness. There's also a decent backbone of wheat and maltiness that gives you some the hint of a crusty/fruity dessert.

Taste: Both the apricot and the wheat I found in the smell come through big time in the taste. Very sweet and fruity on the front, yet very pale and malty on the back. Reminded me of something such as a peach/apricot cobbler. My only complaint is that the apricot might have been too sweet.

Overall Rating: 

Didn't start off to well with this beer, but the smell and taste made up for something in the scoring department. If you follow a decent amount of my beer reviews then you know about my "Pie Theory" when it comes to fruity beers. If I can feel like I'm taking a juicy bite into a slice or section of a thick fruit pastry then a beer always scores some bonus points in my book.

Beer Review: Sea Dog Wild Blueberry Ale

Serving Type: Bottle

ABV: 4.6 percent

Appearance: Wild Blueberry Ale pours a light chroma of copper with a few golden highlights. This brew was more in the middle on a scale of darker stained and blond blueberry ales. Overall, a pretty color. There's a decent white head that has amazing retention. It'll stay atop the brew for the entire drink.

Smell: The blueberries are prevalent in this brew's aroma. Not only do you get some of the tartness, you get the fruit's sweetness as well. There's also a bit of grain and breadiness that gives you some pie/dessert effect (I need to officially name this theory soon). Through the appearance and smell, I'm envisioning biting into a thick and full blueberry pie. With the extra sweetness I picked up in the aroma, I mentally sprinkled some sugar atop the crust that caramelized during baking!

Taste: The taste was a home run. The blueberries are at the forefront, as they should be. It's a perfect combination of sweetness and tartness. The breadiness jumps in as a secondary flavor and acts as a good backbone to the fruit you get on the front. A very slight hop finish puts the explanation point on this beer.

Overall Rating: 

This is an all-timer for me. It's in my top-10 as a matter of fact. A fabulous fruit beer. Sweet and tart blueberries plus a nice malty backbone. If you have a special event such as a wedding in a summer, I highly recommend this. This is the last of the blueberry ales I was lucky enough to try this summer. It's fitting that I cram them all in now as this is the last day of August.