Anheuser-Busch Wild Blue Blueberry Lager Review

Fruit- enhanced beers are not my forte, and I tend to avoid them whenever possible. There are, of course, a few exceptions to my general disliking of this genre of brew, and these exceptions are usually due to the fact that, while certainly fruity in flavor, these products still taste like a malt beverage. Then, there are the rest of the fruit- enhanced beer crowd: Those beers that taste more like fruit or wine than they taste like beer. The latter description is the one that applies quite well to Wild Blue Blueberry Lager, a fruit- enhanced beer from Anheuser- Busch.

Beer Commentary:

Wild Blue Blueberry Lager is reddish- purple in color and offers an unusual scent that combines blueberry, grain, and alcohol in a most un-enticing fashion. An attractive head of pink/purple foam forms quickly, but falls apart very fast and leaves no lacing.

Wild Blue Blueberry Lager has a flavor that combines blueberries, grape, and little else. The beer has an alcoholic, tart blueberry jam taste up front and in the middle, followed by the sweet flavor of blueberries with a touch of grape. If any hops are used to make Wild Blue Blueberry Lager, they are used sparingly or they are overwhelmed by the fruity flavor. According to the manufacturer, Wild Blue Blueberry Lager is brewed using two row and six row barley, along with Willamette and Hallertauer hops and natural blueberry. The alcohol level of this beer is higher than normal, weighing in at 8 percent by volume.

Like I alluded to above, I am not a big fan of fruity beer and Wild Blue Blueberry Lager has not changed my opinion on this matter. This beer is far too sweet and contains too much fruit flavor to take it seriously as a malt beverage product. Supposedly, Wild Blue Blueberry Lager is brewed using the same or similar ingredients found in most beer, like two- row and six- row barley malt, along with Hallertauer and Willamette hops. But you really have to search to find any hints of these beer ingredients. Wild Blue Blueberry Lager tastes more like a fruity wine than a malt beverage, and not a very good wine at that.

Not only is the flavor of Wild Blue Blueberry Lager forgettable, there are several deceptions used in the marketing that I don't appreciate. First of all, the label says this beer is brewed by Blue Dawg Brewing, but some quick research reveals that this is actually an Anheuser- Busch product. The motive here, I assume, is to make the public think they are purchasing a fine craft beer by using a make- believe brewery. This isn't the first time A-B has done this, and it certainly won't be the last. I also object to the use of both "Ale" and "Lager" on the label. Lager is part of Wild Blue Blueberry Lager's name, but turn the label to its side, and you will notice that it says it's a flavored ale. There is no discernable lager character to this beer, so once again, I think the use of the word "Lager" in the name was to help the beer sell. This product tastes like a type of ale, but since lagers sell better in the USA, Anheuser- Busch decided to deceptively use the word "Lager" in the title.  

As much as I dislike Wild Blue Blueberry Lager, I cannot rate it with one star because there are some good uses for this product, and I'm not referring to its possible use as drain opener or fragrant toilet bowl cleaner. Since it tastes like a sweet, fruity wine, it would make a good choice as an added ingredient for cooking with certain foods. Adding it to cooked, fruity desserts is one obvious choice. It would also make a good accompaniment to a homemade salad dressing or as an addition to homemade pasta sauce. The beer itself doesn't taste very good consumed as a beverage, but these flavors would be very good as ingredients in certain compatible foods.

Bottom Line Viewpoint:

Anheuser- Busch continues to attempt brewing craft beer, but they have only a few success stories and Wild Blue Blueberry Lager is certainly not one of them. It's like a combination of cheap wine, blueberry pancake syrup, and grape soda mixed together and fermented. It will likely be appreciated by those who don't really like beer very much and by those who prefer wine to beer. But for the rest of us, Wild Blue Blueberry Lager is a beer to avoid and one I hope A-B drops from its dismal lineup in a short time.