Style: Sour beer with blueberries
Brewery: Ability Brewing
Origin: Sweden
Size: 75cl
Alcohol: 6.7%
Price: 75kr
Systembolaget: 37364
This was another beer that I couldn’t actually find much information about, which is a shame as it seems fascinating. I do know that this is brewed at Malmö Brewery under the Ability Drinks brand and is brewed with pilsner and wheat malts and soured using Lactobacillus and Brettanomyces bacteria. After primary fermentation, it is moved into a second tank with blueberries and secondary fermentation takes place for another 6 months. It must be said I’m very happy I had this in the tasting as this was a rather interesting beer! This was paired with blueberry chocolate from Nordic Chocolate.
This poured a clear dark red colour with an attractive pink head that hung around for a fair amount of time. It was highly carbonated and had a fairly medium body. It had an interesting mix of aromas, including hay, barnyard, blueberry, yoghurt and cherry, which heavily divided the opinion in the tasting between the guests. There was a fruity sweetness as it hit the tongue, but that faded quickly into a sourness that lasted long after swallowing. The blueberry notes were present throughout, which is impressive as some blueberry beers I’ve tried have been somewhat lacking in that department.
This was an interesting beer, but some people were put off by the barnyard straw and wool notes that accompanied it. If you don’t mind those however, this was a rather nice beer, if not quite challenging. As it comes in a 75cl bottle, I would highly recommend this as a sharing beer, because drinking a whole bottle of this on your own in one sitting might be a bit much for even the most ardent fan.