Brewview#26: Blueberry Ale by Rohrbach Brewing Company

Good evening to all my faithful readers and those that are dropping in for a first time Brewview. Welcome! This is an exciting one because it is from a brewery I have never written about before, Rorhbach Brewing Company. Rorhbach is based in Rochester, New York and has been cranking out excellent brews since 1991 and is known to be Rochester’s first craft brewery. Though my first beer from Rorhbach was their well known Scotch Ale, I am confident that I will not be displeased with their Blueberry Ale.

Brewer’s Introduction

Rohrbach kept it simple when providing us with a description of the Blueberry Ale, but I still believe it to be noteworthy. Coming straight from their website:

‘A blonde ale with subtle blueberry flavor added, crisp and clean with a noticeable hop presence.’

Again straight to the point, but sometimes things truly are better kept simple. I find it leaves more for the drinker to interpret and find what they enjoy about the beer.

This is gonna be good!

The Beer: Blueberry Ale by Rohrbach Brewing Company

ABV:  4.5% IBU: 14

That is all for our profile, let’s see what Rohrbach has in store for us.

Cracking the Can

With the pop of the can tab I am hit with simple, but noteworthy aromas. Just by pouring the Blueberry Ale into my glass the aromas intensified, but not to the extent of being overpowering. Now I’m sure this doesn’t come as a surprise, but there is a definite blueberry presence in the aroma. Backing the blueberry aroma is what I’m guessing to be a Pilsner or Wheat malt aroma. Putting it into more descriptive words is proving to be quite difficult, if I had to guess it’s almost a sweet malt aroma. I’ve found similar aromas in Kolschs and Wheat beers. It really gets your mouth watering, turning your anticipation into a ticking time bomb.

Accompanying these fantastic aromas is an excellent three finger head that leaves some residue on the side of my glass as it disappears. Both signs of a good beer, not to my surprise coming from Rohrbach. Moving down from the head, the color of the Blueberry Ale is an enticing pale golden straw color. Crystal clear? I’m not thinking so, it appears to have a minimal haziness to it. Which if my thoughts are correct, correlating with the aromas, this may be from a Pislner or Wheat malt. The energy behind this beer is exemplary, highly carbonated with more bubbles emerging with every sip.

Phase of Indulgence

Before we get to the nitty gritty aspects of the flavor, yes, there is some blueberry flavor to it. (Were we not expecting that? :D) I must agree with Rohrbach’s description, the blueberry flavor is very subtle though. There is a lot more to this beer than just the blueberries. With every sip I am getting a mixture of creamy, wheat, and Kolsch flavors. I’m finding it hard to put my finger on if it’s a combination of the three or just a strong prevalence of one. Simply put, I am finding this beer highly enjoyable. Thankfully this beer came in a pint can or I’d finish it before concluding this Brewview. Wouldn’t that suck? Past the mixture of  flavors is a crisp, dry finish leaving behind a slight creamy feeling in my mouth. Most importantly, it’s leaving me wanting more. I must emphasize how easily I am finding it to increase my enjoyment and decrease the beer in my glass. The IBU rating of 14 is spot on if you ask me.

Closing Time

I’m going to go out on a whim and say it was quite easy for you to see how much I enjoyed Rohrbach’s Blueberry Ale. I can’t emphasize enough how delicious this beer truly was. With this being my first time indulging, popping my blueberry haha, I am finishing this beer being quite satisfied and looking for my next beer from Rohrbach to Brewview! The subtlety of the blueberry presence with the wheat and Kolsch flavors as well  was an excellent experience. Some of the previous fruit beers I’ve had in the past have been too overwhelming with the fruit flavors that they lose the beer taste altogether. In my opinion, take it for what it is, those beers lost their title as beers. In conclusion my final rating for Rohrbach Blueberry Ale is a 4.25/5.

With that being said, I’ve been having some thoughts on ridding my future Brewviews of the number ratings system. When I first began I used it in collaboration with my Untappd app, but I think I’m finding myself less inclined lately. Truly, I feel if my Brewviews are an accomplishment they should qualify as my rating system. In simpler terms, would I get the beer again? In Blueberry Ale’s case, absolutely!

Thank you Rohrbach Brewing Company for brewing such a delicious and refreshing beer. I hope my wife and I can find some time to travel to Rochester and raise a glass with you!

Thanks for reading! I truly enjoy writing these and hope you enjoy reading them just as much. Please feel free to comment or suggest a beer for a future Brewview.

As always may your glass always be bottomless. Cheers!