Smuttynose Brewing Company Blackberry Short Weisse

__Aroma:__ “Big juicy candy mango and peach, with funky ripe tones and citrusy notes. Fruit-forward, with stone-fruit characteristics, including light esters, floral notes (blueberry, rose, orange, and strawberry). Underlying grassy, herbal, earthy hops notes, but not as much hops as expected. Low malt with hints of bread and toast.” __Flavor:__ “The mango comes through well, but the hops are understated so that at first, it expresses itself as more of a mango American wheat. At the end of the swallow, a low bitterness lingers briefly, bringing forth the IPA character. Moderate sweetness, with supporting malt, if a little thin, and dry overall.” __Overall:__ “This beer doesn’t know what it wants to be: wheat, pale ale, or IPA. The flavors are muddled, with the mango coming through as peach and indistinct fruits. Without knowing it’s a mango IPA, I wouldn’t have guessed. The hops bitterness was right and the malt supported it nicely—it was balanced and pleasant.”

“It delivers on what it says it is. Hops bitterness cuts through the somewhat artificial nectar-like sweetness, and the moderate carbonation serves to clean things up on the palate to strip any residual sweetness. If you dig ‘mango beers,’ this is your beer!”

**Aroma:** “Big ripe and underripe blueberry notes, with a hint of lemon and some earthiness. There’s a lot of earthy funk that’s musty and dusty.” **Flavor:** “A bit of underripe blueberry, which is accentuated by the dry acidity and lemon notes, almost lending a hint of vegetal. More ripe juicy blueberry comes through afterward, and the finish is balanced with both fruit and tartness lingering just a touch but not too much. Very light malt support that’s cracker-like, and light body with a dry finish.” **Overall:** “A unique use of fruit, but a bit vegetal, and not as juicy/jammy as would be expected given the color. The berry shows up in the aroma more than the flavor—great fruit expression, not enough tartness for a real sourhead, but a good base beer to support.”