Bar Harbor Blueberry Ale from Atlantic Brewing Company

By Don

Rick came over for a "beer sampling night" a few weeks back.  That's when he brings over a cooler of the single bottles that he has and I grab the single bottles out of my beer fridge and we do some trading and sampling.  One of the brews Rick pulled out of his cooler was Bar Harbor Blueberry Ale.

It instantly took me back to a great family vacation from the Summer of 2006.

We rented a house in Port Clyde, Maine with our friends the Germans.  (That's their last name, not their nationality.)  It was a really great house right on the harbor and within walking distance into the little fishing village of Port Clyde.  This was an incredible week spent with good friends.  My friend John and I went down to the docks and bought fresh live lobsters soon after they were caught.  The house came complete with lobster pots and all necessary utensils.

There was a really cool store in town -- the Port Clyde General Store.  One day, I was back at the beer coolers trying to decide what local brew to try.  Someone walked up next to me, opened up the cooler door and took a couple individual bottles out of a 6 pack and walked up to the cash register.  WHAT?!?!  I live in Pennsylvania where you have to show 8 forms of ID and promise the cashier that you won't drink more than two just to buy a 6-pack.  What was this guy doing?

I walked up to the counter and asked the nice lady what the rules were on purchasing beer.  She explained to me that I could make up my own 6-pack if I wanted and they would just charge me based on what beer I was buying.  AM I IN HEAVEN???

I rushed back to the cooler and started making up a 6-pack of local brews.  One of the bottles that I picked up was Bar Harbor Blueberry Ale from Atlantic Brewing Company of Bar Harbor, Maine.  My wife Lori and I also have a soft spot in our hearts for Maine because we spent some of our honeymoon there and went to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park.

Ok, back to the present.

Rick gave me the bottle of Blueberry Ale and I stashed it away in my beer fridge.

Lori made a new pasta dish tonight with fresh grape tomatoes and spinach.  I went down to the beer fridge and remembered that I had the Blueberry Ale.  Typically, fruited beers might be more of an after dinner treat or are only good with certain meals.  I was a bit hesitant at first, but I really want to "refresh" my memory (and my palate) of my old friend from Maine.

The Atlantic Brewing Company website really says it best about this one when they say that it has a slight aroma of Maine wild blueberries without the sweet aftertaste.  That was the first thing I thought after tasting this one again.  It's a really nice drinking ale.  It had a clear golden appearance and a nice frothy head that dissipated fairly quickly.  You get the aroma of the blueberries when you bring the glass to your lips but Blueberry Ale just gives you a hint of the taste.  It's not overwhelming.

5.2% ABV on this one.  It actually went well with the grape tomatoes in my pasta.  This isn't a "sipping beer."  You can take some nice gulps of this one.

Someday I'll make it back to Port Clyde and back to the Port Clyde General Store.  I'll fix myself up a 6-pack and throw in a Bar Harbor Blueberry Ale.

Just for old times sake!

Cheers!