Brewery – Braxton
Beer – Graeter’s Blueberry Pie Brown Ale
Style – Brown Ale
ABV – 7%
IBUs – 24

This beer is inspired by Elena’s Blueberry Pie Ice Cream, a flavor named for 6-year-old Elena Desserich who lost her battle with cancer in 2007.  Now Graeter’s offers the flavor once a year to raise money for The Cure Starts Now.

How do you take the success of the Braxton/Graeters collaboration that was Black Raspberry Chip and take it to another level?  Well… if you’re the duo of the brewery and the ice cream maker, you use the next collaboration to not just create something delicous, but to help The Cure Starts Now.

The beer was first released in cans and draft in the Braxton taproom on September 9th, 2017 – but the brewing team at Braxton worked on perfecting the recipe since May of that year.  They took this one really seriously, not just because of the importance of the charity involved, but also because of the dedicated fan base that LOVES this ice cream (which is called Elena’s Blueberry Pie).  You can’t screw this up.

My Thoughts On Braxton Graeters Blueberry Pie Brown Ale

It’s easy to think that this beer is going to be a ‘gimmick’, especially after the success of the first Braxon/Graeters collaboration.  Maybe, in some ways it is… but I’m ok with a gimmick if it’s good, and this beer is good.

It’s nothing that will surprise you to look at when you pour it.  Brown, with some lighter almost red to it.

The aromas shine with graham crackery bread followed up by a bright punch of blueberry.  The beer is an awesome treat for the nose.

The flavor, though?  Holy smokes.  It’s less to me like blueberry ice cream, and way more like a blueberry pie in a glass.  There’s a ton of flavor packed into this glass, and every one of those flavors makes me very happy.