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Here’s a beer that probably won’t impress a lot of beer geeks: Laughing Dog Huckleberry Cream Ale. Lucky for me, though, I’m not a beer geek, at least not of the snobbish variety. I’m just a guy that loves beer. Why do I say it won’t impress the beer geeks? Generally they seem to eschew fruit beers, and that seems to be the case more so these days than ever before.
I love fruit beers myself, especially in the warm weather. And as the thermometer keeps rising here in Georgia this mid-June, I can say that I very much enjoyed a cold glass of Laughing Dog Huckleberry Cream Ale with a thick juicy steak on Father’s Day. It was crisp and refreshing and the perfect first beer of the night.
Interestingly enough, my bottle and the Laughing Dog Website call this a summer seasonal, but the website also calls it a year-round beer, too. Perhaps it now is. From the bottle label:
The huckleberry is native to the Pacific Northwest and is prized for its sweetness and texture. To celebrate summer and the huckleberry picking season, we have blended real huckleberries with our cream ale.
Laughing Dog Huckleberry Cream Ale has an alcohol content of 5% by volume (according to the bottle, the website says 5.5%). It has just 12 IBUs, but again this is a fruit beer so that makes sense. It runs $8.99 a six-pack in these parts.
Laughing Dog Huckleberry Cream Ale pours to a bright yellow color with a medium sized head of rocky foam and an appetizingly fruity nose of cream and tart ripe berries. Taking a sip, I get a very smooth and creamy body tempered with tart refreshing wheat and the fruity, juicy berries come through in the palate too. Finishes tart and refreshing.
Laughing Dog Huckleberry Cream Ale isn’t cloying or sweet and accents that tartness of the wheat and the berries. That makes it very refreshing indeed.
I’d give this one 3 and a half stars as fruit beers go, for flavor, style adherence and value.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft
