Beer: Blueberry Dreamboat
Brewery: Superstition Meadery (Prescott, AZ)
Style: Mead – Other
6.9% ABV / N/A IBU

Blueberry Dreamboat bills itself as a “hoppy milkshake session mead,” which is three adjectives you don’t normally see applied to mead, but all of them are truly spot on. The milkshake part comes from Superstition’s use of lactose and vanilla, producing a deliciously-drinkable mead that is both creamy and extremely fruit-forward. There’s tons of blueberry flavor and a decent amount of sweetness, which, in turn, is balanced out by the hops, both of which take the edge of the “medicinal” qualities produced by the mead brewing process.

Pretty much everything Superstitition Meadery is doing right now represents the next step in the evolution of mead. Hopping mead? Check. Barrel-aging mead? Check. Funky flavors? Check. They can make a peanut butter and jelly flavored mead and sell it for $100 a bottle and comfortably lay claim to their spot as one of the world’s elite producers of mead. But at the same time, the Prescott, AZ based meadery is also taking great stabs at producing meads that are both affordable and enticing for those than want more of a “beer” experience that an oenophile one.

Blueberry Dreamboat is about half of the ABV of Susperstition’s regular line of bottled meads. It’s also available in 18oz cans only, which means it’s designed to be consumed in one sitting like beer or cider. It’s perfect for splitting, because it’s still twice as strong as a comparable session beer. But as a solo drinking affair, Blueberry Dreamboat is still a really pleasurable experience, especially as it warms to room temperature and the flavor of the honey starts to emerge. As with the very best meads, you can actually taste the bee pollen (which is a bit floral and slightly bitter), resulting in a mead that’s unpretentious enough to pour straight from the can into your mouth.

For more info on Double Homestyle, please head here.