“Blue – as in the color of Windex.
As in a color you wouldn’t put in your mouth unless you are the sort of idiot who participates in the "Tide Pod Challenge.”
Russell said about 100 “Uber Beer Geeks” were lined up for the opening of a new brewery in a Hatfield warehouse. Imprint Beer Co. had created the blue beer along with several other exotic brews.
Russell mentions a “black stout made with Double Stuf Oreos” and a "scarlet gose with passion fruit and hibiscus petals.”
We’ll try to define gose later but first the cringe-worthy blue beer called “Little Hugs.”
If you have small children you might know that Hugs is a drink which comes in eight-ounce barrel-shaped plastic bottles that Russell calls ‘kitty juice.”
The new brewery used 800 bottles of blue raspberry flavored Little Hugs which is made with the same sweetener as Splenda and tarylmethane food coloring. The beer is only three percent alcohol.
Having described it, the intrepid Russell had to drink a mug for his readers.
He wrote three short sentences:
“It’s sweet with a slightly tart finish. I did not spit it out. It did not turn my tongue blue.”
The owner of Imprint beer told Russell the blue beer was a gimmick to “build excitement.”
Apparently, any new and creative brewery will attract beer geeks from miles around just as foodies flock to the latest Albanian or Yemeni restaurant.
This summer the hot beer among the beer avant-garde is a salty, sour German brew called gose. A lot of coriander and salt goes into this brew.
Can liverwurst-rutabaga beer be next?
We’ll end this with a memory that does back eight or nine years...
Eating lunch in a bar on South Street that listed at least 50 bottled beers from many countries, we asked the bartender which was the biggest seller. He didn’t hesitate – Budweiser.
- more from Don's Philly Beer World Blog