Widmer Brothers: Brothers' Reserve Prickly Pear Braggot

[d.j.patterson]

I found this at my LHBS/six-pack shop. I was really excited to see a braggot in the cooler. It is a limited release for Spring 2010. Here is a link.

I have to preface this by saying I have never tasted a braggot before, so I wasn't sure what to expect.

Initial thought: That is REALLY bitter! I couldn't even taste that it had honey in it.

After the initial shock: There is definately an earthy taste from the prickly pear, which was pleasant. The honey flavor and aroma have been trounced by the hops. There was only a hint of it at the very end of the finish.

After letting half the bottle warm to about 60*F: Now there is a little more hint of sweetness from the honey, though in my opinion far too understated. The bitterness has subsided some, but I am not sure if this was due to the serving temperature or that the carbonation had decreased from being open for a while. The prickly pear came through much more at this temp and was rather pleasant.

Overall: I don't really care for a heavily hopped beer, so that affects my overall feel for this braggot. If you enjoy a good bit of bitterness in your beer, than you may really enjoy this one.

 

[akueck]

Strange, they list the IBUs as only 20, which I'd consider a moderately low hopping rate (flavor threshold is in the neighborhood of 10). Your typical "pale ale" is going to have probably at least 30 IBUs, unless you live in CA and then that number is more likely 45.

 

[Olaf]

I tried that a couple weeks ago, I did not think that the 22 oz bottle was worth 10 bucks. That being said, the fruit was present and interesting, honey was muted and the underlying beer was uninspired.

I was not as impressed as I hoped, but I am displaying the empty bottle in my brewing room.

Also, a suggestion... don't try to drink the whole bottle in one sitting without help, my wife had to wake me up to go to bed!


Olaf

 

[wildaho]

I tried it on draft a couple of weeks ago. I really expected to find more honey character than it had. The prickly pear was very subdued as well. Hops were the dominant note for sure although the level was not all that high. Sadly unbalanced but still quaffable.

 

[d.j.patterson]

I like wildaho's description better of being "sadly unbalanced". I thought it was strange how much the hops were in the forefront given that the IBU's are listed at 20.

I routinely enjoy Pale Ales and Hefe's with IBU's listed at 40 or 50 so I'm not sure why the hoppiness and bitterness of this came through so strongly.

edit: so in short I guess I shouldn't say that I don't like an overly hopped beer. I should just say the the hop needs to be balanced and not the primary flavor.