Beer Review: Mt. Pleasant Brewing Company Coal Stokers Blackberry

Name: Coal Stokers Blackberry
Brewery: Mt. Pleasant Brewing Company
Location: Mt. Pleasant, MI
Variety: Fruit Beer
ABV: 5.8%
Price: <$10

Fruit and beer can be a sketchy combination. Too often it is misused in mass-market beers in a feeble attempt to appeal to women and other "non-beer drinker" types (see Michelob Lime and Cactus) or to disguise bad beer with an overpowering gimmick (see Miller Chill). But, when done right, fruity beers can be a refreshing and new twist on traditional brews.

I've not tried any of Mt. Pleasant offerings before, but judging from their corrugated cardboard six-pack holders and simple labels they're one of the smaller outfits in Michigan. That's fine! As much as I am a sheep easily persuaded by flashy marketing, a beer is ultimately judged by what's in the bottle. I'd drink my favorite beers from a water-logged spare tire sitting in some redneck's backyard if I had to.



I haven't had a fruity beer in a while so I pick their Coal Stoker's Blackberry Ale. Funnily enough, the last fruit beer I had was Sam Adam's Blackberry Witbier, which was actually pretty tasty. The beer is pretty dark with a cloudy orange quality to it and a fair amount of sediment - actually quite reminiscent of juice. The head is off-white and fades quickly. The scent, again, is fairly juice-like. It smells like blackberries, though a good bit sweeter than most natural blackberries I've had.

The first taste made me say "Whoa!" It's VERY juice-like! (Seeing a pattern here?) It's sweet and tasty with just a lingering tinge of acidity that slowly fades. The fruit notes dominate to the point that the only clue I was drinking beer was the fact that I was getting nicely buzzed.

The six-pack holder stated that this was "beer first and fruit second" which isn't true. There's sweetness and good blackberry flavor here but not much else. However, this is a refreshing and tasty brew - sip it idly on a hot summer's day but don't expect it to redefine beer and fruit.

Rating: 6 out of 10

P.S. I let my non-beer drinking fiancee have a sip of this and she complained of a soapy taste. I didn't pick up on this, and she suspected that she made that connection because of the various fruity soaps she owns - one of which is blackberry sandalwood scented. Interesting how our own associations affect what we taste!