Dog Ate My Homework Blackberry Beer
This fruit-forward beer from Brouwerij West is a worthy pick
We can't decide what we adore most about Brouwerij West's latest beer release: what's inside the bottle, or what's on its outside.
The two-year-old Palos Verdes brewery debuted bottles of Dog Ate My Homework ($8 for 17 ounces) last month. The beer is a twist on the company's popular Saison Extra, boosted with the addition of a pound of blackberries per liter during the beer's secondary fermentation.
Contrary to what you might expect, jamming in all that fruit doesn't result in a syrupy-sweet beer. Instead, both wine and beer lovers will likely find themselves impressed by its complexity. The tart blackberry juice lends a lingering tannic brightness, while the saison yeast emits earthy aromas of spice and funk.
It is a brew that smells and tastes remarkably like the start of summer.
This isn't the first time that brewer Brian Mercer has marched to the beat of their own kettledrum. The duo are known for recruiting local artists to design eye-catching beer labels, including this bubbly mosaic by Jacob Rolfe.
Mercer and Brown aren't bad at naming beers, either. After cracking open one bottle of Dog Ate My Homework, we started inventing excuses to get our hands on another.
Available at bottle shops such as Sunset Beer Co., Buzz Wine & Beer Shop, K&L Wines and Whole Foods Markets.