Violet Beauregarde - Blueberry Hefeweizen

Violet! You’re turning violet, Violet!

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory’s gum chewing, blueberry turning, Oompa-Loompa juiced character is the inspiration for name of The Neverending Beer Factory’s delicious blueberry hefeweizen.  I know what you’re thinking – “blueberry beer?!?”  But stay with me.  Granted, most beer drinkers are not big fans of fruit in their beer (us included), but that’s because most fruit beers take the fruitiness way too far or manage to combine the flavor of beer and fruit into an reminder of mom’s cough medicine (looking at you Cherry Wheat).  But, if you manage to find the right balance, a fruit beer can be tasty and refreshing.

That was the goal when we set to the task of creating a beer that one of our (typically not a beer fan) wives would enjoy.  She’s a hefeweizen and blueberry fan so we thought of brewing her something like that.  We were very hesitant at first, I mean, there aren’t very many drinkable fruit beers out there, but with our experience we figured if anyone could do it, we could (self high fives).  So with a pot full of wort, cinnamon, and overflowing blueberries, we gave it a shot worthy of Willy Wonka’s praise.

The first pour of our brand new beer was incredible – cloudy, dark purple beer under a light pink head.  I realize that sounds extremely girly, but it’s a blueberry hefeweizen so what did you expect?  The fact that it was a color that we had never seen in a beer before was really cool.  Since she was the one it was brewed for, we let Brenda try it first – she was instantly in love and wouldn’t put the glass down. That was a very good sign, but how would we (or any fruit beer skeptic) react?  We took sips…it was delicious.  The blueberry and cinnamon made it taste like a blueberry pie. But to us, it wasn’t beery enough.  Despite Brenda’s protests, we decided to tweak the recipe a little the second time with a little more cinnamon and a little less blueberry.  Brenda hated it.  So for our third (and what turned out to be final) tweak we found the perfect balance.  It still as the quality that is beer, with a nice hint of blueberries that makes it light and refreshing.  

It’s Brenda’s favorite beer.

Brandon’s quote: “Perfect for a hot summer day, plus a happy wife makes a happy life”

Joey’s quote: “A beer that Sylvester Stallone AND Orlando Bloom can enjoy proves the right balance of masculinity and feminine-arrow-shooting was achieved. Plus, a happy brewery co-owner’s wife makes a happy life.”