Still working my way through that Sam Adams Summer variety pack. I was rather looking forward to the Sam Adams Blackberry Witbier; I like Sam Adams, I like wit biers and I'm very fond of blackberries—and not just because I'm living in state that, as far as I can tell, is held together by the ubiquitous invasive Himalayan blackberry vines.

Wit Biers are, well, "white beers." Wit bier is a Belgian brewing style; the beers are generally made with wheat as well as malt in in the mash, but the name derives from the fact that the beer tends to be cloudy or "white" because it's unfiltered. Wit biers are also traditionally made with spices or flavorings like coriander, orange or other citrus, or fruit, as part of the brewing process.

Sam Adams introduced their Blackberry Witbier in 2008, when it was a contender in the 2008 Beer Lover's Choice program, wherein Sam Adams brewers asked customers to pick which beer to add to the brewery's lineup (Blackberry Witbier beat Coffed Stout by 60 percent of the votes). It's made with two-row Harrington and Metcalfe malts, as well as malted wheat, and flavored with Hallertau Mittelfrueh Noble hops, orange peel, coriander and Marion berries from small family farms near Western Oregon's Cascade Mountains.

It's a pale cloudy gold in the glass, with a thin head, and noticeably fruity in aroma, with the blackberry note being most distinct, but there's a hint of the citrus too. I'm afraid I really did not like this beer. At all. The blackberry, or really, marion berries, tasted artifical, as if they had added sweetened juice after brewing. It was weak, even watery, and it smelled more like acidic Swee Tarts than a lightly hopped witbier. It's a session-neighboring 5.5% ABV, but honestly, I'd never want a second one. For some alternate opinions, look here. Personally, I'm now wondering what the Coffee Stout was like.