Beer of the Week: Blackberry Pie

From the Beer Writer: After a year spent in varying states of quarantine staving off a global pandemic, most people are looking for any excuse to celebrate something, to bring a glint of added joy into this challenging way of life. I used to poo-poo fringe “holidays” like Pi Day. I mean, I hated math classes growing up and three days after March 14 (3.14, get it…yeah, it’s really not that funny) comes one of the biggest, beeriest days of the year (thanks, Ireland!). But after 363 days spent at home, I feel like a Pi Day enthusiast, not so much because I’ve thawed to geometry or boned up on the Greek alphabet while locked down, but because Rancho Bernardo brewpub Abnormal Beer Co. embraces three things I love as part of its anniversary: sour ales, dessert and homonyms. For them, Pi Day is “Pie Day” and, this year, they’ve canned a trio of pie-inspired beers built on a 6.8% alcohol-by-volume imperial Berliner weisse base. This week’s featured beer, Blackberry Pie, has fruity, rounded tartness thanks to the addition of blackberries, but there’s more to this kettle sour than acidity. Head Brewer Nyle Molina and company add cinnamon and vanilla to emulate a crust, providing a subtle, balancing graham-cracker nuance in the finish. Most people celebrate special occasions with cake, but Abnormal’s pie beers make for a suitable (if not perfectly apt, given the “holiday”) substitute.

From the Brewer: “Every March at Abnormal, we celebrate not only our anniversary but also the mathematical number pi with, you guessed it…pie! Back for another year of beer-eating pie contests? I don’t know what that means either. I’m just too excited to be drinking this vibrantly dark-pink Blackberry Pie as well as our tart Key Lime Pie and refreshing Lemon Meringue Pie. We take a pie crust base of vanilla and cinnamon, then add the individual fruits to our tanks of kettle sour, and what you get is a slice of pie in every glass. Enjoy your favorite or collect all three! Also, look out for our new anniversary IPA, Sixth Course, which features some rad experimental hops and, cans permitting, (fingers crossed), drops later this month. Cheers to six years!”—Nyle Molina, Head Brewer, Abnormal Beer Co.