The best milkshake we ever tried was had about eight years ago in Spokane, Wash., in a diner shaped like a giant milk bottle. It was a huckleberry shake, and the relatively gentle, mild character of the berries made their flavor a subtle accent to the shake’s vanilla ice cream. The berry flavor was a passenger, not a co-pilot, but its essence made the whole package a great deal more interesting and enjoyable.
That same underspoken subtlety comes through in the new Lift Bridge Brewing / Odell Brewing Peaks & Prairies pale ale, a beer that incorporates wheat, Minnesota blue corn, and Colorado huckleberries. The brew (shown above making an appearance at a local D&D night) pours a disconcerting berry red, but the flavor of huckleberries is mellow enough that it’s a cheerful, soft-spoken member of the beer’s flavor team rather than being its order-barking captain. There isn’t too much of a hop presence, which means that the mellow flavor of the huckleberries can be enjoyed without too much astringent interference, but the brew has enough of a body that it’s not a throwaway hot-weather nothing. It’s a moderate 5.75 percent ABV, so it will neither floor you after a glass nor leave you wanting for boozy substance.
We hadn’t planned on having much of the beer — just enough to sample and report on — but damned if it wasn’t so well-rounded, mellow, and agreeable that it compelled multiple return visits. This would be a lovely beer any time of the year, but its balanced berry character makes it an ideal choice for the advent of summer.
Peaks and Prairies pale ale is available at the Lift Bridge taproom and at restaurants participating in the Growler’s Taps and Tables event to benefit Wishes & More.