Some beers earn a permanent spot in a brewery's summer lineup, and Black Bridge Brewery's Pineapple Wheat Burst has clearly done exactly that. It is back again this year, and the Swift Current, Saskatchewan brewery has given it a fun new twist to mark the occasion.
This is a tropical riff on Black Bridge's classic Wheat Burst, a beer already built for warm weather drinking, now given a proper dose of pineapple. The result is described as refreshing and juicy with a nicely balanced pineapple flavour, not the sickly-sweet fruit bomb some beers turn into once real fruit gets involved. At 5.3% ABV in a 473 mL can, it sits squarely in the easy-drinking zone, which is exactly where a summer wheat beer should live.
What makes this year's release a bit different is the label. Black Bridge has teamed up with the Swift Current 57's, the local entry in the West Coast Baseball League, for an exclusive can design celebrating the partnership. It is a nice bit of hometown pride, tying a Saskatchewan-made beer to a Saskatchewan baseball team, and it gives the can a genuine collector's appeal beyond just what is inside it.
The timing lines things up nicely too. Black Bridge has become the showcase beer at Mitchell Field for 57's games this season, meaning there is a real chance to grab one while watching the team it is named after. Few things pair better with a summer ballgame than a cold, fruity wheat beer in hand, and this collaboration makes that pairing official.
For anyone new to the style, a Wheat Burst leans on wheat malt for a soft, smooth body, and the pineapple addition here brings a bright tropical note without losing that easy-drinking wheat beer backbone. It is the kind of can that disappears quickly at a barbecue, a dock, or, appropriately enough, a ballpark bleacher seat.
Look for the new Swift Current 57's edition of Pineapple Wheat Burst at Black Bridge Brewery and around Saskatchewan this summer. Between the flavour and the label, it is shaping up to be one of the more fun limited releases of the season.