Wow! Almost the end of May and I haven't written about a beer yet, these are indeed hectic times. No I'm not slacking, I mean something this in depth takes time and a huge amount of skill. You may think it takes seconds to photograph a beer, but it literally takes me a minute to get just the worse amount of light possible so each and every picture is horribly obscured with glare. Well with all seriousness it's nice to write about my passion, and this one is brought to you by a recomendation from a friend. I'll admit to being hesitant to try this, I always am when it comes to the fruit beers. And I know what your thinking, "Why don't you just drop the pink umbrella in your beer mug now, and start collecting care bears." Well normally that kind of attitude towards a fruit beer I would whole-heartedly agree with, but sometimes there's an exception. This Oatmeal Blueberry Stout from Buffalo Bill's Brewery is one of them. Buffalo Bill's you say? Well I did to since I had never even heard that utterance before, but flip over the label and you'll notice that it was brewed by Pyrmaid Ales of Seattle/Portland for Buffalo Bill's Brewery. That means you can pick this up at just about any local grocer, although I see it more at Kroger establishments (QFC, Fred Meyer, etc.). Bravo, is my first inclination towards the Pyramid revelation, I'm really happy to see them start brewing something different every once in a while. When it comes to beer I am a devote follower of variety being the spice of life, and IPA people quit whining try expanding your horizons for once. Well on to the meat and Potatos, as with any Oatmeal Stout this beer has a wonderful robust body that is very filling, and smooth at the same time so as not to make the drink feel overly heavy, or intense. The best part is that the blueberry flavor is very subtle, and woven in nicely to this style of brew. The flavor is tightly woven to give it a wonderful complexity that creates a very well balanced drink. It doesn't have an overly sweet taste that come from many fruit beers, and especially those taste bombs called Lambics. I believe it is a more tart type flavor that enables the two flavors to work well with one another, it's the type of berry that lends itself well to a dark rich beer. The only other flavor I know that has been able to accomplish this before are some of the dark cherry stouts and porters I've tried. Mad props, and tons of kudos go out to pyramid for working with a berry that is not blended traditionally as much as the cherry, yet accomplishing the same dark, robust, semi-sweet flavor that this drink envelopes. As another counterexample peppy sweetness of pyramid's apricot ale, will drive me away again and again. This Oatmeal Stout, well it will keep me coming back for more until my lips are locked around it, and I begin to slip it a little tongue to titulate the senses, so enjoy this wonderful offering from Pyramid's pseudonym!