The Drunken Polack

For your Wednesday reading, here is a quick review for a beer I’ve many times but for some reason never wrote about.  Festina Peche is a fantastic seasonal beer from Dogfish Head.  It’s light and low and alcohol.  They stuck it in as a Summer beer and well it matches it perfect. 

It’s pale yellow, fizzy, and highly carbonated but don’t let that scare you away.  It’s not a Coors Light.  It’s smell is sweet and tart.  Peaches and wheat blast the nostrils. 

In years past I thought the taste on this brew was more tart and sour.  This years version seems to be a little bit more toned down.  I think it brings even better balance and drinkability.  The taste is wheaty, grainy, slighty malty, and has a nice amount of peaches in it.  Like I said about, it’s slightly tart and sour.  Not overpowering.  Great introduction into beers that are sour.

Mouthfeel is light, crisp, dry, and more importantly, refreshing.    Refreshing is the most important part.  As it is a really good beer on a hot summer day.

I picked a growler of this stuff up from the brewpub and it was more than halfway done the first night I picked it up.  It really hit the spot and it’s better than I remember it being.

Found: Straight from the brewpub but you can find it in every store pretty much
ABV%: 4.50%
Price: Cost me about 13 dollars for a new growler
Website: http://www.dogfish.com/
What the company says:  A refreshing neo-BerlinerWeisse fermented with honest-to-goodness peaches to (get this!) 4.5% abv! Because extreme beers don’t have to be extremely boozy! Available in 4-pack and draft during the sweaty months.

Sadly, there are only a few breweries left in Berlin still brewing the Berliner Weisse style which is characterized by its intense tartness (some say sour). There were once over 70 breweries in Berlin alone making this beer! In addition to fermentation with an ale yeast, Berliner Weisse is traditionally fermented with lactic cultures to produce its acidic or green apple-like character. It is delicately hopped with a pale straw color and served as an aperitif or summertime quencher. To soften the intense sourness, Berliner Weisse is traditionally served with a dash of essence of woodruff or raspberry syrup.

In our Festina Peche since the natural peach sugars are eaten by the yeast, the fruit complexity is woven into both the aroma and the taste of the beer so there is no need to doctor it with woodruff or raspberry syrup – open and enjoy!
Other beers to try from this brewery: Dogfish Head Namaste, Dogfish Head Chicory Stout
Other beers to try within the same style: The Bruery Hottenroth Berliner Weisse
Rating: B+/A-

The Bruery Black Orchard – The Bruery has just hit Virginia.  I’ve had some brews from these guys before but this is my first beer in their regular lineup.  Everything I’ve had before was seasonal .  I was really looking forward to trying this brew but I left kind of disappointed.

Black Orchard pours a very dark brown with ruby red highlights if held up to the light.  It pours a huge carbonated head.  Like soda.  Just like soda the head fizzes away quickly to what you see above.  The smell is actually pretty good.  Chocolate and caramel malt.  Light amount of spice.  Pretty decent aroma.  But the taste is where the beer just falls apart for me.  I understand it’s a wheat beer and a lot of times wheat beers won’t blow you away but the taste in this beer was almost non existent.  Everything was faint.  Small amount of sweet chocolate and that was about it.  Disappointing.  Mouthfeel is highly carbonated and medium.  I’d say skip this one if you want to get into beers from these guys.  They make better.

Found: Grape and Gourmet, Virginia Beach, VA
Price: Around 12 dollars a bottle
Website: http://www.thebruery.com
What the company says: Black Orchard is an unfiltered, bottle conditioned Belgian-style black wheat beer, or “black wit”, if you will. This dark but surprisingly light bodied beer is very drinkable while still having character and complexity. Chamomile is added for its floral aroma, while the coriander and citrus peel give the characteristics of a traditional witbier.
ABV%: 5.70%
Other beers to try from this brewery: The Bruery Saison Rue, The Bruery Orchard White
Other beers to try within the same style: Ommegang Rare Vos
Rating: C+

The Bruery Hottenroth Berliner Weisse – A buddy of mine told me once that whenever he sees this stuff on tap that he has to have it.  So when they just recently starting bottling this beer I was all over it.  Overall I thought this was a decent beer.  It kind of has same issue as the Black Orchard.  The taste isn’t huge but the light sourness and tartness this beer gives off hits the spot and makes it a great beer for the summer.  At a low abv of 3.1% you can drink this stuff all day and be just fine.

Hottenroth pours a pale yellow color.  Very little head is poured.  The aroma is acidic and tart.  Small amounts of wheat come through.  There isn’t much to the taste but what is there builds up nicely as you drink.  In the beginning there’s a small tart taste.  Not huge at all.  But as you start to drink this beer it starts to add up.  It’s acidic, tart, with a shot of lemon.  Slightly dry and funky.  Like I said above, this stuff is something you can drink during the summer.  It’s refreshing and is great for an all day drinking affair.

Found: South Bay Drugs. Imperial Beach, CA (Mail Order)
Price: Around 8 dollars a bottle
Website: http://www.thebruery.com
What the company says: Brewed in memory of my Grandparents (Fred and Sarah Hottenroth), this tart German-style Berliner Weisse is as authentic as it gets. We used lactobacillus and a hint of brettanomyces to sour this very unusual, low gravity wheat beer. To cut the tartness for those with sweeter tastes, raspberry or woodruff syrup is a traditional way to sweeten the beer. Almost an extinct style, we hope to help revive the Berliner Weisse in memory of two great people.
ABV%: 3.10%
Other beers to try from this brewery: The Bruery Saison De Lente, The Bruery Autumn Maple
Other beers to try within the same style: First brew I’ve had like this
Rating: B+