fruit beer
Arbor Brewing Strawberry Blonde
by Paul Arthur on Sep.05, 2009, under ale, beer, belgian ale, belgian blonde, fruit beer
Background: Belgian-style blonde with strawberries.
Nose: Boozy strawberries with a hint of spicy phenols.
Taste: Fresh, floral strawberry high notes, smooth fruity body, cedar and herb influences.
Overall: Very nice indeed. Well balanced, full-throated fruit flavour that manages not to be overpowering.
Festina Pêche
by Paul Arthur on Jul.01, 2009, under ale, beer, berliner weisse, fruit beer, sour beer
Background: Dogfish Head describe this as a “neo-Berliner Weisse” and make an especial point of noting that “extreme beers don’t have to be extremely boozy.” Nonetheless, at 4.5% ABV this is on the boozy side for a Berliner Weisse, which is usually a small beer weighing in between 2.8 and 3.8% ABV. Another departure from tradition is the inclusion of peaches in the beer itself; while many like their BW served with a dash of flavoured syrup to cut the tartness (resulting from the action of the acid-producing bacterium Lactobacillus delbruckii during the fermentation process), this is done at serving time. If you dislike the yeast haze, a careful decanting should avoid stirring up the lees in the bottle.
Nose: Tart and lemony, with a bit of stone fruit and the barest hint of yeast.
Taste: Nice and tart, around the level of good lemonade. Peach, green apple, and lemon on a light, wheaty malt background fade into a puckering finish. Effervescent carbonation and a dry mouthfeel.
Overall: Very refreshing, with the peach quite restrained and natural tasting. Serve lightly chilled on a sweaty summer evening.
Samuel Adams Cranberry Lambic
by admin on Dec.10, 2007, under ale, beer, fruit beer, wheat beer
Appearance: Slightly reddish peach body, sudsy white head.
Smell: Candied cranberry dominates, with some sour notes and a bit of musty malt.
Taste: Not a lot of subtlety here. Fairly sweet, with a straightforward grainy wheat malt profile with slightly tart cranberries layered on top. Minimal hop presence.
Mouthfeel: Chewy body with mild carbonation.
Drinkability: Underwhelming. Might show to better advantage as accompaniment to a meal. Definitely not much like a lambic, so viewing it as a fruit-flavoured wheat beer is in order. Balanced and drinkable.
Ebulum Elderberry Black Ale
by admin on Aug.21, 2007, under ale, beer, fruit beer, gruit
Appearance: Another cola-brown beer with a brown foamy head.
Smell: Soft berry fruitiness and hints of roasted malt.
Taste: Nicely integrated dark berry taste with malt and charred coffee in the background. Some soft tannins contribute to an astringent finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium-full and creamy.
Drinkability: Very drinkable; while the berry flavour is noticeable, it's not overpowering and the base beer is quite well done.
Unibroue Éphémère (Apple)
by admin on Aug.16, 2007, under ale, beer, fruit beer
Appearance: Fluffy white head, light golden body.
Smell: Tart Granny Smith apples with a bit of coriander and light malt.
Taste: Very light. A bit of wheat, a bit of apple, some spice notes. Tart, dry finish.
Mouthfeel: Thin, highly carbonated.
Drinkability: Intriguingly delicate; nothing to get in the way of drinking it, and the light flavour would pair well with light cheeses or starchy desserts. I think this would go particularly well with a fruit pie like rhubarb or blueberry (even apple, if you want to go really crazy).
The Session #6 – Fruit Beer
by admin on Aug.03, 2007, under fruit beer, stout, winter warmer
This month's Session is hosted by Greg Clow of Beer, Beats & Bites, who selected “fruit beers” as the theme for this installment. Fruit beers occupy an interesting niche in the beer world, with a lot of people deriding them as girly or as attempts to cover up the taste in order to appeal to people that don't like beer. Having no such prejudices myself, I decided to cover two very different winter release beers made with cherries.
First up is the local boy: Bell's Brewery in Galesburg, MI produces a Cherry Stout, which is made from barley, malt, and cherry juice and clocks in at 8.5% ABV. Purchased as a single 12 oz. bottle for $2.59.
Bell's Cherry Stout
Appearance: Deep, dark brown with a very slight red tint. Minimal reddish-brown head quickly dissipates.
Smell: A hint of roasted malt at the beginning is quickly overwhelmed by sweet and tart cherry aromas.
Taste: Malt presents mainly as cocoa, with a bit of coffee flavour. Sweet-tart cherry overlays the rest, but the flavour doesn't feel integrated at all. Sweet with a sharply sour bite from the cherries. The finish is fairly pleasant, and sticks around for a while.
Mouthfeel: A bit light for a stout, but a good level of carbonation.
Drinkability: Persistently mediocre. Not bad, but not good either.
Well, that was a bit disappointing. Let's hope the next beer will do better.
The second is Quelque Chose, a spiced cherry ale from Unibroue in Quebec. This beer is made with roasted malt, and whole cherries are soaked for months in a mildly bitter ale before being blended into the beer. 8% ABV, purchased in a 75 cl bottle for $9.99; the bottle is marked as best before 7-17-2021.
Unibroue Quelque Chose
Appearance: A vigorous pour produces no head whatsoever. Deep garnet in colour, slightly cloudy.
Smell: A bit of citrus, some sweet cherry. Mild cinnamon and allspice notes.
Taste: Sweet cherry at the beginning, Christmasy spices start to come through in the middle. Hints of plum. Slightly tart, but mainly just sweet.
Mouthfeel: Thin and syrupy, with minimal carbonation.
Drinkability: Oh, it's definitely drinkable. Beautifully balanced clean flavour, but a nagging question remains: where's the malt? This is definitely pushing the boundaries of what I would consider to be a beer. It's delicious, but the taste is so centered on the fruit that it's more like a wine than an ale.
