Saturday, May 7, 2011

Dogfish Head Festina Peche

Dogfish Head Festina Peche is a new style of beer for me.  It's considered a Berliner Weisse.   The definition of a Berliner Weissbier (thanks to www.beeradvocate.com) is a top-fermented, bottle conditioned wheat beer made with both traditional warm-fermenting yeasts and lactobacillus culture. They have a rapidly vanishing head and a clear, pale golden straw-coloured appearance. The taste is refreshing, tart, sour and acidic, with a lemony-citric fruit sharpness and almost no hop bitterness.  Festina Peche is fermented with peaches and has a 4.5% ABV.  IBU stands at 8.


A: Pours a golden yellow color with absolutely no head.  Very little lacing is present also.   Very cloudy appearance.

S: As soon as I opened the bottle and started to pour the beer I noticed a huge present of peach.   More of a sour peach scent than sweet, which seems rather odd.  Citrus scents are also present.

T: Very tart and sour taste.   I don't ever recall tasting a beer quite like this.   I don't taste as much peach as I thought I would based on the heavy presence in the scent.  Very yeasty finish.

M/D: Light bodied with mild carbonation.   Leaves a sour taste on the tongue, although it's quite crisp and refreshing.   It's very easy to drink.

Grade:  This beer is a little bit of a disappointment in my opinion.   It's not awful but it's a little bit too sour.   Doesn't seem to have a good balance.   I probably wouldn't revisit this beer willingly, although I wouldn't keep someone else from trying it.   I'm sure some people will find this beer rather pleasant.