Dogfish Head Festina Peche

Brewed by Dogfish Head Brewery
Style: Berliner Weisse
Milton, Delaware USA

A difficult beer to rate, as the recipe apparently changed from 2007 to 2008, and the character of the beer is now much different. This year’s offering has no head but alot of prickly carbonation. Strange flavor of peaches gushing somewhere beneath the surface, but it’s so overwhelmed by the massive tartness and acidity that it’s hard to appreciate. Last year’s version felt more well-rounded, with a good dose of sourness but not quite as sickly a one as this. It’s not all that enjoyable right now, though still interesting, but I have to give props to this beer based on last year’s bottlings, which were fantastic. Edit - The 2009 version is the bomb.

Another adored bottle of Dogfish Head has come into my posession, and I am once again thrilled with what they’ve made. This time it was the lighter, more jovial Festina Peche, a so called "Malt Beverage" with "Peach Concentrate." I like malt beverages, and I like peach concentrate, so there’s no reason why this can’t be a splendid drink - and it is. To my eyes the Festina Peche looks a lot like a wit bier, with a heavy cloudiness and a light yellow and gold color, though this drink may be a hair darker than your typical wit. The fresh scent of peach flesh builds the base of the aroma, which is light, bright and refreshing. Lemon, pepper and a pinch of alcohol mix with a light strawberry aroma and an orange dryness to compose a tantalizingly delicious but ephemeral aroma. The flavor is twin to the aroma, but adds a layer of tangerine and citrus tanginess, along with an extra spoonful of passion fruit sweetness (in lieu of some of the aroma’s peachiness.) The tanginess is superb, and cooperates swimmingly with the other flavor elements. Nicely balanced sweetness, like, quenching, delightfully tangy and overall delicious, the Festina Peche is a remarkable beer and apt for the Spring months.

This is something new for me here, since I have never tried a Berliner Weisse before. It seems like this could just as easily be called a fruit beer. Light pour with barely any head. Pretty label that looks like a watercolor - very nice, actually. The aroma is light peach with some vegetal-yeast skank. The taste is tart and juicy, with wheat very noticable also. This is clearly a fruity summer wheat beer, and it probably contains your daily requirement of vitamin C. It is fairly acidic, with hints of lemon. There was a bit of rot, sad to say, because this is one of Dogfish Head’s more successful experiments.

Bottle at OT. Pours with a high foam that dies at once. Nice peach sent that isn’t artificial. Much peach taste with a dry finnich. Not so mych carbonation. Nice as an appeticer.

Pours a cloudy orange yellow color with no head at all. The aroma is very tart with some hints of light fruits. As you drink the beer you can taste a nice tart peach flavor on the tip of your tounge and it tends to stick around for a while after the beer is finished. The finish resembles a lambic but it is not quite as tart. It is very refreshing and can be drank with most foods.

A good beer, from the always dependable Dogfish Head. I have respect for any brewer who even attempts this very uncommon style. Cloudy, lambic like appearance. Aroma has light wheat and peach. Flavor is lightly sour with just a hint of fruit. Its a close call between being a Berlinner and a sour wheat beer. Enjoyable and refreshing either way.

pours a hazy pale yellow with a thin white head, no lacing.
smell of wheat, light peach, touch of citrus.
taste is peachy, more sour than sweet, wheat, lemon hangs out in the back.

12oz bottle(courtesy of RSRIZZO)-A nice peach color with a very small ring for a head. A small aroma of ammonia and nothing. Taste of sour and a little peach. This light bodied brew is rather refreshing. Nice job.