Dogfish Head Festina Peche

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

Highly underrated beer. I can understand why people don’t like it but I think it is a gem from DFH, as usual. Unique style that puts many off. On first taste I wasn’t sure what to think but the tartness and overall peculiarity of this beer won me over. I’ll be sad when it is rotated out.

12oz bottle, rated 7/13/07. Pours a nice cloudy (!!!!) bright goldenrod color with rocky dense foam. Very nice unripened peach aroma. Flavor is bone dry, almost astringent, with lots of dry peachyness. IMHO, one of DFH better experiments and thank fictional deity they didn’t make it 15%abv.

Hazy yellow/straw color - slightly cloudy with a medium head. Aroma of peaches is evident - other notes of lemon & yeast. Flavor is tart, but with a twinge of sweetness from the peach. Crisp and pleasant, with a dry, acidic finish. IT manages to stay balanced without punching your palate with sour acidity. The whole exceeds the sum of it’s parts here. Nicely done DFH!

Bottle. Head is initially small, fizzy, white, fully diminishing. Body is hazy light yellow, bottle conditioned. Aroma is lightly malty (toasted grain), lightly yeasty (cobwebs), with light notes of peach, apple peel, lemon peel. Flavor is lightly to moderately sweet, moderately acidic. Finish is lightly sweet, moderately acidic, lightly bitter. Light body, watery texture, lively/fizzy carbonation, lightly astringent. Exceptionally refreshing, with a bold acidic bite. Not as puckering as Schultheiss, but a lot better than expected. IMHO, the peaches weren’t really needed in this beer, but even so this blows the doors off of the Berliners I’ve tried from Southampton, Nodding Head, and Iron Hill. One of the best things to come out of DFH in a long time.

Hazy white straw color with a tall bright white head. Dry aromas, with chalk, attic dust, cobwebs, and hints of pale malt lemon zest and peach pits. Sweet wheat and tartness greet the palate. This is a solid berliner weisse. There is a lightly sour peach part that contributes, rather than flavors or sweetens. This actually seems to gets sweeter as it warms, but that does not dampen the flavors. Some light floral and sweet herbs come in. Respectable brew.

Pours very light hazy yellow with a thick and soapy white head. The aroma is all about peaches - very natural smelling. Thin crisp grainy body with subdued sharp carbonation. The flavor starts quite sour, wheaty, grainy, dry peach and spices. The finish adds lemon-ish citric acidity and is very short lasting. This is a nice refreshing summer thirst quencher.

Bottle from Whole Foods 14th Street. Pretty nice. It’s fantastic to see Dogfish getting creative - or at least continuing to be creative. This is a little metallic.and maybe a touch watery with some noticeable peach juice added - though it’s still a pretty tart drink.

Bottle. Blonde, cloudy. Peach and lemon in the aroma. Sour, lemony flavor with canned peach. Not too sweet, the beer is well attenuated. Excellent balance between fruity sweetness and sourness. Nice one, though maybe not a world classic.