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Drink a peach: beers with summer fruit

peach-image-free-1The pleasure of summer peaches savored in a glass.

By Alan J. Wax

Now is the time to sip some of summer in a bottle: beer made with peaches, the season’s best fruit.

That’s quite a range of peach beers to choose from, ranging from light,but slightly tart Belgian Lambics to monster strong ales.

Peach beers have long been made in Belgium, but American craft brewers are interpreting the notion of peaches and beers in a wide range of styles, from sweet to sour, from low gravity to high.

To be sure, not every variation works. Peaches typically have both sweetness and a touch of acidity. Some brewers can be right on target, while others make you sit back and scratch your heading wondering, “What was this brewer thinking?”

To me, a good beach beer should taste like fresh peaches, not the syrupy stuff that comes from a can. And you’ve got to taste the peaches. Otherwise, they’re wasted.

Recently, I sampled a number of peach-based beers with a tasting group. I found, without a doubt, that the Belgian’s have this nailed down.

i-lindemans-peche-lambicMy hand’s down favorite was Lindemans Pêche, a peach Lambic from Lindemans Brewery, Vlezenbeek, Flanders, Belgium. Just 2.5 percent ABV, this brew was made with water, barley malt, wheat, peach juice, sugar, natural peach flavor from peaches, hops, stevia and yeast. Charles Finkel, founder of beer importer Merchant du Vin suggested in the early 1980s that Lindeman should produce a peach Lambic.   This golden brew offered a big peach nose that was matched by ripe, peach flavors on the palate with a hint of acidity. I gave it 5*.

Moody Tongue NectarineSliced Nectarine IPA by Moody Tongue Brewing Co., of Chicago is a cloudy, deep golden brew with a huge head, nectarine and hop nose. (Nectarine is a variety of peach). Bitter notes slightly dominate the palate as you might expect in an IPA. It’s an IPA with nuance and a dry finish. 4*

St. Louis Premium Pêche from Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck in Inglemunster, Belgian was a bit of an oddity. Given to me by David Schultzer, owner of Bellport Cold Beer & Soda, this bottle was produced in 2006— nine years ago. Lambics are not really meant to be aged this long and this bottled showed it age. Sherry hued, it totally lacked carbonation. It was sweet and syrupy with a suggestion of peach cider. Still, not the worst of the lot, although far from the best. 3*

label_peach_berliner_weissePeach Berliner Weisse by Perennial Artisan Ales, of St. Louis, Missouri, is a cloudy pale gold brew with only mildly tart with hint of peach. 3*

Peach Grand Cru by Great Divide Brewing Company, Denver, Colorado is a copper-hued brew in the style of a Belgian strong ale. There’s just a hint of peach on nose and great lacing on the glass. There appears to be tons of candi sugar in here, but it struck me as pancake syrup with some alcoholic heat and sweet finish. I wondered, where’s the peach? 2.75*

Festina Pêche from Dogfish Head Brewing, Milton, Delaware, is a 4.5 percent ABV brew in the Berliner Weisse style. Lightly hopped and pale straw in color, the peach, the brewer says, is used to offset the tartness of the style, in the manner that a Berliner would use woodruff of raspberry syrup. It’s soft and mild brew with just a hint of peach. A disappointment. 2*

Son of a Peach by RJ Rockers Brewing Company, Spartanburg, South Carolina,is cloudy gold, unfiltered American wheat ale. There’s a hint of peach on the nose, but the palate suggests bitter peach pits. Real dry finish. 2*

Unity VibrationI wasn’t quote sure what to make of Bourbon Peach American Wild from Unity Vibration Living Kombucha Tea Co. of Ypsilanti, Michigan. This 7 percent ABV brew Is described by its producer as “a whimsical re-imagination of an American wild ale blurs the lines between kombucha tea and Belgian Lambic.” It’s fermented with a kombucha SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast, including lactobacillus and Brettanomyces) and aged in oak bourbon casks with peaches. A cloudy, light hay-hued beer, it was tart and dry with the nose and palate of nail polish remover. Downright nasty, to be honest. ½*

Go ahead, sip the orchard-grown essence of the summer, but choose carefully if you want to have pleasant memories of these hazy, lazy days.

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