Perennial Artisan Ales Tart Hopfentea (brewed with Hopleaf)

Brewed By: Perennial Artisan Ales in St. Louis, Missouri  

Purchased: 750ml bottle bought at the Sheridan 'L' Longue in Chicago, IL; 2014 (Bottled 5/2014)

Style/ABV: Berliner Weisse, 4.2%

Reported IBUs: ?

Perennial is one of the big dicks in the room thanks to their Barrel-Aged Abraxas, but these guys also make other good beers that aren't Abraxas. I think. I'm popping my Perennial cherry with a collaboration brewed with Chicago's Hopleaf...seems appropriate. About Perennial:: 

Perennial Artisan Ales is a brewery based out of St. Louis, Missouri. The brewery was founded in 2011 by Brewmaster Phil Wymore (formerly of Goose Island and Half Acre), with the help of Cory King (who is balling with Side Project). Perennial focuses on brewing Belgian and American craft inspired beers, with the addition of premium ingredients like fruits, spices, and wild yeast strains. They also have a barrel aging program, including the internal start-up, Side Project. Definitely check out their website for more info. 

The Tart Hopfentea is a collaboration brew with Hopleaf. This beer is a Berliner Weisse brewed with a tropical tea blend. The bottle reads: "A wave of tropical fruit and spice brighten this lively, tart wheat ale, taking the German Berliner Weisse tradition on an island run. Hopfentea pairs well with light appetizers, fish, and high humidity."

Perennial Artisan Ales Tart Hopfentea (brewed with Hopleaf) 

This beer pours into a radiant, melon-pink color at first, but once the body fills into the glass the beer takes on more of a hazy orange body. The beer produces two fingers of the most dense and beautiful head I have seen. I'm not one to gush about a beer's appearance very often, but this beer is simply stunning to look at. The head is white and dense, and retains well with nice lacing. Bright light confirms that this is very much a hazy orange beer, with a white head. 

The aroma here is really nice, with assertive tea, tropical fruits, and hops standing out on the nose. I'm getting lemony tea, iced tea, peach and melon tea, floral/peach/earthy hops, and big flower notes. I get some big rose petals here, and mild hop spice. I don't know what hops are used here...maybe Saaz or something? As this warms up a bit, a huge papaya note emerges, with big papaya tropical fruit.

This is more tart than I was expecting, especially based on some of the reviews calling it mediocre and lacking lactic character. I'm finding this to be quite tart up front, with moderate lactic pull. I'm definitely getting some sourness pulling on my gumline. Along with the nice lactic character is some really nice tea notes. The tea notes are floral and lemony, with rose petals, flowers, iced tea, lemon, and some peach. The papaya note from the aroma shows up as well, which is super refreshing and nice. The back end has that wheat density, and despite this being sour/tart, it cleans up nicely. 

I'm really enjoying this. This is super drinkable at 4.2%, with a refreshing, light-bodied mouthfeel. The mouthfeel is tart and lactic-driven up front, but finishes with some nice creamy wheat towards the back. This has good palate depth, and is fairly complex. I don't understand the reviews ball-busting this. I think this accomplishes what it set out to do: this brings nice tea notes and tropical fruit notes to the style. Up front: lactic funk, sourness, tropical fruits, papaya; the mids roll into big tea, with flowers, rose petals, iced tea, more papaya; the back end is lingering tea and fruits, and then some of the creamy wheat kicks in to round things out.

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Above-Average on this. This is a simple but elegant beer. This beer would pair great with papaya, mango salsa, fish, lightly seasoned fish tacos, fruit salad, and sushi. I'm a huge Berliner Weisse fan, and I'm a huge tea fan. I think this is a good fusion of the two, so ignore the haters and check this one out.

Random Thought: I need to go and pick up more beers from Perennial.