Brewed By: Dogfish Head Brewery in Milton, Delaware
Purchased: 12oz bottle from a 4-pack from Binny's in Chicago, Illinois; 2012
Style/ABV: Berliner Weisse, 4.5%
Tonight I'm reviewing a beer that I quite like: Dogfish Head's Berliner Weisse-styled beer. As with a number of German beers, authentic Berliner Weisse beers can only be brewed in parts of Germany. So today's beer is a little bit of a twist on the style. But we'll get to that in a second. Dogfish Head is one of my favorite breweries, so let's give credit where credit is due:
Dogfish Head is a craft brewery based out of Milton, Delaware. The brewery
was founded by Sam Calagione back in 1995.The brewery began as a
brewpub (the first in Delaware) called Dogfish Head Brewings &
Eats and was originally located in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. The
initial brewing setup included three kegs and propane burners. They
brewed 12-gallon batches of beer three times a day, five days a week.
In 1996 the brewery began bottling their beer, and by 1999 they had
distribution to around a dozen different states. In 2002 the company
outgrew their Rehoboth location, and moved to Milton, Delaware. More
info can be found HERE.
The Berliner Weisse style is one of those really unique styles of beer, so I want to spend some time talking about it. Since it is a German Wheat Beer, I went straight to the German Beer Institute. I've been referencing that website a lot, so I've now added them to my blog's sidebar. If you are interested in German beer, check out their website. Now, according to the German Beer Institute's Berliner Weisee page:
"Berliner Weisse is a sour, tart, fruity, highly effervescent, spritzy, and refreshing ale that holds only a fraction of a percent market share in Germany as a whole but is stll fairly popular in and around Berlin, especially on hot summer days. Berliner Weisse is relatively low in alcohol, only 2.5—2.7% by volume, and it is usually taken with a shot (a "Schuss") of raspberry syrup or woodruff-flavored syrup to cut the brew's tartness. By law, Berliner Weisse may be brewed only in the German capital, because, similar to the Kölsch ales of Cologne and the Trappist ales of Belgium, the name enjoys the legal protection of an appellation d'origine contrôllée."
The Berliner Weisee goes by a couple different names: "Ein Rotes" which means a red one, and "Ein Grünes" which means a green one, and "Mit Schuss" which means with a shot of sweet syrup. BeerAdvocate states that the style is typically served in a wide, bulbous stemmed glass (or a fucking bowl, no joke), and is ordered as "Berliner Weisse mit Schuss: Himbeere" or "Berliner Weisse mit Schuss: Waldmeister." According to BeerAdvocate, Himbeere is a raspberry (red) and Waldmeister is woodruff (green).
The style is [traditionally] only brewed in Berlin, but dates back to the Middle Ages. The beer is made from 25% to 30% pale malted wheat and barley, and has a low ABV. It's sessionable, but that wasn't always the case. A couple centuries ago, the beer was brewed at any strength, and could be as strong as a Bockbier. The beer is fermented with both yeast and lactic-acid bacteria, and is somewhat related to the Belgian gueuze style. The bacterial strain used to ferment the Berliner Weisse is called Lactobacillus delbrückii. In modern day, Berliner Weisse comes exclusively in .33-liter bottles, and is not available on draft. Because of the beer's effervescent and foamy nature, the beer is supposed to be served in a wide bowl-shaped chalice. And since the style is incredibly tart, the style is almost never consumed straight. Usually the beer is mixed with either raspberry or woodruff syrup to cut down on the immense tartness.
According to Wikipedia, in the 19th century the Berliner Weisse was the most popular alcoholic drink in Berlin, and more than 700 breweries produced it. By the late 20th century, there were only two breweries left in Berlin producing this type of beer. The name Berliner Weisse is protected in Germany, so it can only be applied to beers brewed in Berlin. Hence, Dogfish Head's brew is a Berliner Weisse-styled beer.
And indeed, knowing the above information, and even reflecting on the BJCP style guidelines, the Festina Pêche seems to be a bit of a rogue interpretation of the style. If you go to Dogfish Head's Festina Pêche page, you can get all the goods on this beer. Dogfish Head describes this beer as a "neo-Berliner Weisse" fermented with peaches to 4.5% ABV. First off...that is wicked. This beer is fermented with real peaches. Second, this beer definitely pushes the average ABV for the style. Still, for us craft beer drinkers, 4.5% is very low in terms of ABV. Dogfish Head even gives some history on the beer, noting that there are only a few breweries left in Berlin making this style of beer, when at one point there were over 70 breweries (did they mean 700?) in Berlin alone making it. The beer is described as tart, or sour. Dogfish Head also mentions that the beer is typically fermented with ale yeast, and lactic cultures to produce its acidic/green-apple-like character.
What really separates Dogfish Head's Festina Pêche from traditional Berliner Weisse beers is the fact that this beer does not need the addition of syrup. Since the Festina Pêche is fermented with peaches, the yeast eats the peach sugars which results in natural peach aromas and flavors. This beer is a really unique twist on the style, and as typical with Dogfish Head, they are bringing a unique twist to beer. I'm excited to crack this beer open and do a review, so let's get to it.
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| Dogfish Head Festina Pêche |
The beer pours a hazy, straw/yellow/pale color, almost looking a tad sickly there. If this was a Pale Lager, I'd be scared to drink it. The beer poured with 2-fingers of thick, white head. The head was made up of finely packed bubbles, but has quickly dissolved into a nice one-centimeter, hazy coating. The head that is hanging around looks like the stuff of a Lactobacillus-fermented beer. Brettanomyces anyone? This beer is incredibly effervescent, with a lot of tiny bubbles cascading upwards. And even in bright light, this is a hazy, semi-transparent, pale/yellow beer, with a funky coating of head. Lastly - and I apologize for my incredibly shitty photo - the bottle art on this is awesome. It's like a tropical Jamaican/African water-color-looking picture of a peach tree. Don't quote me on that though, I know absolutely nothing about art.
The aroma on this beer is awesomely fresh, with these giant peach notes. Amazingly, the peach notes you get from this beer smell like a real peach. I'm actually getting a ton of peach skin here, rather than the pulpy peach middle. Peach skin has that slightly sour/tart/bitter quality, and that is exactly what I'm smelling here. I do get some peach pulp, but it's really a clean refreshing peach-forward nose. I'm also getting a touch of hay and Brett funk. There's just a hint of underlying Brett; leather, hay, barnyard. And some sour/acidic aromas.
The taste on this is just a lovely wash of tart/sour peach goodness, followed by this incredibly smooth malt note of wheat/grain. This is super effervescent, but the carbonation cuts through the tartness and adds some nice mouthfeel. It also compliments the slightly dry and champagne-like back end. I'm tasting peaches; like real, fresh peaches. I'm getting that peach skin, and a less sweet and slightly sour pulpy peach note. Maybe a white peach? There is just a hint of hay in the mix, with some nice Brett-sour-funk. This is amazingly fresh, and has this genuine peach note that is divine. I'm also impressed that the head has held up...it's just a fine coating, but it is there. And there is some of that funky Brett-lacing I've seen with Jolly Pumpkin's beers. Goooood shit.
At 4.5% ABV, this beer is incredibly light in terms of mouthfeel. This is super-high in carbonation, and has a slightly dry finish. This is acidic and tart, but balanced nicely. I would say the complexity is high, and the palate depth is outstanding. This beer is a peachy, palate cleanser. Up front you get big tart notes and peach; this rolls into a big peachy middle with some nice play of sweeter peach and Brett-funk; the back end is lingering peach goodness, drying, and some nice wheat notes.
Rating: Divine Brew
I gotta go with a decent Divine Brew rating on this thing. But it's the damnedest thing with this beer. The first bottle of this beer I had...I was really underwhelmed. I actually was kind of disappointed, because a 4-pack of this stuff is like 10 bucks. This is not a cheap beer by any means. But the second bottle grew on me, as I really began to appreciate the subtle peach notes. By the end of my third bottle, I was ready to praise Sam Calagione and his brewmaster. This is just an awesome beer. It's so light and refreshing, and I wish it was more readily available in 24-pack form because I would drink this all summer long. The fact is, the high price is probably justifiable...any beer brewed with real peaches and bacteria requires extra attention. And it's totally worth it. This is really good shit right here. I think I just found a new staple as far as summer beers go. If you can pick this beer up, do it. So until next time, don't drink and yeast infection.
