Festina Peche

Festina Peche

Dogfish Head Brewery

It only took me a little over two months but I’m back with my second attempted beer review! Surprise surprise, it’s another Dogfish favorite, but what can I say, I love their beer. It also helps that it’s so readily available anytime I’m visiting my family in DE. You can find my review of their Dragons and YumYums creation here.

I actually tried a few times over the last couple of months to write up other beer reviews, but often what I’ve got in stock at home are IPAs. Although I can pull a few notes from some of the more unique IPAs, I have a hard time discerning different characteristics other than your basic citrus, bitterness, or sometimes floral flavors.

Practice makes perfect and I’m a work in progress but I’ve found I have a much easier time identifying flavors in a beer that doesn’t pack the same punch as an IPA. Insert Festina Peche, a longtime favorite in our family. Peaches were a staple fruit of summer when we were growing up so after turning 21, Dogfish Head’s Festina Peche was an obvious summer favorite.

On the Dogfish website, a simple statement perfectly captures the description of this beer, “A refreshing neo-Berliner Weisse, Festina Peche is available during the sweaty months.” To me, peaches just scream summer refreshment and this beer is no exception.

Pour

Festina Peche pours a bright golden color similar to what you’d expect of a Berliner-Weisse. The beer is just shy of crystal clear with just a hint of haze hanging in the glass. The head of the beer is thin and fizzes up fast but quickly dissipates.

Aroma

Taking in the aroma of the beer, you’re greeted with just subtle notes of fresh cut peaches, enough to get my mouth watering even before the first sip. It doesn’t come off as overwhelmingly fruity but just enough to remind me of biting into a perfectly ripened peach. As the fruit fades you also pick up the familiar sharp acidic smell of a sour brew.

Taste

The first sip certainly confirms the expected sourness from the nose. It’s almost like touching your tongue to a weak 9-volt battery. There’s an immediate puckering sensation from the moment the beer greets your lips.

As the tartness fades and the rest of your taste buds get a chance to engage, you get the promised refreshment of fresh peaches. The sweet juiciness from the peach only continues to build especially at the back of the tongue.

There’s a reason I gravitate towards sour beers in the summer, something about them is just so damn refreshing in the hot summer sun. If you’re a fan of a good Berliner-Weisse and love the sweet taste of fresh peaches in the summer months, you can’t miss out on this seasonal favorite. Available May-August in 6-packs and on draft.

Read more about Festina Peche on the Dogfish Head website.

Cheers!