Festina Pêche - Dogfish Head, Milton

Dogfish Head's Festina Pêche sounds like it'd be a one trick fruit beer. Judging by the name and this beer's label you'd expect it to be something like Pyramid's Apricot Weizen. That isn't necessarily meant as a dig to either beer, I like Pyramid's Apricot quite a bit. Like many fruit beers though, it's just that... a beer with some fruit in it, nothing terribly special. The Festina Pêche is a bit different than other fruit beers because it is based off of the Berliner Weissbier style that is quite unique. A stock Berliner Weisse is very tart like a hard cider. Dogfish Head took the Berliner Weissbier and added their peaches to that to create an even more unique beer.

Popping open the Festina Pêche and pouring it into my glass was a bit underwhelming. The aroma first struck me as being similar to a lemon scented cleaner and the color of the beer while pouring it is very light in color that develops practically no head at all. After the beer settles the aroma opens up a bit and the peach becomes more noticeable. In fact, there isn't much a beer smell left to this beer, mostly you'll just pick up the fruit but there is a hint of wheat hidden in there.

When you take your first sip of the Festina Pêche you'll notice there is a good deal of peach flavor right up front. True to the spirit of the Berliner Weissbier, there is a strong lemony tartness in this beer. The combination of lemon and peach creates a rich and tart flavor that really tastes great. This beer is only 4.5% ABV, making it very refreshing and great for session drinking in the summer.