A little more "business"

I don't review everything I drink, although I usually jot myself some notes just for comparison. I was struck by how different this beer was. That's not surprising because Dogfish Head is a particularly inventive brewery.

The new Festina Peche from Dogfish Head is likely to draw comments from your friends. It even draws comments from the folks behind the counter in the beer store.

“I ought to tell you, that’s kind of sour,” the beer guy told me, pointing at the four-pack of the peach-flavored wheat beer on the counter. I smiled and said this was my second go-round with the beer and that I liked it. “I just wanted to make sure,” he said, establishing the place -- EBI in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. -- as somewhere I will happily recommend.

The conversation continued, as beer conversations have a way of doing. “I have some non-beer geek friends who really liked this,” I told him. He responded by saying that one of his colleagues at the store – who doesn’t particularly care for beer – reacted the same way. (We won’t get into working at a beer store and not liking beer).

Anyway, to the beer.

The concept of fruit beers is one that’s always ripe for discussion. There are those who are drawn to them and others who say fruit is for pies and cobblers. In this particular case, the fruit is not the main focus of the taste. While my friend at the beer store called it sour, I found the high-end taste of the wheat used in the beer to be a wakeup call. It’s the first thing that hits you, and it’s followed by a subtle peach flavor that fills your mouth but doesn’t overwhelm at all.

Another interesting aspect is that it tastes like a high-alcohol beer, but at 4.5 ABV, it’s actually slightly less alcoholic than Budweiser. It’s basically the same color as Bud, but much more cloudy (as a result of the wheat). It does have a decent bite to it, and it's a beer to savor, not to bang down. Like many of the more expensive craft brews, it comes in a four-pack and usually runs $8 to $10, but it's worth it.