Friday, June 29, 2007

NKOTB - Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, just Festina Peche

OK, so what does Joey from New Kids on the Block have to do with my blog about beer? Other than another reason for everyone to question my sexuality, not a damn thing! You just read my acronym and jumped to an incorrect conclusion. NKOTB, or New Kind of Tight Beer, is going to be a reoccurring post that talk about new and tight (that's right TIGHT, I could have gone with terrific, but com'on) beer that I just drank. This time I will be talking about Dogfish Head's new Festina Peshe!

The First time that I tried Festina Peche, I thought I was drinking a peach flavored Wit ale. It was at the Extreme Beer Fest in Boston and maybe it was all that we had to drink that day or the flavor intense beers, but I swear it was a Wit ale. But I was wrong. It is actually a Berlinerweisse and to be even more specific, it is a "Neo-Berlinerweisse", so says Dogfish Head. That makes this beer even cooler.

So what is a Berlinerweisse? It is one of those beer styles, such as Rauchbier, that used to be popular, but are no longer. Berlinerweisse is a typical Weisse, an unfiltered wheat beer, except that is tart due to the lactic acid used in fermentation. In order to balance this sourness, it is typically served with a shot of raspberry, lemon, or woodruff syrup. The syrup flavors as well as colors the beer depending on which shot was added. The style's low alcohol, around 2.8%, mixed with the crisp effervescent action and a shot of sweet syrup make it a really easy drink to slug down on a hot day. According to Dogfish Head, there are only a few places left in Berlin that still make this style and that is down from over 70 breweries at one point. Another sad reminder that this beer is on the endangered species list.

Luckily for us, Dogfish Head is trying to pump some life back in to it with their Neo-Berlinerweisse. So what makes it "Neo"? My belief is that they couldn't sell a bottle and a shot of syrup, so they had to figure out a way to incorporate the syrup right into the brewing process. They added some peach juice into the fermenter and poof, a Neo-Berlinerwiesse was born. It isn't exactly the same as a Berlinerweisse as it doesn't have a shot of syrup (duh) and its alcohol comes in at 4.5 percent, but it follows the other characteristics pretty well. It is perfect for a light meal that could use a bit of citrus or vinegar to add some zest. I don't even eat fish and the first food paring that popped into my head was a simple fish dish. It would even work flying solo on a hot humid day. A perfect midsummer drink. Now if Bierkraft can only keep it on tap all summer long.

For you brooklyn based beer lovers, I urge you to go pick up a growler at Bierkraft and give this one a whirl. After one taste, you too will be singing along with NKOTB: New Kind of Tight Beer.

Enjoy!

1 comment:

preacherpowell said...

Hey bud "You Got It (The Right Stuff)", B-town beer fest was great, and after all the dark stuff this was a truly extreme beer.

I love the blog "Dirty Dawg", and I believe Berlinerweisse was the beer Michael Jackson called the most refreshing beer in the world, "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind)" with that?

I had this beer during one of the really hot Boston nights a few weeks ago, but me and Carolyn were "Hangin' Tough" thanks to the Peshe.

Although I'm surprised C stuck it out, must have been all the "Please Don't Go Girl" faces I was making.

You know the ones, Donnie, come on I know you do...

Remember "Time Is On Our Side"

Peace

McIntyre out