Peach Maiden the Shade
Ninkasi Brewing Company

Rated 5-29-2020. I was hoping for more peach flavor from this beer. Almost all fruit flavored beers are weak on the fruit, this one is no exception. It has better peach aroma on the pour than on the taste. Pretty standard fruit-flavored beer.
71 IBUs

 

 

 

12 oz from a six pack purchased from Plaid Pantry in West Salem OR
$8.99
Pours a clear golden hued beer..maybe i am imagining a slight peach colour throughout. Nice thick and creamy white head.
Very peachy aroma..but seems slightly artificial like Jolly rancher peach...and that's about it.
Taste thankfully is better..more bitter hops and the peach is less artificial..more like peach stone..
Mouth feel is fine for style and well carbonated.
Not really that great..to be honest

 

Appearance: Pours a clear goldenstraw with a one finger head that emerges after a bubble show; decent retention and a few streaks of lace

Smell: There is a floral aspect that is beguiling here; I guess there is a sense of peach in it but it doesn't smell like real peaches

Taste: Grainy tones forward with the artificial peach flavors emerging; stringent, aspirin-like bitterness emerges in the middle, totally overwhelming the delicate floral tones detected in the aroma

Mouthfeel: Light to medium body with moderate carbonation

Overall: If only this beer tasted as good as it smelled

12oz bottle

Pours a small half inch finger of white head into my can-style glass. Retention is average and fades within a minute, leaves a very sturdy rim of foam though – initial lacing looks great. Body is not quite orange, but darker than your average shade of gold. Clarity is pretty high, and there are a fair amount of bubbles coming up. Looks pretty good so far.

A very bright, almost floral peach comes through. Very inviting, but it does not smell all that natural. Pretty hard to pick up on anything else, it’s not a subtle peach. Smells pretty good, but one dimensional and artificial.

Flavor is certainly more down to earth, and not like a jolly rancher thankfully. The peach is there but it plays much more of a supporting role for the base of the beer that comes though as more of a pale ale. Some citrus, maybe a little pine, malt is pretty balanced. This is fine, an easy drinking IPA with a little fruit flavoring.

Body and carbonation are pretty middle of the road, both at about medium. Sugars come across balanced as well, but are surely a little on the drier side, despite the flavoring. Bitterness is a large part of that, as it is moderate-high, and pretty noticeable. Overall a nice mouthfeel, what you should expect from a mid-major micro.

Drinkability is maybe a hair below average given the bitterness and touch of dryness, but overall not a problem at all.

Appearance turned out very nice, thick lacing and a resilient sliver of head.

Overall a strait forward, pretty clean (albeit bitter) IPA with a little flavoring. Nothing to write home about, and points are certainly docked for the non-authentic peach, but fine for the most part.

a new one as part of the mixed pack my in laws picked up this weekend, a tasty beer and a nice update to the original, the peach really adds a lot and takes this someplace unique, as its still more hoppy than fruity, and stands in defiance to all the fruited blondes and goldens and such out there this time of year. a little less than clear and just a few specks of sediment in it, i expected slightly more refinement, but it holds an inch of white head and has plenty of carbonation. it smells like hops first, grapefruit and resin, with the peach coming in right behind it, slightly perfume-esque to me, not quite a natural ripe peach, but in the flavor the dose is such that it works well, more peach and less hops it might not seem natural, but there is nice balance here. the hops are fresh and bitter in the flavor, which keep it in the ipa realm. good bite and a drier finish than a lot of fruited beers have. still not sure how natural the peach is, a bit of a candy thing to it, but overall this is summery and drinkable and surprisingly strong for what it is, packs quite a punch for a fruity beer! a tasty release and likely the first to be gone from this mixed pack in the fridge...

12oz bottle poured in to a nonic glass, no bottle dating.

Look- Clear golden amber color. small off-white head that quickly recedes to a thin cap, decent lacing. moderate carbonation streams visible.

Smell- Ripe juicy peach, apricot, citrus (orange and lemon), honey, a bit of dank and light pine, floral/grassy hop notes.

Taste- Similar to the aroma. Peach, citrus, resinous pine, sweet malts with an nice lingering hoppy bitter finish. The peach is subtle and not cloying at all. Fairly well balanced.

Feel- Medium bodied, pretty dry and crisp. Medium carbonation on the tongue.

O- A really nice twist on the original Maiden the Shade. I could kill a bunch of these on a hot summer day.

Well I’m not great at taking a beer apart and putting into words how a beer comes across, but I do however drink a lot of different beers. Bottom line is, this is one of the best beers I’ve ever had...and I normally don’t like IPAs.