Rare Peach-Apricot Berliner Weisse
Wild Rose Brewery & Taproom

My favorite from this brewery.

650ml bottle poured into Sam Adams pint glass.

Pours a murky pale yellow with one finger of white head that leaves pillars of sudsy lace as it recedes. Lots of distractingly large floaties.

Smells of lemon zest, apricot and peach puree, soft white bread and muddled tropical fruit.

Tastes of lemonade, lightly soured cream, more apricot and peach, bready wheat malt, pineapple, melon, and kiwi.

Feels soft and fluffy. Light bodied with gentle, forthy carbonation. Finishes off-sweet.

Verdict: Highly recommended. Excellent summer beer.

 

Interestingly, I find the galaxy hops *almost* as prevalent as the peach-apricot character here--that latter combo being surprisingly subtle (no fake-super-candied-fruit-"juice" here). Turbid, lemon-juice-ish colour, grapefruit smell along with some stone fruit character, milky sourness, maybe slight orange juice? Rinse and repeat on the taste. Not too tart; in fact, it's fairly refreshing, though I still have apocalyptic visions of my enamel wearing away.

And yet it's missing something that I can't quite place my finger on. Sits a bit heavy, perhaps, or could use just a touch more sweetness (he says, not expecting that to come out of his mouth)..

 

650ml bomber poured into tulip 28/6/16

A milky yellow, even standing upright in the bottle overnight nothing settled, a thumbs width of foam hangs around for a couple sips leaving a few random patches

S heaps of peaches and apricots, some lemon and lime, orange cream, mineral water, hard to tell whats fruit additions and hops, smells great

T just a hint of vinegar, some dry cereals added to the mix, maybe a little pineapple juice, tastes solid but the nose had just a little more fruit going on

M tart but not overly sour, very light and fluffy, finish is fairly dry with a lemon mineral water finish

O I pretty much smashed this bottle in the time it took to type this, super drinkable and plenty going on in something I could drink by the liter

I'm rather impressed by this one, I'm loving the fruit and the hops play a big part, refreshing as can be and you could drink it for hours without falling over

 

650ml bottle, their Summer 2016 Rare Series release - a kettle-soured Berliner Weisse, with Galaxy hops and 'loads of' peaches and apricots. Just missing the ol' kitchen sink, eh?

This beer pours a very murky, pale whitish-yellow colour, with three chubby fingers of puffy, chunky, and somewhat silky eggshell white head, which leaves some billowing cloudscape lace around the glass as it lazily subsides.

It smells of lightly soured milk, those dried apricots that I ate like candy as a kid, peaches and cream, some hard to really discern grainy wheatiness, salted crackers, and a further bit of robust tropical fruitiness. The taste is fairly tart fruit (citrus and the underripe version of the guest stone fruit), more peaches and sour cream, a crackery pale and wheaty maltiness, saline, and more of that now bordering on bitter tropical hoppiness.

The carbonation is fairly active in its probing and palate coating frothiness, the body a solid medium weight, and trying hard to be smooth, but that lactic and fruity sourness isn't really interested in turning the other cheek. It finishes off-dry, the varied fruity esters keeping this one out of a desert crash landing.

Overall, a very enjoyable and complex version of the style, with the added fruit and nature of the Galaxy hops providing the stand-in for the schuss (shot of sweetening syrup). Low ABV (don't even miss it), and a charming refreshment quotient mean that this one should get lots of love as our patio season kicks right into high gear.