Chêne Pêche
Our Mutual Friend Malt & Brew

 

in theory, i love this beer, but in the glass, its lackluster for me. it seems like a little less focus on the package and more focus on the liquid would have been useful, but this brewery seems awfully concerned with looking cool, thats how they present themselves, and this certainly looks cool. the clear bottle designed to let some of that old worldy oxidation happen a little sooner, and the cork and cap just look awesome through the clear glass. the super pale beer also has a certain appeal to it, i wish it was as good as it looks. i dont mean to make it sound all bad, the beer actually has some nice features. the lightness in color and grain body and flavor is cool, it leaves a lot of room for oak and fruit, both of which are really robust in the aroma and in the flavor. the peach is ripe, juicy, and natural, and it seems to bring up more of the vanilla from the oak, and its not fermented to dry, so there is an almost desserty element to it, sour as it is, that i really like. that said, it smells stinky, has a new and amateurish cheesy element, socky like grated romano, and is overly acidic as this sort of thing goes, and even a little bit seems like a lot. maybe it just seems a bit young, like it needs more exposure and time in this clear bottle to really become the beer it can be, but i didnt get that vibe, it didnt show like it was going to become incredible in another year or anything. i like the peach, it even feels fuzzy, the fruit part of this is great. i like the oak too, and the grist is intriguing in its simplicity, but its the fermentation profile that just isnt there for me. still, i am curious to try the cherry one, and any other versions they made, and would like to see what it tastes like down the road a little bit. coolest packaging around, but the beer didnt live up to the visual expectation for me. its cool that these guys are getting better and more ambitious, but their liquid by no means warrants any hype at this point...