Peccadillo Peach
Palisade Brewing Co.

Received a freshly poured growler in the mail from a friend who lives in Palisade, Colorado. Just down the street from the brewery in fact. Its peach season there so you know the peaches used are of the freshest kind.

Not like your normal run of the mill fruit beers. This one pours dark amber like a very solid amber ale with great head and appearance. The smell is of hops, malt, and sweetness of peaches...

Now the taste, fantastic. It breaks the mold of fruit beers for sure. A nice melding of hops and fruit, smoothly done. Fantastic body on this beer.

This is a great beer, one that I would not expect as a fruit beer. Anyone who has tried fruit beer in the past and felt disappointed with them for lack of body, this one will turn those tables around. I will quickly drink the rest of this growler so as to send it back to my friend to have it refilled before its all gone...

Think of the best peach iced tea you ever had with a solid ABV. Then get to the Palisade Brewery as quick as you can.

On tap at the brewery, this brew looks a lot like their Red Truck IPA--a deep amber with a thin head and little to no signs of carbonation. I might have assumed that this was a standard 'fruit beer,' but Palisade is located in the heart of Colorado fruit country (on Peach Avenue no less), and the fresh, local peaches they used in this brew were clear in both the bouquet--where it dominates--and the palate, where it dominates at first before giving way to a strong, hoppy finish.

This makes for a full-bodied and tasty fruit beer, with a good balance between a distinct fruity/sweet start and a the full finish of an IPA. It's also got a fun spritziness that tickles the back of the tongue, an effect that heightens the presence of the bitter aftertaste and makes it more palatable. For those hot days on Colorado's Western Slope something this cool and refreshing is a godsend.

When I first tasted a bunch of the Palisade brews a few years ago, I wasn't impressed. But since then, I think they've made some great improvements. Orchard Amber and Red Truck IPA are two solid brews. And then, the tasting room at the brewery, with seating both inside and outside, is a treat. They've got some fine on-site offerings that make this a must visit brewery for anyone near or crossing through Colorado's far west.