The fruit beer craze of the ’90s is deep enough in the past now that it’s hard to recall that concoctions were unmemorable from the get-go and often made from frozen concentrate. Today, there’s a new guard of infused ales, made harmoniously with whatever’s ripe and ready in the orchard, vineyard or berry patch. Better still, many — sours especially — gain wine-like complexity thanks to the use of certain yeast strains, co-fermentations and barrel regimens. Here are six prime examples.
ENine Brewery Tayberry | 6.4% ABV | $10/375ml
Tacoma’s original craft brewery, ENine has made a habit of crafting creative beers that showcase Washington fruit. This one employs the tayberry, a cross between a raspberry and blackberry, fermented in oak barrels with house Brettanomyces strains. A slightly funky nose leads to berry flavors so fresh you expect to be pulling seeds out of your teeth. It’s balanced, summery and departs with a slightly stem-y, tannic finish.
Barbarian Brewing 2016 Jotunheim | 7.6% ABV | $10/750ml
Easily the most complex of the lot, the Jotunheim — a nod to Norse mythology’s world of giants — is made from an impressive fruit bill including elderberries, juniper berries, Spanish cedar and yeast from wild Norwegian apples. Earthy and slightly sweet up front, this highly involved ale morphs into blue fruit and apple flavors before finishing with a billow of cedar.
Ex Novo Brewing Co. Berry White | 5.3% ABV | $5/16oz draft
This draft-only American wheat from Portland’s Ex Novo pours a brilliant faded magenta and reminds one of sun-kissed afternoons snacking on side-of-the-road fruit. Slightly grassy with a hint of yeast, the Berry White mainly takes a backseat to its main ingredient, fresh blackberries.
Propolis Brewing 2017 Kriek | 7.5% ABV | $28/750ml
Send your palate straight to Brussels with this Flemish style golden ale made with cherries. Despite a relatively dark and cloudy makeup, the kriek is bright in flavor, showing strawberry, citrus, rhubarb and a touch of eucalyptus. Secondary fermentation with cherries yields stone fruit notes without sacrificing its underlying dryness.
Great Northern Brewing Co. Wild Huckleberry | 4.6% ABV | $8/6-pack
You can’t make a fruit beer in Montana without considering the huckleberry. This low-octane, session wheat lager is awfully thirst-quenching, made from the juice of Montana’s famed fruit and glacier water. While fairly straightforward, it comes in incredibly clean thanks to a calculated dosage of wheat, pilsner and Vienna malts.
Double Mountain Brewery Peche Mode | 8.6% ABV | $10/375ml
A common complaint with fruit beers is too much of the former and very little of the latter. The Peche Mode, made among the quilted patchwork of Hood River orchards, strikes a tidy balance. Chewy peach notes give way to equal parts sour, grain and barnyard in this tasty Belgian style sour ale.
This story originally ran in the spring print issue of Sip Northwest. For the full story and others like it, click here.
