PDubyah: Beer – #57 – Golden Bear Brewing Company

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Beer – #57 – Golden Bear Brewing Company - Pirate Peach Saison

Won a Trophy and a silver medal at the recent Sutton Group Brewers Guild of New Zealand Awards so there!

Golden Bear - Pirate Peach Saison is brewed with fresh Black-Boy peaches, NZ grains and hops. The Belgian Saison yeast combines with those fresh ingredients giving it a unique flavour – zesty with essence of peach and a slightly dry finish worth pillaging for! Bottle conditioned and drinkable now – but gets more interesting as it matures.

A 750Ml bottle of 6.3% ABV Fruit beer, brewed in Port Mapua Nelson, and bottled in May 2011 by the Golden Bear Brewing Company

And there was I thinking it was some American beer, for no reason at all, other than I started thinking, and that's usually when the problem start.

So I would love to say this smells like a beer, but it smells like a fruit drink, a very fizzy one, and having prepared well it's poured a a lovely hazy golden with a head that borders on ridiculous, so I guess i'm still in need of beer pouring practice.

And that's a bit odd on the tongue. very tangy, and on the dry side like a dry cider is, not harshly dry but there it is. I don't really know that to think, it's jumped out of the bottle in a rush, but it might be a bit like a puppy that's pleased to see you as soon as you get home, then instantly falls to sleep on you. I certainly am expecting a peachiness that just isn't in it, the initial rush settles to a dry/sour fruit flavour.

Don't get me wrong this isn't unpleasant, and be honest with yourself when is says "peaches" you're going to get something that it's quite normal. The pdubyah-o-meter ticks up to 8 from 10 arbitrary things on this beer, but not because of what you struggle with it's what you're struggling to get. I'm in awe of a brewer who's prepared to push the boat out, and unlike some other fantasy beers this one is a bit of ok, I'd be prepared to give up a lot of beers before I gave up this one. Despite my bluster I do like it.

However the Luddite in me can't even think of a food match that might work for this, I'm sure that someone with a but more taste and refinement could some up with a few things. I can say that it's be wasted with Fish and Chips, a pie, a curry, kebab or a burger :-) It might be worth a crack with cheese, which reminds me of a camembert with my name on on the kitchen.

Perhaps I should get some for the summer afternoon when I'm done with chores and just want to idle in the warm rays with no care in the world and a bit of a challenge and talking point of a beer with friends.