It鈥檚 summer, so you want a beer that鈥檚 cold, refreshing and you can drink dozens of if given the opportunity. Normally, fruit beers don鈥檛 fit this bill: they鈥檙e often cloyingly sweet, with flavours that tend to overstay their welcome. The first couple are great, but by the third, your mouth starts to sour with a lingering aftertaste you鈥檇 rather do without.
Thankfully, there鈥檚 been a ton of great fruity beers released in the past couple months that don鈥檛 suffer this problem. They鈥檙e packed full of flavour, but finish clean and dry, enticing you to crack another鈥� and another鈥� and another鈥�.
new Bright Side is a great example of well-balanced, crushable summer fruit beer. It鈥檚 tart, bursting with flavour, light and refreshing, and perfect for drinking in large quantities without getting palate fatigue. V茅lo also fits the bill.
However, this week I want to talk about Andina鈥檚 Jalea Guava Saison, another delicious fruit beer I鈥檇 file under 鈥渃rushable.鈥�
If you鈥檙e not familiar with guava, that鈥檚 a shame, because it鈥檚 goddamn delicious. It鈥檚 a tropical fruit with reddish flesh and bold flavours of strawberry, pear, passion fruit and pineapple. If you鈥檝e ever had agua fresca, chances are it was heavily flavoured with guava.
The guava used in Jalea is imported directly from Colombia by Andina鈥檚 owners, using their connections back home. The tart, peppery saison yeast balances the complex fruit flavours nicely, with just enough hop bitterness to dry out the finish.
All that flavour also hides a deceptively high ABV of 6.4 per cent, so be careful with this one. On a hot, sunny day, they are going to disappear pretty fast.
Judging by the speed at which these beers disappeared from my fridge, I wasn鈥檛 the only one who enjoyed Jalea.
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Andina Brewing鈥檚 Jalea Guava Saison (6.4% ABV, 29 IBU)
Appearance: Slightly hazy orangey-pink with a persistent white head.
Aroma: Strawberry, citrus, melon, floral.
Flavour: Strawberry, pear, lemon, melon, guava, apple, kiwi, passion fruit, floral notes, slightly spicy yeast character, pepper.
Body: Light-medium bodied with a tart, dry finish and smidge of lingering sweetness (but not too much!)
Pairs with: Tamales, jerk chicken, copious amounts of sunshine and those short-sleeve shirts with frangipanis on them.
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Rob Manglesdorf is the editor of where you can read about all things craft beer all the time.
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