As sponsors of Adelaide's inaugural Cheesefest, Vale Brewing figured they should flex their muscles and create a new beer for the event. The result was a Pineapple Saison, the latest entry in their ever colourful EXP series of one-off, experimental brews. They'd been playing around with fruit additions to various saison brews on their pilot setup in Willunga, with the "fresh and acidic" pineapple juice one experiment that particularly took the brewers' fancy.
With the Cheesefest over, kegs of the beer have been sent far and wide. Aside from the pineapple juice, the beer was brewed with a simple malt bill and only old school European hops (or varieties derived from them) designed to add a little spicy, herbal character but nothing to detract too much from the saison yeast. Or, indeed, the pineapple.
The result is a beer that we'd call a "drinking saison": not too much in the way of prominent peppery, tart or funky characters you can find in some beers of the style; instead, a really easy-drinking, summery beer. It has aromas of lemon and pineapple (soft, not sticky or acidic), a touch of light malt sweetness and follows up with citrusy flavours and a gentle but distinctive pineapple finish. Just right, in fact, for when we tried it on a particularly warm Melbourne evening.
Published November 12, 2015 2015-11-12 00:00:00
