Brasserie Dunham Saison du Pinacle
What the brewers say
“Hoppy farmhouse ale brewed with rye, oats, and wheat and hopped with Australian and American hops. Fresh, lively, and hoppy when young, this beer also benefits from a bit of aging to reveal its Brettanomyces character of farmhouse funk.”
What our panel thought
Aroma: “Juicy tropical hops—lot of grapefruit and a bit of passion fruit. A bit of citrus esters maybe, but hops dominate. There’s a freshness about the aroma of sweet tropical fruit—pineapple and mango and more rustic Brett flavors in the background.”
Flavor: “Big juicy tropical citrus hops with a slight orange tang and hint of herbal. Fruit character hits with pineapple, mango, and gooseberry, but it quickly fades to a thin bitter beer with some harsher Brett flavors and slight hops astringency.”
Overall: “Big juicy aroma is awesome, but hops bitterness is way over the top and astringent, which makes this difficult to drink (like Malört). An intriguing concept for a beer, with a ludicrous amount of hops flavor, but the beer gets so dry and bitter that the original concept is lost in the final product.”