Scaldis Pêche Mel'

Generally known for the blockbuster, high-octane brews (Scaldis, Scaldis Noel), Brasserie Duboisson entered the fruit-flavored beer market just under five years ago. Of course, the brewers stayed true to their roots, and the result, Pêche Mel’Scaldis, clocks in at an impressive 8.5 percent ABV. Not unexpectedly, the nose is completely dominated by sweet, ripe peach notes backed by an alcohol booziness. Tim proclaimed the aroma “akin to walking through a peach orchard” and “like grandma’s fresh baked peach pies,” with no real underlying “beer” character. After some concerted effort, he did find some brandy-like alcohol notes. This is a distinctly orange-tinted brew, showing just a hint of cloudiness, that throws a very low head which collapses almost immediately after pouring. As with the nose, the flavor is dominated by syrupy Cling peach, guava and a complex melding of exotic flavors. There was not enough “beer character” in some views to balance the slightly cloying sweetness. The peach flavors struck Tom as “dried, rather than fresh peaches,” which lent a faintly off-putting mustiness to the beer. Pete and Tom both opined that the beer would benefit from more bitterness to keep the sweetness in check, as well as some “Belgian beer” spiciness to add a bit of complexity. More like peach brandy than beer, this is the ideal base for an updated Bellini.