Most of you who know me know I don’t care for fruit beers, at least most of those that don’t carry a Belgian label, i.e., American fruit beers.

But the gentlemen brewers over at Big Sky put out a cherry-flavored ale just in time for Valentines that is neither American-style fruit beer, nor yeasty Belgian fruit ale.

I wrote an article about another year’s incarnation of the brewery’s standard strong cherry ale here, but this year’s batch deserves a review all its own.

The beer pours slightly reddish in the glass and gives off a nose of candied cherries and tropical flowers.

A strong cherry flavor characterizes the taste of the beer but without that syrupy taste that cherries often take on when added to something as a flavoring.

This beer has a good malt backbone to hold up the fruity sweetness without being too heavy.

I’ve always said that good fruit beer finds the perfect balance, the best complement of fruit, malt and hops, and this beer achieves that nicely.

If your significant other isn’t a beer lover, this one just might change his or her mind.

Prost,

GG

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I picked up a couple 22-ounce bottles at Worden’s Market Tuesday after a long afternoon on the Black Cat fire watching slurry bombers drop their red sludge. Rather Freudian isn’t it?

The first is a hop bomb with the scent of a field of flowers when you first dip your nose down into the dissipating white foam. It’s Son of Spot, an IPA from Full Sail Brewing Company. I’ve been a little stuck on Full Sail lately, but their Brewmaster’s Reserve line just keeps impressing me.

This beer is a warm-copper color with an astounding 90 IBUs, which translates to a lot of character when you contrast the high IBUs with the floral hop nose and a body that falls short of heavy but doesn’t disappear altogether into the IBU abyss.

This beer pairs well with roast or grilled chicken and turkey, though with IBUs this high and at 6 percent alcohol it likely would cleanse your palate after a spicy curry. I drank it with my wife’s enchiladas and it did a nice job of cutting through her secret blend of spices and vegetables in a heavy sauce.

The second beer is local and quite the opposite of Son of Spot. Bitterroot Brewing Company’s India Pale Ale is one of the rare IPAs with a malt backbone big enough to hang a spoon on.

More like the British style, Bitterroot Brewing Company’s IPA has been beefed up in different areas than Northwest IPAs. With balanced hops and a rich, almost roasted malt character, this IPA is something of an anomaly in this part of the world today. I was impressed with the malts used and intend to find out more about this recipe.

This beer would stand up nicely to a late-summer harvest stew. I tend to think it would compliment venison or elk nicely, and I know it’s a great beer to have with a smoked-turkey sausage and some havarti cheese.

For every wound, a balm.
For every sorrow, cheer.
For every storm, a calm.
For every thirst, a beer.

GG

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