Normally condemned to rot in a mediocre ceramic bowl, the fruit cup has finally been given the respectable and stylish home it deserves — Peaks & Pints craft beer flight. That’s right, this is not your mama’s fruit cup. It’s more like a fruit cup on … hops. Once considered a maligned novelty, fruit is now one of the arenas where brewers experiment most, uh, fruitfully. According to archeologists, the Mesopotamians were brewing with fruit thousands of years ago. In 1999, Fruitheads became a type a drinker after they gobbled up gallons of Dogfish Heads’ Aprihop, a fruit beer made with pureed apricots. So, Fruitheads, we present Peaks and Pints Beer Flight: Fruit Cup.
Peaks and Pints Beer Flight: Fruit Cup
Equilibrium Neutrino
4.5% ABV, can
In 2016, MIT graduates and friends Peter Oates and Ricardo Petroni opened Equilibrium Brewery in Middletown, New York. The two professional scientists became obsessed with New England hazy IPAs spending more time at Hill Farmstead Brewery and The Alchemist than their laboratory. Finally purchasing a homebrewing kit, Oats and Petroni strived to create scientifically balanced beer, which they did before brewing their first double IPA, named EQM, in 2015. It didn’t hurt they were trained in water chemistry. Their Neutrino Hazy pale ale with base of 2-row and white wheat before a Citra whirlpool and Strata, Citra, and Galaxy dry hop for aromas of fresh-cut tropical fruit and Five Alive juice drink, followed by flavors orange and passionfruit sorbet, pineapples in syrup, plus passionfruit and lime gummies, 4.5%
Little Beast Electric Sunshine
4.8% ABV, can
Two years before Little Beast Brewing opened in Beaverton, Oregon, co-founder Charles Porter was brewing at Logsdon Farmhouse Ales in Hood River. Porter left Logsdon and opened Little Beast Brewing with his business and life partner, Brenda Crow, a cheesemaker, in April 1017. Porter and crew craft wild, wood-aged, and blended beer naturally with diverse cultures, including Saccharomyces, Brettanomyces, Lactobacillus, and wild flora. Luscious, tart, and refreshing, their Electric Sunshine is brewed with real strawberries and real lemons to turn up the sunshine.
Bale Breaker Mango Tango Summer Ale
5.9% ABV, draft
Bale Breaker Brewing’s annual Sesiones del Migrante mango beer is back with a new look and name, Mango Tango Summer Ale, brewed with 28 pounds per barrel of mango pureé. They brew this beer each year to celebrate the Mexican migrant workers who travel to Yakima to harvest hops for breweries across the globe. Sesiones del Migrante was founded in 2017 by Cervecería de Colima, Cerveza Loba, Ronin Fermentation Project, SouthNorte, Yakima Chief Hops and Bale Breaker. A portion of the proceeds from this beer goes to local nonprofits who support our migrant farm working community. Mango Tango Summer Ale has low bitterness and smells like freshly sliced ripe mangos with hints of mandarin orange.
Matchless Matchless Made
6.4% ABV, can
“As kids, orange soda was one of our favorites,” states Matchless Brewing regarding their Matchless Made hazy IPA. “But now as adults we drink beer … but still long for the flavors of a soda every once in a while. In this homage to childhood treats Comet plays lead, bringing out big tangerine notes. Chinook & Eclipse boost the orange and Citra ties it all together with a tropical citrus note. The glowing orange color was created with Malteurop Pilsen & Weyermann Vienna malts, and flaked oats give it that juicy body. All of this culminates into one big orange and tangerine flavored adult soda!”
Gigantic Enjoy House!
7.3% ABV, bottle
This Gigantic Brewing and Von Ebert Brewing collaboration is inspired from a serendipitous encounter in Tokyo during the Hood to Fuji Beerfest. The two Portland breweries saw a second-story window with “Enjoy House!” painted on it and lit with Christmas lights. They went up the stairs to discover a dive bar decorated with streamers and balloons with cool music and friendly vibes. That late-night experience inspired Enjoy House! a summer IPA brewed with lots of Citra, plus dry hopped with Citra and Strata, for tropical flavors of pineapple, mango, and orange zest.
LINK: Peaks & Pints cooler inventory
