10 oz draft at Bierkraft in Brooklyn, New York. The pour is a mostly clear golden with not much of a white head. The aroma is peach, along with light tart sourness. Nice natural and fresh nose. The taste is the natural peach fruit, paired nicely with the tart sour, decent wheat character, all of which is nicely integrated and smooth. The palate is light to medium bodied, crisp carbonation, dry lightly tart finish. Nice one.

12 oz goblet / tulip draft at Martin City Brewing Company in Kansas City, Missouri. The pour is a murky dark brown, with a limited dark khaki head. The aroma is warming toffee, dark fruit, caramel malt sweetness and a warming hint of alcohol in the back. Nice nose. The taste is real big on the toffee and caramel, quite full flavor, transitioning to the plum fruit in the back. Alcohol is present, though primarily in the long malty finish. The palate is heavy to medium bodied, low carbonation level, and the lingering sweet warming booze finish. Nice Barley Wine, I have enjoyed these Perennial beers so far.

12 oz goblet / tulip draft at Martin City Brewing Company in Kansas City, Missouri. The pour is hazed orange golden yellow with a nice one inch mostly white head. The aroma is straw, Belgian spice, floral herbal, and the presence of the chamomile. Engaging nose. The taste is a great balance of the straw and wheat malt, along with the floral, herbal and chamomile. The palate is medium bodied, soft natural carbonation, and a pleasant Belgian yeast spice aftertaste. Nice one.

Pour is a dark red with a small head. Aroma is sweet molasses malt with some toffee and alcohol. Flavor is a nice caramel malt with some earthyness and a big dose of alcohol. Very sweet and malt forward and a way big alcohol presence. This is a beer to lay down for a year or two. Right now it is a huge malt bomb with a lot of alcohol.

Crisp, slightly hazy orange coloured body with a bit of a peach glow and a thick, nicely laced white head about three centimetres tall. Aroma of super pungent floral notes, some plums, lavender, yeast, wheat and a bit of sugar - very fragrant, very complex and very nice! Medium-bodied; Assertive effervescence; Strong floral notes up front in the flavour with a lot of lavender, plums and grass noticeable and then fading to an acidic hit and a nice refreshing cherry finish. Aftertaste shows a good complexity with tons of fruits, grassiness, yeast and a good sweetness. Overall, a good and rather complex fruit and floral based beer with an emphasis on sweetness. I’m not quite sure where Belgian Tripel entered the picture, but this to me could be a ’Belgian Ale’, but it really belongs in Fruit/Herb/Spice category. I sampled this 75 cL bottle purchased from Half-Time in Poughkeepsie, New York on 26-December-2012 for US$15.99 sampled at home on the Eastern Shore of Virginia on 18-January-2013.

Tap @ Perennial. Pours a deep brown appearance with a light brown head. Anise, raisin, plum, caramel aroma. Very fruity (plum, dark grape, fig), somewhat sweet but well balanced, caramel, brown sugar flavor. Definitely a solid brew.

Tap @ Perennial. R&D release originally called Hot As Helles, but apparently that name is already being used by Rock Bottom. Pours a bit hazy, golden appearance with a white head. Very potent and delicious smoked jalapeño aroma which pretty much masks anything else. Slightly sweet grainy but mostly just smoked jalapeños in the flavor. Straight up pepper beer but one of the better ones that I’ve had. No real issues with celery or veggie notes that plague so many pepper beers. One of the best pepper beers I’ve ever tried.

Tap @ Perennial. Pours a fairly clear golden orange appearance with an off white head. Zesty citrusy, a touch funky, mild aroma. Tangerine/orange, mild funky, bready flavor. Not hard to drink but not much going on.

Tap @ Perennial. Pours a bit lazy, yellow appearance with a white head. Straw, light barnyard, floral, lemon aroma. Floral, dry, straw, easy drinking flavor. For a style I don’t like all that much, this was pretty refreshing.