Beer Review: Smuttynose Hanami Ale

I'm a big fan of the Smuttynose Brewery, and not just because it's based out of my home state and named after an island with which I'm pretty familiar. As far as New England breweries go, I would say Smuttynose is actually better than Sam Adams, though perhaps not quite as good as Magic Hat. Their Old Brown Dog Ale and Shoals Pale Ale are among the best I've had of their type, and their sporadically released Big Beers are generally excellent.

I was surprised to discover that this is the second year they've put the Hanami Ale, a spring seasonal. I'm usually on top of these things. In any case, I decided I better check it out. Here's the brewery's description (sorry for the crappy color--I couldn't figure out how to change it. If you highlight it, you can read it):

Smuttynose Hanami Ale, our spring seasonal, is inspired by the ancient
Japanese tradition of hanami- cherry blossom viewing - when people throughout Japan gather in parks to contemplate the luminous, ethereal sakura blossoms, while consuming copious amounts of food and beer in a joyous, nationwide picnic.

Made with a generous amount of natural cherry juice, Hanami Ale is crisp and refreshing, a well-balanced, medium-bodied ale offering subtle, tart cherry flavors - the perfect way to bid farewell to winter's icy grip and toast the arrival of spring with your own hanami celebration.

VITAL STATISTICS
OG: 1052 ABV: 5.7%
Grain Bill: Pilsener, Carahell, Aromatic & Carafa malts
Hops: Styrian Golding, Sterling
Color/Number: Rosy-hued Amber

I am generally wary of "fruity" beers. Sam Adams simply can't do them. I used to drink their Cheery Wheat in college, but that was before I knew what good beer was supposed to taste like. I can't stomach the stuff now. Their Cranberry Lambic isn't much better. Magic Hat has the "hint of apricot" in their #9, but I've consumed so much of that over the years that I don't even notice the apricotness anymore. There are a few blueberry ales that don't make me cringe, but by and large, I think the berry-enhanced beer is difficult to pull off.

The Hunami Ale caught me by surprise. I would not describe the cherry flavor as "subtle", but it's certainly tart. The beer was a lot hoppier than I thought it would be, so it starts out with the tartness of the cherry and finishes with a hoppy bitterness that clashes with the initial flavor a bit. It's certainly unlike anything I've tasted before, so I'll give them points for showing me something new.

That said, I can't quite imagine sitting down and having a bunch of these (which is slightly unfortunate since I have five more left in my six-pack). I suspect this beer would be better in a different context. Not so much in my kitchen in the winter, but out on the porch when the weather warms up a bit. The other problem is that because of the unique flavor, I have no idea what kind of food might complement it. Something from the grill, I imagine, which I'm not quite ready to fire up yet.

The bottom line is that I've had much worse berry beers, but I can't really heartily recommend this one. It's far superior to the Sam Adams Cherry Wheat, so I guess if you simply must have cherry in your beer, go with the Hunami. I would suggest giving it a shot if you find it on tap somewhere (pretty unlikely if you're outside New England), but I wouldn't bother with a full six pack.