Dogfish Head Festina Lente
A neo-lambic ale that goes through both a yeast and bacteria fermentation and is then aged on oak chips and 400 pounds of Delaware peaches. This beer is very tart and complex. It arrives cork-finished and bottled-conditioned in champagne bottles.
3.2
254 reviews
Milton, United States
Community reviews
750 ml corked and caged bottle. Batch 1. Pours a slightly hazy copper with just a thin white head of foam. The aroma is musty, tart, peaches. The fruit profile is phenomenal on this. Taste is more of that peach sourness. Lighter body.
Taster pour at the brewery, their last case, hazy gold, minimal head, subtle aroma, powerful sour peach flavor... What a blast!
Draft pour by Sam himself at NHC pro brewers night. Pours a hazy golden orange with thin off-white head. Nose of lactic acid, barn funk, peach, oak. Light body, quite tart.
Another generous share from Diego by way of the Tower of Power, I really loved this beer and it had an incredible amount of peach flavor remaining for a bottle of its vintage. I wish that DFH would rebrew this beer, it’s better than probably every 750 they have released since.
Bottle at the Funky 8, Brooklyn, NYC. Vintage 2004. Great tang in here. The fruits seem to have faded mildly but this is still a phenomenal beer. Loads of great tang. Super balance, very well rounded and drinkable. A real treat.
Huge tip of the cap to maltzilla for sharing this bottle at the TOPSH. ’04 vintage. Cloudy dark yellow pour with no head. Peach nose. Tart and tangy, a little watery, with all kinds of peach and sour stone fruit flavors. What a treat to get to try this 7 year old DH gem.......
Thanks Maltzilla for this gem. This is now my second favorite DFH after D’Extra. For a 6-7 year old bottle, this was nothing short of amazing. Peaches in a sour beer equals greatness and they need to brew this beer again.
Big thanks to Maltzilla for showing this rarity. 04’ bottle. This has definitely still held up over time. The aroma still had a good amount of peaches in there along with some sour funk. The flavor had that soft peachy flavor with a toned down sour funk. Very good though.
In short: A very barnyard (borderline funky) sour peach beer. Surprisingly good.
How: From a 750ml bottle. Consumed when 6.5 years old, shared by a friend.
The look: Cloudy peach color body with almost no head
In long: Strong nose of peaches and barnyard. Taste is very countryside barnyard, almost funky. Plenty of peaches, lactic acid, medium-strong sourness. So I am told that this beer was crap when it came out and then a few years later it kicked-in. I can’t comment on that because I can’t remember having it fresh but I can say that this beer as it is today is one of the best American fruit-lambic I’ve ever had, better than any Upland and others. I definitely want to score some of these old bottles. I never had this beer fresh but I hear that it was pretty bad when fresh and it took years to develop. With this beer the secret was to be as patient as anybody who is waiting for me to grow up and be a man.
This poured a light semi cloudy yellow color with a small white head. Aroma is of very sour peaches, medium funk and light nail polish. Flavor was Very inrtreresting, a nice blend between funk and tartness, way better than the peche and ahead of its time. Great stuff.
2005 bottle generously shared at the RBSG grand tasting. Pours a cloudy yellow. Aroma is a solid blend of lemon and nail polish. Flavor is delightfully lemon and acetone. Soft mouthfeel with plenty of tartness. I found this to be somewhat simplistic but overall quite enjoyable.
Keith, you and your brother are awesome! Grabbed my stumbling drunk ass at rbsg and said "Hey Kevin, you posted a trade forum request for this like 8 months ago, here you are."
Murky grapefruit, wispy head. Nose is full on peach, pith to skin, lightly acetic flavor is evident, bit burning, still peach and light crust in finish. Not much body left but that helps the quality, a wonderful peach coupling well with the unblended-lambic nature of the beer, noted in GT2’s review.
Thanks to whoever brought this to RBSG. Pours out a cloudy yellowish color with a small white head. Aroma is of apricot, peach, and some funky sourness. Taste is complex with some apricot, peach, light sour tartness, some light funky barrel notes in there also. This was pretty nice, please do again DFH.
Bottle at RBSG. Pours gold. White head. Nose/taste of tart peach, funky lemon, hay and mild sourness. Lightish body. Solid.
Pours a nice golden color with next to no head just a few bubbles. Has a bit of funky peach smell to it. Taste is about the same with a nice refreshing sour taste up front with a nice tart finish. Leaves my mouth watering. Pretty nice.
29th March 2009
Cloudy gold beer. Very low carbonation. Intense sharp lemony lambic beer. Can’t really taste much peach. Struggling with this beer and this beer style in general - different shades of lemon juice to me!
Sampled at DC Epic Sour Tasting 2010. Pours a crystal clear, deep gold with one ring of white head. Nose is soapy without being hoppy, vegetables, a little chemical, carrots, peaches. Flavor is tart, dusty, hay, lemon zest, peppery. Finish is medium bodied and tart. I didn’t love this, I thought it was all over the place.
750 ml bottle at DC Epic Sour Tasting 2010, courtesy of ryan - thank you sir! Clear golden color, no head, no lacing. Subtle aroma of apple skins. Taste of citrus, tart peach. Medium body. Straightforward. 3.5
Second tasting April 2013. Amazingly, the fruit is still evident. The beer seems more rich, complex and characterful. 4.1
750mL courtesy of ryan. Pours a clear yellow with a thin, white head. Smell is ripe peaches, peach skins, light tropical fruits. Taste is beautiful tart peaches, rich sourness, peach skins, has a creamy/rich texture even though the lambic in its entirety is light-bodied. Soft carbonation and lightly acidic. Very nice overall. Unblended peach lambic? Yes please.
Anyone who drinks this and passes it off as pretty meh, probably also gave Isabelle Proximus higher than a 4. Well guess what- this is part of the blend in Isabelle so there you go.
I also like how when this came out, distributors sent the bottles back and said they were infected and had become sour. Not shit sherlock.
750mL bottle from 2004, thanks ryan! Pours a hazy pinkish orange with a bit of white head. Aroma is nice, with lots of tart, sour (and somehow juicy) peaches, a bit of acidity, and some citrus. Taste is very acidic, with some sour fruit, funk, peach and lemon. Finish has a bit of acidic bite and a bunch of lemon peel. Best DFH ever...
Time to catch up before BCTC. Bottle at CL Rosso release. Thanks to all the RB’ers and BA’s that brought great beer. I think Dickinsonbeer brought this one. Tart grapefruit aroma. Grapefruit melon tart sweetness. Low carbonation. Tart finish. I didn’t think I would like this one, but it was excellent.
Beer number three in a killer July 09 Super Secret Sour State Line Tasting (SSSSLT) featuring (first to last by my counts): Supplication, Consecration, La Folie, Dissident, Cuvee de Castleton, Red Poppy, Lambic de Hill, Festina Lente, Panil. Poured with a pale peachy color, goldenish too. The head was decent, some good invigorating carbonation present. Strong peach aroma, quite strong. The nose was incredible, clearly the best aspect of this beer. The flavor followed the aroma, strong peaches, sour notes, slight wheat bite in the finish. Flavor was unfortunately a tad on the watery side, was hoping for a bit more. A strong man’s Festina Peche, but the flavor wasn’t big enough to support it. Thanks so much, Bert, for this great opportunity at a DFH rarity! An awesome tasting!
750 ml bottle shared at StateLine by sloth... Why such a low rating for this beer??? Anyway... Light orange in color, small head. Great aroma of peaches. Taste is light peaches with a hint of tartness...not overdone.. Reminds me of a juiced up version of festina peche. Crisp and light, quite refreshing for a tart beer.... Over very enjoyable... Big thanks to bert for sharing a beer that I have been looking for the past two years!
Just decorked an 04 bottle I have of this last month. Not one of my favorite DFH beers. Pours a golden hazy color with a white head that dissipates fast. Very sugary smell taste is very tart and I don’t really taste the peach just tartness but it dissipates fast. Over all it reminds me of a sour ale not a lambic
Bottle @ Monk’s: This one was for the Brett Pack Dinner during PBW. This was a beer before its time. At the dinner, Sam told us he made this beer sent it out and no one could get rid of it. The places started sending it back to the brewery, where he has kept them ever since. After this dinner, there was only 4 cases left of this beer. And let me tell you, it is awesome. It poured a hazy golden with not much head. The aroma was oak, funk, hint of peach and some acidity. The flavor was slight peach, heavy funk, lemons, and a nice smooth finish. This beer rocked. And to think it only needed 5 years to age. I hope someday, they bring this one back cause I doubt there would be anyone sending this one back to the brewery this day and age.
Rating #800. decaturstevo’s Febmergency Tasting. Sample from a bottle thanks to SpringsLicker. 2004 Bottle, and huge thanks to Jay bringing this along, one of my most wanted beers. The pour is a hazy orange with a quick white head. The aroma is a big sweetness, but the peach seems to have faded, lots of acidity, oaky, funk. Taste is incredible, like an imperial Festina Peche. Lots of acidity, funk, lemons, a subdued peach fruitiness and wheat malt sweetness underneath.
Bottle 2004 shared by yobdoog- thanks! By looking at the pattern of the ratings, it seems that this stuff needed time to mature and funk-ti-fy. Hazy golden pour with an off white ring of head. Very lactic and tart aroma with some granny smith apple skin and a touch of bretty earthy notes/leather. Light and crisp feel with a solid tart punch. Nice low pH with a lemony acidity and leathery brett suggestions. Didn’t pick up on the peach, as most of the residual sugars were probably consumed over the 5-years. Lactic and nicely infected- nice.
btl by SpringsLicker. Cloudy orange pour with white head and lace. A huge sour aroma. Sour and dry. Medium bodied with decent carbonation. A very unusual beer with a very nice sharp sour.
Bottled ’04
Februmergency Tasting.
Hazy clear medium yellow body with a small white head.
Funky Belgian aroma that is quite tart.
Fruity, extremely sour, but a very clean sourness.
Dry finish.
The peach is hard to find through the powerful sourness.
Bottle at the Febmergency tasting. 2004. Pours light yellow with white head. The aroma is honey, white wine, some oak, tree fruits, and lactic sourness. The flavor is dry and vinous. White raisin, oak, and a nice musty sourness, with an occasional moldy note (which I’m actually enjoying). Stern tartness throughout makes it quite refreshing. The peach is very subtle, largely masked by the sourness, but is present enough to add a satisfying complexity. This is quite good.