Judge's Review: 90 Rating - Practice What You Peach by Monday Night Brewing

Practice What You Peach by Monday Night Brewing is being evaluated as a Wild Specialty Beer (2015 BJCP Category 28C) as a wood-fermented wild ale that features peaches and tangerines. 

The aroma has medium-low fruit presence with peach skin, canned peaches and a hint of tangerine zest, which gives the overall aroma some brightness. There is a very light oak note in the background and comes across as neutral without any spirit character. 

The beer is a hazy blonde with a small thin white head that disappears within seconds. The quickly vanishing head is expected and acceptable for this style. The beer packs a punch of acidity up front but gives way to some leather and funk as the palate acclimates. The fruit character is balanced within other aspects of the beer and the tangerine has a refreshing citrus quality to it that harmonizes well with the beer’s tartness. More peach presence would be welcome overall. Oak contributes more to the mouthfeel than the flavor with tannins that aid in the perception of a dry finish. Fruit is most present in the finish allowing the best aspects of the flavor to be savored long after each sip. 

The beer is well balanced with fruit, acidity, and a touch of oak and funk. Nothing sticks out, per se, but that is how the better examples of this style are crafted. Complexity is king in wild specialty ale and this beer receives high marks in that field. A bit more life from the fruit and the oak would give this beer the small push it needs to cross over the line from great to exceptional.