A Beer Four All Seasons - Spring Version

It's Spring now and there has been a little more than three months since the last Beer Four All Seasons from Dock Street and the Four Seasons. What that means is it's time for the second one! The first, if you remember (which, well, you might not), was a Truffled Old Ale and was quite good which made me excited for the next one. The first we heard about the collaboration was a tweet of a picture of two chili peppers and that was some time in March I think. It turns out the newest one is called Caliente Golden Ale and it's a Belgian Strong Ale brewed with Agave Nectar which was then aged on two types of chile peppers (Guajillo and Ancho to be specific).

Just like last time Dock Street and the Four Seasons invited me and others to try out the new beer in the Swann Lounge of the hotel. They offered us glasses of the new beer and the new food pairings were available to try. Here are some bottles resting in a bed of ice.

When I arrived, there weren't many people there yet so I chatted with Marilyn from Dock Street while the Four Seasons's Sommelier, Scott, poured me a glass of the new beer.

The beer had an inviting nose, slightly fruity with a hint of banana and sweetness. The body was slightly less fruity with the chili peppers bringing waves of heat from time to time. As it warmed up, the heat ramped up slightly but it never overwhelmed the base. The second glass I had was slightly more peppery so there may be slight variation or else I had just become accustomed to recognizing it. Regardless, the base Belgian Ale was delicious and the peppers just added a nice second dimension to it. Unfortunately, I don't know what agave tastes like so I'm not clear how that affected the beer. May have made it slightly stronger and dryer in the finish but I don't know.

Along with the new beer, the Four Seasons also debuted new food pairings to match. This time the chef came up with adobo marinated chicken tacos (which were delicious) and a charred shrimp ceviche with plantain chips which was also tasty but not quite as impressive for me as the taco.

Looks good doesn't it? When you make it to Swann lounge to try the new beer, definitely order the food to pair with it. They go really well together.

And here's one last picture of Marilyn (in the back), the Four Seasons Farra D'Orazio, and Bryan Kolesar of the Brewlounge.

And here's Marilyn with Rosemarie (Dock Street owner) and Four Season's Sommelier Scott pouring another glass of the Caliente.

As I said, look for this in the Swann Lounge at the Four Seasons. They didn't say what the Summer beer would be but they did say it would be premiering Friday June 8th during Philly Beer Week at the Four Seasons beer garden and that they were all excited for it.

For another view on the release and beer, check out Bryan's recent post about it which has his opinion on the beer plus some other data on the release.