Hey, it's no secret fruit beers get a bad rap with a lot of beer geeks. I respectfully disagree with them, of course, because I think fruit and beer go together like Laurel and Hardy, Abbot and Costello, or Bush and Cheney. Well, like the first two pair anyway. Be that as it may, there are few beers out there that earn such enmity from the beer geek contingent as the dreaded fruit beers do.

I'm not sure why that's so. Possibly it's because some fruit beers tend to be overly sweet. Maybe it's because some beer geeks don't want to spoil their "manly" image with a girly-man fruit ale. Be that as it may, the Belgians have been brewing fruit beers for a long time. And when it comes to beer at least, the Belgians usually know what they're doing.

So, when I happened to see Smuttynose Hanami Ale for sale down here in Georgia, I snapped up a six-pack right away. Portsmouth, New Hampshire's Smuttynose is quite possibly one of the best breweries in the country, and Hanami wasn't available when I was an old New Englander myself almost a decade ago.

Hanami is named for the Japanese cherry blossom watching festivals, this is now Smuttynose's spring seasonal offering. It's made with cherry juice, is very drinkable, and has a moderate alcohol content of 5.4% by volume.
 
Smuttynose Hanami Ale pours to a hazy cherry red color with a light, semi-creamy head formation and an enticing sharp fruity nose. Extra credit for those of you who guess which fruit. Taking a sip, I get a good, solid malt body underneath. It's a tad biscuity, and even toasty if you roll it around the tongue and consider it for a moment. And the reason you have to consider it, of course, is because the malt is really a subcomponent to the real player here: cherry.

The fruit is apparent immediately upon sipping, and quickly takes over for the rest of the ride. Dark, luscious black cherry flavor simply dominates the whole affair, with perhaps a hint of vanilla, too. The amazing thing is how dry Hanami is-it's not at all sweet or cloying and has a decidedly tart finish, making it very refreshing, indeed. A hint of grassy Goldings hops poke through there, too.

If you think you don't like fruit beers, think again. The fact that this is not a wheat beer helps to make it a bit firmer in body and more substantial. Being that it is Smuttynose's spring seasonal, that makes sense, as it's not too light for still cool spring evenings. And yet as I sip it in late April, the refreshing, dry cherry flavors make it a perfect refresher on a very warm evening.

This is a delightful little beer, and a fine example of how fruit beers should be done.