North Peak’s Archangel & The Beachcomber
Bottoms Up
We started our evening as we have in so many summers past: Gathered with friends the week before Cherry Festival, enjoying what will likely be the last time for weeks that there’s a minimal wait for a seat on the deck of North Peak Brewing Company in Traverse City.
As always, we toasted the coming downtown mayhem with the brewery’s summer seasonal, Archangel. A crisp, well-rounded wheat, that’s as snappily refreshing as any summer beer should be, the Archangel is, in our estimation, a cherry beer done precisely right — with just a hint of fruit, rather than a saccharine, faux-flavor-tasting blast, in the nose and on the palate.
However, we’d be remiss if we didn’t tell you about another option, on tap as we write this, but, according to our waiter last Wednesday night, going quickly: The Beachcomber, a fruit-forward kettle sour, made sprightly and almost sweet with tart pineapple and pear flavors and more complex — but not overtly hoppy — by way of Mosiac hops.
This, summer seekers, is a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it beer you should not miss.
The only reason we didn’t lead with it here is because our waiter couldn’t guarantee it’d still be flowing by the time you read this. However, we couldn’t not mention it on the chance it might.
That said, get yourself to 400 W. Front St. before the Cherry Festival Crowds do. If summer luck is on your side, you’ll get a pint full of The Beachcomber; if not, Archangel is still a heavenly backup plan. Good luck and Godspeed. (231) 941-7325, www.northpeak.net