DISH OF THE WEEK: Cherry Tree Red Ale at GUN HILL BREWING COMPANY

Every week, I document another dish that impressed and satiated me during my food adventures around New York City

Since this is my third consecutive post about beer and breweries, it seems this week is dedicated to beer. Why not? It’s a good time to be a beer drinker in the city.

I recently made the trip up to Gun Hill Brewing Company in the Bronx to have a flight of their sudsy offerings. The last time I was up here was to meet with the owners Dave and Kieran to discuss our NYC Brewery Tour. At that time, their brewmaster Chris had just begun brewing beer but there was none for us to taste quite yet.

Since that time, they’ve won awards and even begun canning some of their beers. The brewery itself is worth a visit, but I’ll have a separate post about that experience in the coming weeks.

One of the beers I tasted in their flight was so surprising and delicious that I had to include it as this week’s featured dish.

I’m not generally one for fruit beers, but they are becoming quite popular as of late. I like fruit and I like beer, so I’m definitely open to the possibility. Trouble is that they often either taste too sweet or like they’ve been injected with some cloying artificial flavoring.

That wasn’t the case with the subtle Cherry Tree Red Ale, which was the first brew on their tasting flight. The juicy beer was refreshing and tart with a consistent sweetness. This didn’t taste like cherry flavoring, but actual fresh cherry juice. It was very unexpected and balanced by a mild peppery hop quality. I could have easily consumed a few of these – and at 4.5% ABV, I might still have found my way home.

Cheers to a tasty, accidental beer week on this blog!