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Fruity Esters in Beer
How often have you thought of peaches as an exotic fruit? That soft, fuzzy outer skin, bright with colors of red and yellow, begs you to touch it, to hold it in your hand.

Ok, I'll be the first to admit that I am ignorant when it comes to beer but I am learning a lot through your thorough articles. They are very enjoyable to read.

The way you describe each type of beer is so evocative that I can almost taste them.

As for fruity beers, I did taste something called Shock Top that was served with a slice of orange and I was delighted with the citrus-y flavor!

Lori, I'm delighted that you are trying to expand your palate of beer. Shock Top is also a mass produced beer, and the fruitiness in it is refreshing, but not au natural. It is, what craft beer drinkers call, a "gateway beer," one that is the first step in bridging the gap to Nirvana.

You will be delighted when you try others. Be bold. Go to a good beer bar that has a beer menu and lots of beers on tap (or in bottles) and get a flight of "tasters." Ask the server for help, if you like. The fruitiness is vastly different, and you will be delighted. You may even have your own epiphany-moment.

It is really amazing to me that the banana and clove flavors in Aventinus or from yeast, and not from fruit and spice. The chemistry of the esters may be somewhat simple, but the ways they can occur in nature are vast.