Since I am in Afghanistan (and have not found any here) I have a friend back home (Denver, CO) picking, processing, and freezing them for me so I can use them when I get back. She is also a beekeeper and will be supplying 2 lbs of honey for the beer. Of course, I have promised her half the batch for all her help so I will have to bump up the recipe to 10 gallons. I will also be using Colorado grown and malted barely for the base malt of this beer, making it an all-Colorado ingredient beer.
Can you tell I was inspired by Drew's Zymurgy article, "A Saison for Every Region"?
I did not know that prickly pears grew in New England. With all the humidty and rain I would expect them to get pretty big and plump.