Rio Salado Anniversary Apricot Hefeweizen
Rio Salado Brewing Company

1L swing-top bottle from nvsblman as part of BIF 19. Thanks for the opportunity. Opened with a hearty PFFT once I got all the saran and electrical tape off...

Poured into an imperial pint glass, formed a 3/4" off-white head above the cloudy dark golden brew. Head fades very slowly, with light lacing. Lasting head makes this almost look like an Orange Julius. Aroma is wheat with touches of clove and fruit, but vague enough to not ID itself as apricot. Taste is apricot tartness from the get-go, mellowed with wheat and a touch of cloves at the end, with lingering citrus as well. Mouthfeel is very smooth, and drinkability is one of the highest for a fruit beer I've had. Nice combination of flavors here, too bad it was a once off for their 7th anniversary. Enjoy it if you can find it.

Brewed with Apricot puree. A soft aroma of wheat, cloves and bananas wafts from my glass, not really much in the way of Apricots, but this is to be expected in a beer that did not resort to using Apricot Flavoring in the beer. The beer is a very hazy straw color and it has a pale white head. The taste has a slight acidity in the finish plus a hint of fruitiness as well. The mouthfeel on this one is nice and smooth. I get notes of lemon, a bit of banana and clove. Basically this is a well made Hefeweizen with hints around the edges (acidity and an increased fruitiness) of the apricots that were added. As a fruit beer this is fairly non descript, certainly in no way bad, but not quite enough fruit character to it.