Mayday!
The Napanee Beer Company

473 mL can from the LCBO; dated Jul 14 2022 and served slightly chilled. I assumed this was just a new label, but apparently Napanee has retired their old Mayday recipe (a 5.7% Belgian pale ale), and replaced it with this self-styled witbier.

Pours a foggy, effervescent pale golden colour, tossing up more than an inch of smooth, foamy white head that fades within several minutes. A frothy collar of suds encircles a filmy cap, with a modest smattering of lace flung about in its wake - looks right for the style. Floral on the nose, with plenty of grainy, crackery wheaty malts, as well as an herbal, earthy quality; somewhat yeasty, with coriander spice and a hint of unripe banana.

It starts off like a true wit, but loses altitude as the sip goes on. Wheaty sweetness and crackery pale malts, with hints of lemon peel leading into a spicy, yeasty tailspin on the back end. The coriander is there, but there's also a bitter, intrusive, herbal tea-like flavour that comes to dominate the finish; a little peppery, with green banana followed by a dry aftertaste. Light in body, with spritzy, assertive carbonation that prickles and fizzes on the tongue, lending a pleasantly crisp feel to this brew, well-suited to its spicy profile. Quaffable, but Hoegaarden is more sessionable.

Final Grade: 3.69, a B grade. I'm not in love with Napanee's new Mayday, but it's still an improvement on the original. I did notice that the ingredients list includes chamomile, which explains the bitter tisane/herbal tea aspect of the flavour profile that I unfortunately didn't much care for. I also noticed that there's no citrus peel listed, which tracks with what I'm tasting. Taking those two black marks into account, it still manages to be a decent Belgian ale with wit-like characteristics - it's worth a shot.

Poured a 473ml can into a pint glass A two finger white head on a cloudy pale gold.
Grassy fruit smalls.
Spicy orange peel. Finish is slightly tart.
Light, refreshing.
Overall a competent Witbier.