Sage & Spruce Winter Wit
Great Lakes Brewery

On cask at Volo.

Pours a slightly hazed straw yellow, light golden highlights, thick white head forms, drops some decent lacing, settles to a thin ring around the glass. Smell is neat, some malt, wheat, oats, very light spruce, not much, some lime, bit of spice. Taste is similar, soft and malty, lime sharpness, bit of acidity, light spice, very light flavour, slightly watery, spruce and sage doesn't really come through. Mouthfeel is light bodied with low carbonation, smooth. Creative, but the ingredients don't shine.

Its a wintry down in Toronto, and the ground is slick with ice after a spell of freezing rain. My wife is in work, and I'm killing time downtown when I pop into C'est What, an excellent brew pub / beer bar, which should be a must for all visitors.

Wheatbeer is not something I expect in mid-February, and not soemthing I would really go for when far more warming options are available, but the curious flavour combo of this new creation is drawing me in...

The beer arrived with a traditional witbier appearance, sporting a clouded yellow body and a fairly tight white head. Wow! Great aromas of sage and spruce mixed in with the crispness of the grain. Its like the Christmas turkey has escaped into a pine forest and he's left a trail of stuffing mix behind him. The taste reveals much of the same, and its really surprising how well the combination works (I should use this in my next stuffing mix). Its certainly a drink that freshens the mouth and leaves a nice crispness. The body and carbonation is also in good sync with the style, with a medium-light texture and crisp carbonation. The finish is fairly long, but fresh and heavy on the flavour. What a surprising and great brew!