Believe it or not, the majority of visitors who come to my blog aren't fellow beer snobs looking for reviews of the latest and greatest Canadian Double IPA, nope.. they're regular people who like beer but not strong beer looking for reviews of the newest macrobrewed beer. I'm not going to do a review of Rickard's Shandy, because it does not fit in with the theme of Rickards. Rickards was once a subbrand of Molson that created only pub style ales that were pint-worthy, but since the release of Rickard's Blonde, the direction had turned for the worse. Rickard's White was THE single most popular Rickard's product ever launched after the creation of Rickard's Red, which turned the Rickard's into a pseudo-"I like good beer"-wannabe brand to those who weren't familiar with micros.
I remember the first time I had Rickard's White, it was summer of 2006, I was living in Quebec City, it was a hot humid day, and if you've ever been to Quebec in the summer.. it's unbearable. I went to a terrasse at one of my favourite pubs and saw it was on tap, never seeing it before, and being a person who will try nearly any beer twice, why not try it? At this time, the most popular witbiers in Canada were Unibroue's Blanche de Chambly and InBev's Hoegaarden. Whenever I brought over witbier or witbier-like beers to parties, people would cringe at the taste, but Rickard's White changed this, it made witbiers "cool" and "popular".
Appearance: A hazy and pale orange, it looks like as if someone took some orange juice and put it in a witbier as the pale orange appearance has a weird brightness to it. As I pour it, it has a thick amount of foam, a snow white foam, it quickly diminishes.
Aroma: A very noticeable scent of orange slices. A good deal of coriander to give it that witbier spiciness, cloves, and a smidge of Belgian yeast.
Taste: Quite a bit sweeter than the standard witbier. It has an artificial orange flavour to it, orange peel and orange juice. More coriander than most witbiers on the market, and overall - more citrusy. Not as flavourful as the aroma is, but for a hot summer afternoon, this is gulped down in an instant. What I find at most pubs that don't generally serve microbrews is that the bar staff will put an orange wedge in the beer, whether or not if you asked for it.. personally I don't want someone's possibly unwashed hands touching something that will go into my beer. (hey 1/3 people don't wash their hands after being in the restroom they say)
Overall Thoughts: When I go to a pub that doesn't sell any microbrews, this is generally my go-to beer, it's a decent take on witbiers, though it's a bit too sweet, and restaurants adding orange slices to it makes it even more sweeter for my liking. Since Blanche de Chambly isn't available at most pubs, when I want a citrusy summer treat on a 28C day like today, I drink this. PS - Coors' Blue Moon Wheat Ale is basically the same thing as Rickard's White, but Rickards has a bit of tweaking.
www.rickardswhite.com
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