Review: Fort Garry Wheat City Wheat Ale

This will be the second time in the past week that I've reviewed a beer that makes a reference to Brandon, Manitoba on it. First with Molson Golden, and now this with Fort Garry's Wheat City Wheat Ale. Wheat City is the nickname for Brandon, the city I've unfortunately been living in since I left the farm to go to university. There have been a few beers over the years that make references to Brandon one way or another but Brandon doesn't even have a brewery - it's also the largest community in Canada without one. Also, the words Westman Original kind of gave me a 🤨face because there's only one brewery in Western Manitoba that can be considered a Westman Original, Farmery. Well, Fort Garry's new brewmaster Bernie grew up in Westman, so I guess that can make it a Westman original (but so can Nonsuch then).

From the label: Wheat City Wheat Ale. Our Wheat Ale is a refreshing and light beer, juicy citrus flavours and floral hop notes balance the grainy malt base. This classic beer loves a patio party and is paired well with seafood and BBQ. 5% ABV

Appearance: It's moderately darker in the photo than in person, it pours a slightly dark straw body with a very light amount of cloudiness, so 95% clear, decent amount of carbonation on the body, while the head is quite light with a snow-white hue to it and mostly finding it reaching for the glass with a sprinkling everywhere else.

Aroma: Notes of banana, wheat, straw, honey, clove and grassy hops. The banana is the predominant aroma for this beer but it's decently sweet.

Taste: Good amount of honey sweetness to start off the beer, while the banana really does pop out again. Tad amount of grassiness to it, hint of clove, very faint bitterness to it. Fairly watery for mouthfeel while the aftertaste is straw.

Overall Thoughts: Probably one of the better beers Fort Garry has created in a very long time - it's not a lager nor a weird pickle beer for once. It's fairly light but easy to drink, in no way aggressive but has a bit of a classic German Hefeweizen vibe to it with the sweetness of banana popping out. I would've preferred this to be a hazy wheat ale but this will definitely be more of a stepping stone beer for those who drink Fort Garry's Pale Ale rather than someone who already drinks one of the many witbiers/hefeweizens available in Manitoba. It's good to see Brandon getting a nod on a beer label, possibly something that will be a permanent seasonal offering, so that's pretty neat.

https://fortgarry.com/collections/beer/products/wheat-city-wheat-ale-473ml-can