Review: One Great City Wallflower Apricot Saison

I complain a lot about the lack of Saisons available in Manitoba but seeing One Great City Brewing's Wallflower Apricot Saison at the LC really popped out at me, it's been a while seeing a beer in a bottle (rather than can) by a Winnipeg brewery, also.. a Saison?! Nice!

From the label: A beer of rustic humility, yet capable of such expressive behaviour. The saison is a beer that embodies the seasonality of nature and the bounty of her harvest. Bright notes of apricot and pear balance against an earthy pepper and spice. The high carbonation encourages a dry and crisp finish, leaving you refreshed - yet wanting more. Enjoy this beer with seafood dishes, farmhouse cheese, or tangy desserts. 6.0% ABV / 19 IBU. Ingredients: Barley, Wheat, Rye, Hops, Yeast and Pure Apricot.

Appearance: Cloudy and golden/orange body with a decent amount of carbonation in the body, as for the head, it starts out with 2.5 fingers of head that diminishes fairly quickly, leaving behind a bit of a layered lacing, light amount of head retention on the beer itself.

Aroma: While apricot is pretty much the first thing I got out of this beer, it wasn't anywhere intense as I was expecting, which is a good thing. The beer has more of an American Farmhouse-style vibe rather than a classic Belgian Saison as it has a tartness from the yeast that reminded me a bit of Brett, tart, and a bit funky. There's a bit of floral aroma to it, light amount of sweetness, and a bit of pear.

Taste: Pretty solid Farmhouse Saison. The beer is quite dry with a light tartness to it, hint of barnyard funk, a hint of pear, definitely bready, and a hint of apricot. I was expecting it to be sweeter for some reason but the apricot is light, so I'm getting lemon as the predominant fruit in this beer, followed by pear. Fizzy for the mouthfeel, as well as dry as mentioned before, while the aftertaste is a bit bready with a hint of pear. Light bitterness from the hops at the end.

Overall Thoughts: Definitely recommend. I was worried that the apricot would be overwhelming but it really wasn't. I was hoping for it to be more of a Belgian-forward Saison to give it a bit of bubble gum to it, but I did like the mild funkiness out of this beer. Very enjoyable!