Pyramid Breweries Apricot Unfiltered Wheat Ale

While in Seattle two summers ago on a brewery crawl with Crystal, we managed to hit Pike Street Brewing, Elysian Brewing, and finally stumbled upon Pyramid Brewing's out-of-the way Seattle Alehouse for flights.  As one of the lower priced beers seemingly available in every store on the west coast, we went there more out of a completionist's obligation than excitement, and were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food and how it paired with their beers.  In addition to the year-round varietals, all well worn by my palette, they had quite a few more interesting beers available only in their alehouses.  I left Pyramid's Seattle Alehouse with a renewed respect for their brews, so it was with nostalgia that I picked up a bottle of Pyramid Breweries Apricot Unfiltered Wheat Ale.

Pyramid Apricot Wheat Ale poured a cloudy, pale yellow into the glass (I'll avoid the obvious descriptor of "apricot colored") with a wispy white head.  The nose was entirely dominated by the smell of dried apricots.

Pyramid Apricot Wheat Ale was surprisingly crisp and dry up front, with barely detectable hints of wheat.  As the carbonation receded, my mouth warmed up to a body of semi-sweet, candied apricot.  The apricot flavor sustained for a solid ten seconds, slowly fading into dryness with hints of wheat just barely coming through.

I  typically don't like wheat beer.  I typically don't like fruit flavor beer.  I like this beer.  The dryness of the ale, complimented by the softness of the wheat and the reasonable ABV, make this a beer equally suited to refresh yourself in the heat of summer or sip on and warm up in the winter months.  The prominence of the apricot prevents me from making this a regular in my rotation, but Pyramid Apricot Ale is always a welcome visitor in my fridge.