Durham Witbier

Brewed by County Durham Brewing
Style: Belgian White (Witbier)
Pickering, Canada

On cask at Volo. Cloudy yellow, small white head. Nice yeasty aroma,pleasant. Taste shows promise - there is a nice base of flavour here, lots of banana, yeast and some lemon, but I found that there was a buttery aspect to it that distracted. I would also like a lighter more carbonated body for the style, I think that would really accentuate the solid base of flavours here. I’ll chalk these slight detractions to sampling it is cask form - I always appreciate good fresh Ontario cask beer, especially from these guys, but I think this style would be better served on tap. Thanks for another new offering Durham.

[1337-20080510] Cask. Orange doughy yeast aroma has mild light fruit notes. Hazy, light brown orange body with a medium-lasting creamy white head and long lacing rings. Light fruity dough yeast flavour has a nice long subtle aftertaste. Medium body is smooth and creamy with a mildly bitter aftertaste. Really impressive, partly due to being on cask, but an excellent specimen regardless.
(@ Volo; Toronto, ON)

Cask at Volo. Hazy yellow with a tight white head. Mild aroma, yeasty and a bit spicy. Soft body. Mellow citrus & spice flavours, a bit of lemon. Not sure if I agree with the choice of releasing this as a cask ale - I think witbiers need a bit more carbonation to really work. But it’s promising, and I’ll have to try it on draught when I have a chance.

Had at Beer bistro Staff party. cloudy yellow orange color. decent bubly head, nose is citrus and yeasty, some cloves in there, flavor was fruity and lighty with a little yeast and spicy as well. Very refreshing.

* July 2009 re-rate * sampled at BeerBistro, I swear this is now a better beer, with nice pear-lemon-spice balance in nose and taste, and great light (but not watery) feel. It’s really nice! ** . I’m the make-or-break score today huh? Oh well. here’s the scoop - draught at Volo. Pours a slightly cloudy amber with slight head and fine carbonation. Light aroma of yeast and citrus. Tastes slightly of apple and pear, is round, sweet, fruity On the light and refreshing side. I do like that it is not copycat. Not excellent and not bad either. * NB * the nearby smell of baking cheese was distracting for everything I drank on the Patio, LOL!

Pale straw, someone cloudy. A bit funky and yeasty (to a fault, locker room scents pop up), but lots of sweet malts in the flavour which is atypical. A bit creamy in the finish, almost like mozzarella cheese. This just isn’t right.

On tap at Victory Cafe - came about as clear as a wit could be (which is to say not transparent, but certainly not as cloudy as most wits I’ve had) with a foamy white two-finger head. Aroma nice but not really witty - reminded me of a soft summer ale, with some signature Durham notes. Flavour similar - very pleasant, but not really on style. Overall, the whole package reminded me of a good-quality unfiltered blonde ale, with some very faint wit touches - soft spiciness and mild citrus. A good beer from Durham - and certainly something I would get again, especially as the weather warms - but, as I said before, not especially on style.

Cask, on tap at Volo. Hazy yellow pour, lacy head. Very citrus smell. Easy drinking. Slight orange flavour. Kind of plain, had better wits, though still nice on a spring day.