The Swill: Pyramid Apricot Weizen

The Still: Pyramid Breweries, Inc

Portland, Oregon

Berkeley, California

http://www.pyramidbrew.com/

The Drill: Wheat beer with natural apricot flavor added, 12oz bottle, 5.1% ABV

The Spill: Offering a taste and aroma just as promised, this beer is rife with the scent and flavor of sweet apricot. A great pairing for a style of beer that's often already citrusy, the apricot is a nice accompaniment in this hefeweizen, which is what Pyramid is best known for making.

Says Bill: If you've ever ordered a hefeweizen on tap, the bartender often serves it with a lemon slice. The two tastes go well together because of the esters created in the beer's fermentation process. What's an ester, you ask? According to the New World Dictionary of the American Language, Second College Edition, an ester is "an organic compound...formed by the reaction of an acid and an alcohol." Some esters taste citrusy, others flowery, others like banana, others like herbs or spices. All of them add more character to a beer, and in some cases, define the beer's personality almost single-handedly.

Refill?: If apricot's what you're looking for, and almost all you're looking for, look no further: 2 taps out of 5.