Day 18: Weïti

Label featuring a Guyanese jaguar

Weïti

Origin: Jeune Gueule, Brasserie Guyanaise (Matoury, French Guiana)

Style: Witbier

ABV: 5%

IBU: Not listed

Description: When I was in elementary school, I used to watch a kids TV game show called Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? Contestants acting as junior detectives would use their geography knowledge to capture fictional villains on the loose. And during the Bonus Round (my favourite part of the show), the final contestant in the episode would try to correctly identify different countries on a giant unmarked world map for a chance to win a trip. You might wonder, What does this show have to do today’s beer? Well, very little. But when I saw the beer’s from French Guiana, I wished I’d paid more attention to the show so I didn’t need Google Maps to tell me this country is located in South America, bordering Brazil and Suriname.

Brasserie Guyanaise started off as a pico-brewery (which produces less than half of an average nanobrewery’s annual output). Less than six months after it made its first batch in 2011,  the brewery expanded its production tenfold to keep up with demand. A good thing, since it’s the only craft brewery in the entire country.

I can tell right from the get-go that tasting this beer is going to be quite an adventure. Uncapping the Weïti, I see bubbles trying desperately to escape the bottleneck, a sign that carbonation is quite high. It pours a cloudy straw colour with a thick, fizzy white head, topped off with some clusters of sediment from the bottom of the bottle. A little unappealing but has little affect on the taste of the beer.

Its bold aroma is of candied lemon and orange peels and cloves, reminding me of mulled cider during the holiday season (How fitting!). Light-bodied, it tastes of pithy bitterness of citrus peels, fruity and tart. I would’ve liked the spicy, peppery characteristic of a witbier to be a little more pronounced in the Weïti, as I have a difficult time detecting it.  Nonetheless, a fine Belgian style wheat ale I’d like to try when it’s freshly made, perhaps with some pad thai.

Typically considered as the perfect summer beer, witbier can still be enjoyed year-round due to this style’s popularity. Try Victoria, B.C.’s Driftwood White Bark, , Kili Wit from Hood River’s Logsdon Farm Brewery, and from Italy – Birrificio Brùton‘s Bianca, each with its own distinctive notes of coriander and orange peels.

Though I may have trouble identifying places on a map, what’s clear to me is that delicious witbiers are being made around the world and I want to try them all. -C.T.