Alright, quick story time. I’ve had an intense aversion to apricots ever since I was a little bloke. And this is almost entirely due to my Mum cooking apricot chicken probably once a fortnight for about 15 years. I’m not disparaging Mum here, because she’s a great cook, but apricot chicken is an absolute abomination against God and not being allowed to leave the table until you finish your dinner when the dinner is some fetid sickly sweet goo is an enduring image of torture that plagues me still.
With that said, I still approach apricot beers with some trepidation because, inevitably, there will be flashbacks. This is no fault of the brewery, of course. This is my own neuroses but fair’s fair, I feel like I should be open and honest with you all, my very dear friends.
Lola is named for Frenchies head chef Thomas’ daughter and it is a mid-strength saison brewed with fresh apricots. French saison yeast has a reputation for being incredibly dry and Lola is no exception. Despite the low ABV you still get the wheat coming through the very light-bodied base saison. Lucky for me, the apricot is integrated very well too. Much like Frenchie’s raspberry saison, too much fruit would overpower and throw out the balance but head brewer Vince de Soyres has been judicious in his fruiting so there’s juicy apricot on the nose and palate but the yeast is still the star.
You know what? I think the trauma might actually be subsid-OH GOD MUM NO PUT THE TIN OF APRICOT NECTAR DOWN OH JESUS NO!
Judd Owen
Published July 10, 2020 2020-07-10 00:00:00
