Each month, as part of this 366-day BC craft beer extravaganza that I will be sharing with you throughout 2016, I will highlight a specific style or theme of beers for a whole week of articles. Saisons have quickly become a favourite style of the Sip Advisor. I’ve even gone so far as to call the summer of 2016 my ‘Summer of Saison’. Let’s see what BC has to offer.

Parallel 49 Brewing’s motto is “Driven by Thirst” and so it’s no wonder they release so many interesting beers, hoping to quench a drinker’s need for hydration.

The Apricotopus Apricot Sour Saison uses real apricots (I should surely hope so!) to give the brew a mild sweetness amongst the tart of the rest of the recipe. For a sour saison, the Apricotopus has a higher alcohol content than one would expect at 6.3% ABV. I think this helps in the beer’s complexity, adding another flavour profile to the taste.

Parallel 49 once again does some fine label work here, featuring one deranged looking octopus (a cyclops octopus, at that) grasping an apricot in each of its tentacles. The summer seasonal release is available in 650ml bomber bottles at BC Liquor Stores and other private locations.

I first tried this beer last summer, poolside at Ma and Pa Sip’s place. It performed well enough then to earn another pick-up this year and the experience remained a positive one.

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