Date: 12/01/2005
Mode: Draft
Source: Brewery

clear amber, fine white head, light sweet honey aroma, big sweet flavor, complex flavors, nice fruity character, brewed with apricots and wildflower honey
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Date: 11/30/2006
Words: Bottle
Words: Brewery

clear yellow, sweet and tart cherry aroma, nice light tart cherry flavor, touch of cherry pit character

Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 5/10; Overall: 13/20
Rating: 3.3/5.0
Drinkability: 9/10
Score: **+/4

Sampled at the brewery on 11/30/06: Pours a clear deep golden with a thin ring of white head. Sweet apricot and honey aroma has a nice pale malty sweetness. Body starts fairly full and sweet with nice fruity citric apricots and floral honey notes. Well-balanced and incredibly drinkable given the abv.

Draft @ Ballast Pt.: Clear gold with a medium sized white head and effervesent bubbles rising through the glass. Fruity aroma of mostly apricot with some malt underneath. Flavor starts with apricot and finishes with honey. Very clean finish with honey on the tongue. Somehwat floral. Nice warming sensation.

10-Jun-05 (Draft: Ballast Point Brewing Co. in San Diego, CA) Wow, smells like watered down apricot nectar. Sweet and fruity, with apricots dominating the flavor. Very light on hops, but just enough so that this doesn’t totally taste like fruit juice. The 10.5% ABV is so well hidden, I can’t believe this is even more than 5% alcohol. Wow, nice magic trick there! Light-to-medium body, sweet on the tongue, a bit sticky, but not syrupy at all. Pale gold color is less orange than I expected. Smallish off-white head, but trying to evaluate head retention and lace in these ridiculous tall, narrow tasting glasses is impossible. I can’t wait til they get their new liquor license and can serve more than 4 ounces at a time, as then they’ll have real tasting glasses. Anyway, I’m not usually a big fan of strongly fruity beers (unless it has a balancing tartness), but this one is decent.

22-Aug-05 (Draft: O’Brien’s in San Diego, CA)Just a quick update since I am now sampling this beer in something larger than the tiny vaselike glasses at the brewery. This beer pours with a whitish head that dissipates so rapidly, I can’t even walk from the bar to my table before the head is completely gone, and so I’m dropping the appearance score by 1. And this beer is so fruity that within a few minutes of sitting down, I’ve been inundated by every fruit fly in the bar. This is insane! Go away! Also, the alcohol is, in fact, a bit more evident this time, but still seems a far cry from 10.5%. Otherwise, all other comments still apply.

On draft at brewery. This is a special ale brewed with two-row malt, apricots and honey among other ingredients. Pours clear yelllow with a small white head, looking attractive, yet innocently enough like a pale lager. One wiff confirms that this is not pale lager, aroma is fruity and sweet with the apricot and honey in evidence. Flavor is also sweet and fruity, with a floral hop backing, a bit of sourness and the alcohol barely perceptible. Medium to full body and creamy carbonation. This is a very nice specialty brew that will likely only be around for a short while.