Dogfish Head ApriHop

Pours a beautiful golden amber with very nice but modest foam. Nose is big on apricot, a bit of citrus, and some caramelly malts. Medium bodied, the beer is very well carbonated, even a bit more than I would have expected. Taste is pretty bittersweet with apricot up front, almost a bit tart. The fruit comes through very strongly but the character of the beer hasn’t been lost. It is a bit tough to tell that this is an IPA at heart, but the bitterness is there in the finish. With that said, I think I would lean toward categorizing this more as a hefty fruit beer than an American IPA. This beer is very easy to drink especially for a fairly high alcohol content, although I think I’ll definitely need to be in the mood for it. A great achievement in brewing, but not for all occasions in my mind.

Appearance: Pours a clear, copper red with a dense offwhite head. Lots of visible carbonation. Aroma: A bold whiff of apricots (heh, who would have thought), car air freshener, and a little potpourri. Taste: Tart apricot, apricot pit, and a little bit of hop bitterness. Mouthfeel: Juicy. Overall: What more can I say, it’s an apricot soda. Refreshing and interesting.

Pours dark amber with a smallish off-white head. Little lacing, decent retention. Aroma is very fruity, lots of citrus and tropical fruits with the obvious apricot note. Flavor is pale and caramel malt with cloying apricot jam and a dry, grassy finish. Slight caraway accent? Nice standard IPA palate with a light bitterness. Too sweet for me.

Pours golden with no head. Aroma is sour- almost reminds me of a cheap wine. Taste is sour & acidic & not very smooth at all.

Bottle. Pours a dark golden color. The aroma is citrusy, with a little of the apricot. Flavor has some really nice bitter notes, which I hadn’t been expecting of the fruit beer. The sweet apricot notes were not at all cloying, which was another nice surprise. Great balance of flavors. The body was refreshing if a little bit thin, with a great carbonation level.

Bottle. Pours a an unpleasant golden-brown with a wisp of off-white head which fails to stay along for the ride. Aroma is citrus and earthy with background biscuit malt. Flavor is acidic and bitter, giving it a finish not unlike stomach reflux. Nicely carbonated and refreshing body, but overall a mediocre, overpriced experience.

Brown orange pour with a white head. Slightly fruity aroma with some hops which are not nearly as present relative to their IPAs. Flavor is only mildly bitter with some fruit mixed in with caramel malts. Not overly sweet and very drinkable, almost sessionable. A fairly weak IPA, but a very enjoyable fruit beer.

12oz brown glass pry-top. Neck date-stamped "Bottled on 02-03-09." Quick review: Aromas of sour apricots, sour peach and pilsner-like funky hops. Palate is crisp with tart acidity and flavors of sour white peach, sour apricot and some hop oil. There’s some of that sweet-tart sugar content there, and a little biscuit-esque malt character trying to sneak in underneath the quick drying out of the hop leaves. Solid. Better interpretation of apricot beer than that "other" one (i.e. real fruit).