Dogfish Head ApriHop

Brewed by Dogfish Head Brewery
Style: Fruit Beer
Milton, Delaware USA

Reddish brown/copper, very small head. Smoky, hoppy, and ever so delicate fruit aroma. Full, rich IPA feel to it. Hoppy and full bodied, with just a hint of apricot flavor. This is a fruit beer with style and finesse. The fruit flavors compliment the beer, not overpower it.

Thanks to the brewer for bringing some of this along to a beer festival. Interesting effect of the apricot (which are rehydrated from dried Turkish apricots, from what the brewer told me)--it is a very mild flavor touch, coming out much more in a back-of-the-jaw kind of tang. Otherwise this is an IPA, as indicated. (bottle at Pennsylvania Microbrewers Fest 2003)

Deep amber appearance with a small puffy head and very sparse lacing. The aroma is great and hoppy too, with a second deeper scent of the toasted malts, a beer that truly gives everything away in the aroma. Pale ale flavor with apricots as an afterthought, pretty much there as a bit of fruity sweetness. Sincerely lacking in complexity, much like a piece of toast with apricot jam, it is what it is, no surprises.

Bottle a gift from Enniskillen; Nose with a little fruit, a little hops, and a little caramel malt; Hazy orange with a small beige head; flavor has some hoppiness with a bit of bitterness, a slight apricot flavor and some caramel. Not very fruity like a fruit beer.

Not much like an IPA, nor is it much like a fruit beer, but that isn't bad, just contrary to expectation - gold, light copper in color - impressive lacework - apricot in the nose, some yeast and slight sweetness - flavor can best be described as a lightly sweetened ESB, though that doesn't make it sound that attractive, does it? - medium body with a solid malt backbone throughout - hops are mild for a proclaimed "IPA," but meld perfectly with the very subdued apricot flavor (an inexperienced palate may not pick it up at all) - great balance and drinkability - smooth, somewhat creamy and mildly sweet finish.

The aroma is very hoppy with some apricot and tons of lightly roasted malt. The appearance is an amber/gold with a medium head. The flavor is malty and moderately bitter. There is also citrus, apricot, and herbs. The palate is perfect for a beer like this. This is a very good beer in every way. However, it could stand to have a wee bit more apricot.

(12 oz bottle: Liquid Solutions in Tigard, OR) Yeah, you know, this really isn’t doing it for me. It’s not that this beer is strongly hoppy, but there’s just enough hops to add a modest bitterness, and I think it’s conflicting a bit with the fruit rather than complementing it. But that’s kind of a minor issue anyway and doesn’t have significant impact overall. Mostly, this is just a sweet and fruity beer, pretty obvious apricot, that also shows a bit of alcohol in the flavor. It doesn’t taste malty per se, but it’s fairly caramely, and the malt is quite obvious in the medium "plus" body of this beer. Fruit, caramel, dough and slight alcohol are apparent in the nose, but no hops. Carbonation levels are rather elevated, which was evident when I popped the cap and heard a loud exhale from the bottle, but also from the somewhat expansive mouthfeel with each sip. It’s definitely a beautiful beer, dark amber in color, fairly cloudy, lots of small particles suspended in the beer. Even with a careful pour, the off-white head rises to well over two inches in height, slowly faded down to but never below a quarter inch, and leaves large patches of foam all over the glass. It certainly isn’t a shy beer, especially given it’s a fruit beer, but I don’t know, it’s just not capturing me. Unlikely that I’d buy this again.

Has an earthy mouth and a nectary sweetness. Decent mouthfeel with a hop balance.