Dogfish Head ApriHop

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

Wow - i really didn't expect to like this very much - so many fruit beers are just....fruity! This beautiful copper colored beer adds apricot as just another ingredient in the mix and keeps it all nicely balanced. Aroma - I thought it would actually be fruity, but hops stood out more. Body is medium thick, juicy. Nice blend of the citrusy hops and apricot flavors. I might have to buy some more of this.

Clear golden with fizzy white head. Apricot and hoppy aroma. Sweet apricot taste mixed with an IPA taste, a pretty interesting beer.

Bottle (Obtained from my Knoxville SS December 2004): Poured an amber color ale with a huge thick bubbly head with better then average retention. Aroma is quite hoppy with some subtle traces of sweetness. Taste is very similar to an IPA but with added sweetness which really balanced the whole thing out. I wonder if my bottle was aged a bit since the apricot taste was quite subtle as opposed to some description of past rating. Anyway, I still very much enjoyed this beer and very much appreciate all the beers that I’m discovering from this fine brewery.

Besides the appearance (no head, clear amber-orange), this one was decent. The apricot flavoring was nicely done (not too strong... more like the #9 I’ve had, not the Pyramid) and was an interesting combination alongside the hops (peppery, light floral). At first I thought the two didn’t go together well, but by midway through, I was a fan. Mouthfeel was medium and smooth, but a tad flat. Nice beer to try, but nothing to go out on a limb for.

I was disappointed with this one. The hop flavor was there but the Apricot flavor was not. I am hoping this was just an off bottle and the rest are good. It was drinable and had a very faint hint of apricot flavor. Hope next one is better.

Pours with an amber orange body topped by a thin to medium thick white head with good lacing. Sweet apricot and malt aroma with a very slight hop accent. Sweet malty flavor with apricot notes and a slgihtly hoppy finish. Medium bodied and relatively smooth with a touch of dryness.

April 2008 re-rate. Meh. To the educated palate, this seems so much more syrupy and artificial than it did the first time around. Expecting a refreshing, dry IPA with a subtle apricot infusion, I got more of a generic feeling pale ale with an overdose of apricot syrup. Decently drinkable, but not refreshing like I remembered it to be.

Original rating 5/19/07: 7/4/6/3/15=3.5. Poured from bottle into lager glass. Translucent copper color with a smallish off-white head with strong lacing. Distinct aroma of apricot and some malt. Taste is that of apricot, malt, and just the right amount of hops. Enjoyed this one very much. It was better than I expected. The fruit is far more subtle than in other fruited beers, which is a good thing.

Pour is Deep amber with a thin white head...smell is definately apricots and grapefruit...taste is sweet with hops wiping it up...too sweet...hops not nearly as aggressive as I had anticipated...finish is sticky sweet...nice gimmick, and the apricots play nicely with the grapefruit...