Aprihop

Aprihop
American IPA brewed with real apricots
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery
7% ABV
50 IBUs
12 oz. longneck, bottled in "2011 3C" poured into a Surly pint glass.

    Deep and hazy orange peel colored, Aprihop poured with a nice light tan head, that took a few minutes to fall to a cap and left excellent lacing all over the pint glass. The fruity hop and fruit aroma was noticeable while pouring, but I couldn't find much of it later. There are some spicier hops  notes too lingering in the background.

    Bitter and flavorful, this one doesn't taste one bit sweet on the palate in spite of a good malt backbone. The hop flavors meld so well with the fruit that it's hard to say what's from hops and what's from apricots. Nice! The bitterness is not over the top but shines really well. One of the very few well done non-wild fruit beers, and perhaps the most subtle.

    There's an odd astringent character at the finish that seems like ground seeds. Otherwise the finish is good -- medium dry and slightly bittering with fruity notes. The carbonation is good and the rather strong body doesn't get heavy; in fact, I find it quite enjoyable.

    Aprihop is a very good introductory IPA that can also satisfy hopheads. It's too bad that Dogfish Head doesn't distribute to MN and is getting out of WI. This is not a beer I would trade for on its own but if it were easily accessible, I would consume more of it.

Scores: Appearance 4.5/5; Aroma 3/5; Taste 4/5; Mouthfeel 4.5/5; Overall 4.5/5