I picked up a four pack just about every year when it's released. Got some last week before a nice dinner at Catonsville Gourment. They are a BYOB joint and there's an ok beer store across the street. And my buddy Keith brought over a few last night. We had a few to start the evening followed by about six other great craft brews. I'm about to crack one open again today and see where afternoon goes.
Poured from 12 oz. bottle stamped as 2011 6A into Dogfish Head Chalice. Thanks for stamping the bottle date, I wish more breweries would do this. What does the 6A mean?
This comes out dark copper, with a thin large bubble off-white head. Mild carbonation streams. Surprisingly the aroma is very dry with only a hit of apricot with the same level of mellow sweetness found in dried apricot slices. Only a little bit of hoppy bitterness is present in the aroma. Some mild bready sweetness is noticeable.
Dogfish did a fantastic job of blending in the essence of apricot in to a really good IPA base. I'm used to picking up citrus sweetness from a decent IPA but the apricot is a nice twist that is balanced out by a very mild complex hop bitterness. I'm very pleased that the fruit notes don't taste artificial or forced like some other fruit beers on the market. Some other flavors that I'm picking up are toasted wheat bread, honey, maple and light wet wood notes. It finishes tart and lightly bitter. I'm wondering if they used the 60 Minute IPA for a jumping point? Anyone know for sure?
This feels light to medium-light in body with a decent amount of crispness from the carbonation. It could sneak up on you at 7%. It doesn't taste even close to 7% in alcohol content.
ApriHop is an enjoyable Spring seasonal with a twist. A four pack split between two people is a great way to spend a Spring afternoon, maybe even on a picnic. It's not nearly session-able as it's kind of heavy on the palate.
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