Weekend Brews - Week 17 - It's Spring Time!

Friday night, and it's another late entry for the Weekend Brews report from the "great" state of Florida, and by "great" I mean big.

I just got home from setting up drums and getting dialed in for some new Team Mascot recordings, and I've got game two of the Rangers vs. Devils series on DVR... and I haven't watched a second of it yet!

I had to make sure I made it in time for Weekend Brews damnit!

So this week I thought it would be nice to check out a Spring seasonal. The beer I've decided to write about tonight is one I've avoided for quite some time. Why? Well, the label on said brew is a peach color and well to put it simply, I've been mistaking it for quite some time for Dogfish Head's Festina Peche. I hate peach flavored anything, and every time I've seen this label since its first release last Spring, I've stayed clear of this beer. Strange thing is, I actually enjoy real peaches. I just hate anything with peach flavor that doesn't include an actual peach. I digress...

As I perused the beer aisle at Ward's, our local grocer and beer carrier, I spotted the four-pack of Dogfish Head Aprihop. There it was staring at me with its damn peach-colored label and I immediately became disgusted thinking about the taste of peach in my beer. AHHHHH! It made me so angry. Then it hit me... wait a minute... this beer is Aprihop. Let me take a closer look... holy crap! I'm a moron. This is their specialty Spring beer brewed with real apricots. I love apricots! And so I picked up a four pack and here we are.

(So yeah, basically I'm an idiot easily fooled by color.)

So tonight I pour the Aprihop into my pint glass and would like to ensure you that there are no peaches involved. The brew has that lovely amber color that comes with all Dogfish Head IPAs and let me tell you, the aroma is wonderful.

My nose in the glass pulls through the nostrils a whopping dose of apricot, with the sweet and pungent fruit mixing together with citrus and grassy notes of a great big bunch of hops. If Marv Albert were here, he'd say, "YES!"
Lips to the glass, tilt and imbibe... wow. This beer personifies the term, "full-flavored." If you are familiar with the 60 Minute and 90 Minute IPAs from Dogfish Head, this would be something in the range of 65 Minutes and a slap in the face from a bag of dried apricots. Yes, those lovely orange shrunken "prunish-looking" things that they love to stick in bags of trail mix (yes hippie, I know you know what I'm talking about) are abundant in this finely crafted ale.

This beer is sweet and tart with the perfect amount of malt flavor. I have to admit though, I wouldn't mind if they through in another 10 minutes of hops in the boil. Just sayin'. I like anything labeled, "IPA" to have a bit more bitterness.

Overall I think this beer is a winner. It's not the type of drink you want to suck down while watching a game, but it is a welcome treat to begin the weekend, and a solid lead off hitter heading into my late night festivities as I enjoy the rest of the beers in my fridge.

Thanks Dogfish Head, and sorry for thinking this was your peach beer for so long. I'm glad I finally gave it a try.

Prost!

Overall Score of the Dogfish Head Aprihop: 4.0 out 5.0