Dogfish Head ApriHop

Brewed By: Dogfish Head Brewery in Milton, Delaware

Purchased: 12oz bottle from a 4-pack from Binny's in Illinois; 2012

Style/ABV: Fruit Beer (American IPA), 7.0%

 

Hey-yo. For the past couple of weeks, I have slowly been working my way through the Discovery Channel show, Brew Masters. The show features Sam Calagione, founder and owner of the Dogfish Head Brewery. It's an interesting TV show, and worth checking out if you are a beer geek. I've been digging the stuff I've had from Dogfish Head lately, so I'm excited to crack open and try their ApriHop. In case you were wondering:

Dogfish Head is a craft brewery based out of Milton, Delaware. The brewery was founded by Sam Calagione back in 1995.The brewery began as a brewpub (the first in Delaware) called Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats and was originally located in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. The initial brewing setup included three kegs and propane burners. They brewed 12-gallon batches of beer three times a day, five days a week. In 1996 the brewery began bottling their beer, and by 1999 they had distribution to around a dozen different states. In 2002 the company outgrew their Rehoboth location, and moved to Milton, Delaware. More info can be found HERE.

I have high expectations for today's beer. The bottle states that the beer is "an India Pale Ale brewed with real apricots." Cool stuff, right? The BJCP has a "Fruit Beer" category, and ApriHop is one of the listed commercial examples. The Fruit Beer category is kind of a catch-all for brews that marry fruit and beer. If you roll over to Dogfish Head's ApriHop page, you can get some more info.

The website states that this is an American IPA brewed with Pilsner and Crystal malts. The beer is continuously hopped; including dry hopping after fermentation. The beer uses Amarillo hops (citrusy, flowery) and apricots. I also believe this beer uses Willamette and Cascade hops. Willamette are mild, slightly spicy, fruity and floral; Cascade are spicy and citrusy with some grapefruit notes. This beer clocks in at an impressive 7.0% ABV, and packs 50 IBUs. I'm going to link to the BJCP's American IPA guidelines: HERE. If you have not tried an IPA, it is worth glancing over the guidelines. This beer is within reason, as American IPAs are supposed to clock in around 40-70 IBUs and 5.5-7.5% ABV. With that said, let's get on with the review:

Dogfish Head ApriHop

This is a gorgeous looking beer, but it's a bit darker than I was expecting. The beer pours with 2-fingers of gorgeous, thick, foamy head. The head is slightly off-white, and has that egg shell color. The body of the beer is a dark copper color in low light, almost approaching light brown. This is a transparent and filtered beer, as Dogfish Head beers often are. There is moderate carbonation in the form of small bubbles rising upwards. The head is actually hanging around quite nicely (it's been a few minutes, and there is still a good centimeter of head). There is some thick and sticky lacing hanging on as well. 

The aroma on this beer was popping before I even poured this thing. This beer smells really good. I can smell the trademark Dogfish Head yeast...or some sort of aroma that you get in the 60 and 90 Minute IPAs. There is a big, thick, sticky, juicy, boozy hop presence in here. I'm pulling out earthy hop notes, citrus spice, some zest, some Lemon Pledge. There is also that sweet, malty, and boozy malt backbone, manifesting almost as fruit cake. And hell yeah, there are definitely apricots in here. I love apricots. Apricots are complex, interesting fruits. You pull out some tart and meaty apricot notes on the nose, with hints of plum and peach (interestingly enough, Apricots are actually a member of the plum family). All-in-all this beer smells great, with a nice balance of fresh hops, fresh and funky apricot, and sweet and boozy malt balance.

 

Interesting! The taste on this is surprising. You get a sharp kick of (dare I say?) acidic apricots. The apricot flavors really hit you up front, and they are sharp, pointy, and fresh. Mid-palate turns into a mixture of a good IPA with some apricots, and the back end is hoppy, and kind of dry. I'm tasting spicy hops, apricots, peaches, hints of citrus (like a faint shadow), some interesting berry and even tart cherry notes playing off the slightly acidic kick, and some pretty nice apricot tang. 

 

I really like this. The mouthfeel is light-heavy or medium-light. There is some mild IPA heaviness, with flashes of that hop/malt balance and the usual suspects like resin and sweet. But there is this huge apricot flavor cutting through this beer, with hints of tang, acid, and crispness. I mean this stuff is stupid drinkable, especially at 7.0%. I am pounding this back like it's a 4.0% ABV fruit beer. This stuff is dangerous. This is well-carbonated, smooth, and finishes crisp, tart, and a touch dry. The palate depth is huge, the complexity is wonderful; up front you get apricots and some spicy hops; this rolls into a middle of hop/malt balance with apricots; the back end is lingering hops and apricot, with some slight drying. Stellar stuff. 

Rating:  Above-Average

Score: 89%

 

I'm on the verge of pushing this into Divine Brew territory. This is some damn good beer. I'm really digging the tangy, slightly sour apricot flavors this beer imparts to the style. The apricots aren't obnoxious; they are subtle, and work in tandem with the spicy and citrusy hop flavors. All-in-all, I am really impressed with this beer. I can see myself trying to pick this up whenever I see that it is available. Recommended, and I will buy again.