Apricots n' Hops

Although our brain keeps associating this brew with a seasonal offered in April, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that it's actually a clever nod to a truly unique combination in the world of IPA. 4-packs are always somewhat intriguing to us in general, and especially when there is a huge quote on it from Playboy which reads, "Over-the-top-Smoothness," which we interpret as very smooth, like Hugh Hefner in the grotto drinking IPA out of a tulip glass surrounded by 'bunnies,' or something like that. And so we bought some and brought it to the lab, and the findings are indeed positive as we designate ApriHop as our current favorite India Pale Ale brewed with real fruit, in this case, apricots.

Some people scoff at fruity beer but this is no wannabe trying to mask an inferior brew with powerful fruit notes...quite the contrary. The Dogfish Head Brewing Company has been in the game for quite a while now and is considered one of the nation's first nano-breweries when they started back in '95 with a 12-gallon brewing system. They set out way back when to make a fruit beer for people who hate fruit beers, and first brewed ApriHop in 1998 as draft-only. Dogfish founder Sam Calagione explains, "[ApriHop is] basically a big ol' IPA with a fruit problem...The apricot accentuated and magnified the citrusy character of the Northwest hops in the recipe."

We think indeed this can change the opinion of many a fruit beer hater. There is a feel good statement on the bottom of the 4-pack regarding the dedication of the team at Dogfish Head towards passionate brewing with quality stuff and we can certainly taste it in this fruity little gem of an IPA.