REVIEW: Dogfish Head Aprihop

So I've been pretty stubbornly avoiding the spring seasonals. Part of that is the ridiculous nature of the timing of many of these beers. Many summer beers have been on the shelves for weeks now. That is a topic that's been talked to death though. I think the main reason I haven't been partaking in many spring seasonals is that up until quite recently it hasn't felt anything like spring. But now that the weather has improved and the trees are starting to get green and the Reds are off to a 5 - 3 start it seems like it's finally time to crack open a few spring beers. Enter Aprihop from Dogfish Head, a 7.0% ABV 50 IBO IPA that's brewed with, you guessed it, Apricots! I'm also drinking Aprihop out of Dogfish's new IPA glass. It's supposed to accentuate hop aromas and maintain a good head. Whatever this glass does I think we can all agree it looks pretty rad. To the beer!

Aprihop pours a beautiful vibrant ruddy gold. A bit of an overzealous pour on my part resulted in a towering, frothy layer of off white head. The laser etched Dogfish logo at the bottom of the glass ensures a stubborn, resilient layer of foam persists all the way down.

Lovely fresh, juicy citrus aromas are all over the place here. Unsurprisingly, apricot leads the way but it's joined by notes of grapefruit and lemon. Grassy/ herbal/ floral hop aromas are contrasted by a lightly toasty, biscuity caramel malt note.

Aprihop is medium bodied, honestly, a bit heartier than I was expecting. Just like on the nose, a burst of juicy, fresh fruitiness leads the way. Notes of apricot, lemon, grapefruit, and even a bit of pear. Unlike with some other fruit beers, where the showcase ingredient really overpowers the whole experience, the apricot here is used here really smart. It's there, and it's prominent. But it's in a way that compliments the hop derived fruit flavors in a really nice way. Also, for an IPA, the bitterness is very measured. It dries things out a bit and lingers some on the finish.

This beer is pretty lovely. Flavorful, very drinkable, a wonderful Spring IPA. And I enjoy it in a way that I don't enjoy a lot of Dogfish Head's other IPAs or fruit beers in general. I mean, I like 60 and 90 Minute and there are certainly some fruit beers that I like, but I just don't drink that much of them. But this one? This is one that I will happily drink quite a bit of.