Melbourn Bros. Apricot
Melbourn Bros.

Melbourn Bros. ApricotMelbourn Bros. Apricot
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From:
Melbourn Bros.
 
England, United Kingdom
Style:
Fruit and Field Beer
ABV:
3.4%
Score:
85
Avg:
3.76 | pDev: 13.03%
Reviews:
79
Ratings:
88
Status:
Active
Rated:
Nov 15, 2014
Added:
Sep 20, 2001
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  2
No description / notes.
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Ratings by Cdubs9:
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Rated by Cdubs9

4.68/5  rDev +24.5%

Nov 15, 2014
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3.5 by KAF from Iowa

Jul 17, 2014
Photo of Seanniek91
Reviewed by Seanniek91 from Rhode Island

3.81/5  rDev +1.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Served from a 12oz bottle into a Goose Island wine glass. Complete random buy because the store had it on the shelf marked down to $2.50. It said "spontaneous fermentation", so I bought it.

Appearance- Clear amber color with quick one finger head that left some nice lacing.

Smell- Some light sugar sweetness, light vinegar, mild apricots. About it. Pretty one dimensional.

Taste- Pretty full apricots with a light desert wine taste. Tastes as though they had used Botrytis stricken white grapes. Mild acidity mixed with sugar sweetness.

Mouthfeel- A little on the vicious side, but akin to a lightly sparkling dessert wine.

Overall- I rate this in the vein of the Lindemanns lambics. It's tasty (no denying that), but it isn't really what it claims to be in the classic sense of the word. Pick one up if you see it on the shelves for a reasonable price.
Feb 09, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by harpus from Alabama

Oct 15, 2013
 
Rated: 3 by mrfrancis from Kentucky

Jun 25, 2013
 
Rated: 3.75 by Slatetank from Pennsylvania

May 24, 2013
 
Rated: 3.75 by matjack85 from Illinois

Jan 31, 2013
 
Rated: 4.25 by t0rin0 from California

Oct 28, 2012
Photo of thecheapies
Reviewed by thecheapies from Pennsylvania

3.4/5  rDev -9.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3.5
Amber/orange pour. Lots of evident carb. Cropped head.

Musty stank and stone fruits. Apricot, apparently. More peachy. Tinges of black pepper amid the Euro hops.

Tangy sweet with nectary apricot and mouth-drying malt bitterness. Not much more than an earthy/husky taste of hops. Maybe some hidden citrus. Really sweet, though. Finishes cloying.

Soppy and sticky sweet with a syrupy feel. The carbonation is enough to cut it a bit, but this one's a little tough.

It's been awhile since I've had a Melbourn fruit beer, but I remember liking the strawberry better. My girlfriend swears by the cherry one. When I see 'em, I give 'em a try. Not some of the better beers, but interesting flavor profiles nonetheless. Take it or leave it.
Jun 12, 2012
 
Rated: 3.25 by szmnnl99 from Michigan

Mar 24, 2012
Photo of yemenmocha
Reviewed by yemenmocha from Arizona

3.4/5  rDev -9.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3
Pours a pale amber to dark gold with generous white head, a slight amount of haze. Nose is full of apricots, almost as if this is simply fruit juice of some sort. On the palate it is very Champagne-like with the carbonated white wine qualities mixed with a whollop of apricot smack to the face. Tart and somewhat challenging to taste, unless you really like that big fruit.
Apr 18, 2010
Photo of Josievan
Reviewed by Josievan from Iowa

4.1/5  rDev +9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
Appearance: Poured into a flute glass since I don't get too many chances to utilize that type of glassware. Surprising amount of head appears for this type of glass, but dissipates rather quickly. The color is a pale orangish/salmon color akin to apricot flesh.

Smell: Apricot juice dominates. Smells like this sucker is going to be sour.

Taste: Loads of sweet apricot juice. You can tell that it's real juice and not simply a flavoring, but it is also apparent that the juice was added after fermentation. Not as sour as I was expecting, but still tart. Just a hint of lambic-type funk. One dimensional, but I love apricots, so I don't mind at all!

Mouthfeel: Champagne-like carbonation, but wetter and smoother than champagne.

Drinkability: The alcohol level is ridiculously low, which always helps with drinkability. However, by the end of the bottle I found myself wishing I had shared this with someone. Any more than those 12 ounces would have become cloying.

Notes: This beer did not end up being what I was expecting, but it was a pleasant fruit beer nonetheless. Being from the same country as Samuel Smith (England) and imported by the same company (Merchant Du Vin), I thought it would be more along the lines of Samuel Smith's excellent fruit beers. However, it really is more like a less sweet and more tart version of Lindeman's peche lambic.
Jan 29, 2010
Photo of BeerFMAndy
Reviewed by BeerFMAndy from Wisconsin

3.88/5  rDev +3.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
12 oz bottle shared and poured into a tulip glass. No date or info on the bottle. Interesting design.

Thanks to bnieman's girlfriend Megan for this bottle!

A - Completely clear with active carbonation streaming up. Low off-white head with low retention. Ring of loose bubbles is left over. Decent lace left on the glass when the head receded though.

S - Apricot sweetness blends very well with the tartness of the lambic process. Mild malts give a good background sweetness. No hops present here.

T - The apricot flavor is low which ends up being pretty good for this beer. A bit stronger in the nose, the flavor leans more towards the typical lambic but good overall.

M - Light-bodied with a tart finish that gives good balance to the sweetness. Nice sparkling carbonation aids in drinkability. Feels sort of like champagne.

D - Definitely a desert and/or summer beer, but one I could have more than one glass of. Enjoyable! Thanks for sharing the last one of these Megan!
Jan 09, 2010
Photo of erz316
Reviewed by erz316 from Indiana

3.5/5  rDev -6.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
bottle into hen glass

the colour is a fine clear, apple juice golden colour, with a touch more brown than gold. the head forms and then dies quickly. the apricot smell is dominant and it smells like a syrup, not very real and fresh. this tastes like a slightly bitter sparkling juice. it is quite quenching, but the fruit is obviously either a puree of some kind or a syrup. it really doesnt taste like a beer, quite juice like. body and feel are fine, feel is a bit slick and could use more carbonation if they are going for a juice feeling.
Oct 09, 2009
Photo of Monsteruss
Reviewed by Monsteruss from Colorado

4.72/5  rDev +25.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5
The first experience of this beer was the overwelming smell of apricot when pouring the beer. The color of the foam was light wheat with a small hint of orange. During the pouring into my mouth, there was a distinct and potent smell of dried apricots - beauty! There was more taste of apricots than hops. It felt like I was drinking pure apricots. Mouthfeel - light, smooth and excellent.
Apr 10, 2009
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Reviewed by WakeandBake from Michigan

3.74/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
A straw color pour with a bubbly white head,Areoma of sweet apricot and white wine.Flavor is of tart apricot,maybe apple cider,a little bready yeast,and a dry finish. It took me a little bit to warm up to this but,in the end I was sad to see it was all gone.
Jan 10, 2009
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Reviewed by wcudwight from North Carolina

2.85/5  rDev -24.2%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2 | overall: 3.5
Apricot in color. Suprise. No head just a thin ring of lace around the top of the beer. Somewhat watery in appearance.
Smells like an apricot wine cooler.
No pretending this is a beer. It's an apricot malt beverage. Quite sweet with a hint of lambic style bitterness on the back end. Overall it's quite the quaffable drink just needs more of the yummy beer flavors imo.
Mouthfeel is thin, thin, thin. Lighter in body than most light beers.
Very easy to drink. Nice pic nic beer on a hot summer day.
I liked this beer more than the scores indicate. It's easy to drink and somewhat tasty it just didn't live up to my expectations as a beer.
Oct 14, 2008
Photo of coldmeat23
Reviewed by coldmeat23 from Oklahoma

3.29/5  rDev -12.5%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
GLASS: Pint Glass
TEMP: Chilled to approx 40 degrees

Looks like a dirty golden colored liquid. Holding up to a light source makes it look abit better, but not alot. Slight head with almost no retention and minimal lacing.

Smells much better than it looks. Very nice ripened apricot aroma. A little bit of malt peeks through. Smells sweet.

Very pleasant, fresh, ripe apricot taste. Slight butterey taste. Just a touch of apricot skin-like sourness. No hint of alcohol. Drier than expected from the scent.

Nice medium body. Not too heavy, yet not watery thin. It's alright.

Could drink many of these, but I think that I'd rather have a Lindemans Peche.
Oct 01, 2008
Photo of Gueuzedude
Reviewed by Gueuzedude from Arizona

3.06/5  rDev -18.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5
An average pour produces a three finger thick, pale, cream colored head. The beer is a pale amber, copper color that shows a brilliantly clear, full gold color when held up to the light. The aroma smells of tart apricot flesh up front, but then gets a full, concentrated almost jam like, apricot character in the middle and finish that really dominates the nose. Perhaps a hint of toasty grain is noticeable, but I may just be imagining this last bit. Definitely a one-dimensional character to the nose.

Quite sweet with an accompanying sticky, fullness and body. Of course the dominant flavor here is of apricots; ripe, sugar added, apricot preserves just about describes the flavor of this apricot soda, errr I mean beer. This only has a faint tartness that seems to accentuated the apricot notes a bit. The apricot flavor, while one dimensional in its focus on the fruit, still has a nice full fruit flavor to it.

Obviously there is not a lot going on with this beer. Apricot is the name of the game and it does a good job of delivering that specific character. It is too sweet and too thick though to be refreshing, which might not have been half bad.

Purchased: Papago Brewing, Scottsdale AZ
Sep 14, 2008
Photo of Phyl21ca
Reviewed by Phyl21ca from Canada (QC)

4.32/5  rDev +14.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Bottle: Poured a bright golden color ale with a large pure white foamy head with good retention with some lacing. Aroma consists of real apricot without any fake syrup as well as some subtle sour notes. Taste is again dominated by some nice real apricot taste without the domination of the fake syrupy fruit stuff you sometime find in those beers. Great carbonation with a somewhat full body. I really enjoyed this for what it was and wouldn't mind having a more regular access to this beer.
Aug 20, 2008
Melbourn Bros. Apricot from Melbourn Bros.
Beer rating: 85 out of 100 with 88 ratings