Apricot Ale
Middle Ages Brewing Co., Ltd.

On tap at the brewery. Pours orange with foamy white head. Body is medium and smooth. Taste is of apricots, some herbal hops, caramel and wheat malt. Finish is long and semi-dry. Ok brew.

This was poured into a nonic pint glass. The appearance was a ruddy burnt orange color with a slight transparency about it. Carbonation could be seen rising at a moderate pace to hit a slim finger’s worth of white foamy head. Dissipated at a nice pace. Moderate lace. The aroma starts and finishes with sweet apricot. Not much else there, slight grassy hops, somewhat. The flavor is all about the apricot. Grassy hops try to blend on into the aftertaste and on into the finish. On the palate, this one sat about a light on the body with a great sessionability about it. Low carbonation. Overall, pretty nice sessionable apricot ale.

 

Pours a pale hazy straw complete with floaters and a fuzzy 3 finger head that is slow to settle in a thin cap. Aroma of apricot with taste to match. Thin mouthfeel. Enjoyable light fare to accompany my lunch.

 

 

Drank from bottle

A- golden, darker straw nice off white head. Typical but nothing special.
S- Smell was the winner for me as it seemed to hold more of the apricot and other subtleties inherent in the beer. The apricot really shined with a jam quality...rich, fruity. Malt.
T- Taste was nothing special and if you poured this in a pint and I didn't know what it was I would have thanked you for the Magic Hat #9 as it tasted like a clone. So for that, it lost a little for me as it lacked originality.
M- Mouthfeel was again typical, average for the style, nothing special but didn't disappoint.
O- I was on an annual ice fishing trip and my buddy did bring a 6-pack of #9 which I shared with him. When we returned back to his girlfriends parents house he came downstairs with this beer. The similarities with the #9 were just too close in comparison. As a stand alone beer it would have higher praises, but those praises belong to #9 as it has earned its fame for ITS originality already. This beer seems to me IMO a clone and therefore lacks the originality. However it is still good and slightly above average. However its regionally available unlike #9 which is at least available everywhere in NY, so, that being said, if in Central/Western NY and I'm given the choice between the two, I would pick the Apricot Ale. The quality does seem to surpass #9. My brain also tells me #9 is more "mass produced" so it may lack some quality(s) that the Middle Ages brew might have but that may be subjective...this beer is a notch on the list. It is an average beer that I would have again but not go out of my way to do so.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

this one was a little jammy for me, sweet and preserved rather than fresh and juicy, but i liked it nonetheless. the pour is a slightly cloudy orangey brass color with a sturdy white head of a couple inches. smell is all apricots, peachy but sweet like something id spread on a slice of toast. some yeasty spunk to it as well. the flavor actually isnt as sweet as it smells, almost bitter and tart on the front end before the sugar takes over in the finish. fuller malt body than expected too, and certainly fuller than the ithaca or magic hat apricot varieties available around central new york. really really fruity, so if thats your thing give this a shot. its very dirnkable despite its residual sweetness, and its quite inexpensive for what it is, so definitely one to check out.

Poured into a pint glass.

2.0 A: Clear light orange color. Two fingers of fizzy white head that falls super fast and leaves just a whisp or two of lacing.

3.0 S: Smells of moderate apricot and a light graininess underneath. Not much else going on. Fortunately, the apricot is powerful enough for the nose on this to be sufficiently decent.

2.0 T: Unlike the nose, the apricot in the taste fails to even achieve half-assdom. That coupled with the lack of anything interesting underneath, puts this at the level of shitty fruit beer. Clean, weak, and boring.

2.0 M: Lighter body. There's way too much carbonation. Indeed, this is easily BMC level. No creaminess and the carbonation makes this hard to put down easily.

2.0 D: We've all seen this plenty of times with fruit beers, so I doubt I'd need to explain why this beer sucks much. I was super pissed to find that this was the mystery beer in my mixed twelve pack.