Apricotdabra
Bullfrog Brewery

 

 

 

 

OVERALL: A magically soothing example of a Wild Ale that achieved a perfect balance between sweet, acidic, and refreshing. This is a beer for watching sunsets or stars, for holding the hand of a loved one, and for complimenting the beauty that balance brings to one's life.

A: A warming candle-light colored pour that reveals the beers alcohol content through its viscocity. The beer looks orange and wonderfully hazy in the lighting conditions at Tria Taproom in Philadelphia, where this beer was served to me in a tulip glass with an almost non-existent thin head that quickly faded to nothing.

S: Smells of yeast and slight malt, with funk and some tropical fruity notes came across immediately. The use of wild yeast is clear on the front, lending the beer a mildly sour aroma. A deep breath ended with a subtle whiff of hops and some ambiguous fruitiness. I could not necessarily pick out apricots on the nose, but that may be due to my lack of familiarity with the fresh fruit.

T: An excellent example of a wild ale, with a subtle tartness that blended seamlessly with the beer's refreshing malt flavors and juicy, acidic, and mildly sweet qualities. This beer is full of flavor that is hard to place, but is a well-crafted example of a wild ale. I did not discern any apricot flavors to speak of, but I tend to think of apricots as a mildly flavored and subtle fruit, that may have lent an almost nutty quality to the beer. I am not surprised to see that the beer was not very sweet, as the alcohol content suggests that the wild yeast was given time to do its work.

M: Excellent, medium-bodied texture with light bubbling suggests that this beer was naturally carbonated. Even if it were not, the small bubbles gave a nice smooth, refreshing effect to each sip that made me forget I was drinking a beer, and reminded me more of drinking the juice from a slightly acidic fruit.