Soursmith Apricot
Arclight Brewing Company

Burnt foggy amber with a thin off-white collar.

God damn this is really floral AND juicy. The apricot is super juicy orchard fresh, even emitting peach ring character, via a tingly crisp medium body that finishes semi-dry. It further develops hints of toasted seeds and cracker with a touch of splintery oak. The longer I sit with it the more I realize just how sweet and syrupy it is, becoming somewhat sticky and more pastry like than I got from the first few sour sips, at times emulating a candy apple character.

 

750 ml bottle into tulip glass, 2018 vintage bottling. Pours fairly hazy deep golden/amber/light orange color with a 1-2 finger fairly dense and fluffy off white head with great retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Aromas of huge sour/tart/tangy apricots, peach, fruit skin/pits, plum, lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit, raspberry, strawberry, melon, pear, red/green apple, white grape/wine, oak, hay, straw, grass, wheat, cracker, white bread, and honey; with lighter notes of pepper, leather/musty/lacto funk, white wine vinegar, and yeast/oak earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of apricots, fruity/funky/acidic yeast, bready malt, and wine barrel notes; with big strength. Taste of huge sour/tart/tangy apricots, peach, fruit skin/pits, plum, lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit, raspberry, strawberry, melon, pear, red/green apple, white grape/wine, oak, hay, straw, grass, wheat, cracker, white bread, and honey; with lighter notes of pepper, leather/musty/lacto funk, white wine vinegar, and yeast/oak earthiness. Light-moderate fruity/lactic tart/sourness, fruit/wine tang, and light yeast/oak spiciness on the finish. Lingering notes of sour apricots, peach, fruit skin/pits, plum, lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit, raspberry, strawberry, melon, pear, red/green apple, white grape/wine, oak, hay, straw, grass, wheat, cracker, white bread dough, light pepper/funk/vinegar, and yeast/oak earthiness on the finish for a while. Amazing complexity, robustness, and balance of apricots, fruity/funky/acidic yeast, bready malt, and wine barrel flavors; with a great malt/tart/sourness and tangy fruit balance. Lightly increasing pucker through the glass, but not overwhelming. Light-moderate increasing dryness from tart/sourness and tangy fruit. Medium carbonation and medium-full body; with a smooth, creamy/bready, and acidic/tangy/tannic balanced mouthfeel that is great. Mildly increasing warmth of 9% after the finish. Overall this is an amazing fruit sour/wild ale! All around incredible complexity, robustness, and balance of apricots, fruity/funky/acidic yeast, bready malt, and wine barrel flavors; smooth and dangerously easy to sip on for the ABV, with the modestly acidic/tangy/tannic/drying finish, not overly lactic. Extremely jammy fruit; with balanced Brett/Bacteria complexity, bready malts, and perfect wine barrel integration. Not overly sweet/heavy from lingering dryness. A highly enjoyable offering, and spot on style example as expected. Consistently amazing sours across the board so far. The amount of apricot fruit presence in this beer is insane.

 

 

On tap at 7 Monks, Traverse City, Michigan. Deep orange shellac color, almost perfectly clear. Great nose of apricots, not the least bit restrained. Low carbonation, weight in the texture, but not quite syrupy. Proudly sour, engineered for a sour fan, for sure. Concentrated, layered dried apricots, long, long finish. Really impressive. Probably my new obsession. Bravo! (I actually had my car break down on I-94 at Watervliet in the middle of winter years ago. Horrible, cursed day that was. I swore I would never go back there. This makes up for all that.)